Africa-Press – Namibia. A group of Namibian veterans repatriated from exile in 1989 has set up camp outside the Swapo headquarters in Windhoek, demanding the immediate release of funds and benefits they say were promised to them more than three decades ago.
The veterans say they returned to Namibia through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees repatriation programme ahead of independence but they claim to have since been excluded from land resettlement schemes, veteran payments and other support promised at the time.
“We fought for this country, we gave our youth and our strength to the liberation struggle, but today we are treated like we never existed,” says Fillemon Matheus (73), who lost his sight during the war.
“We have waited long enough. All we want is what we were promised.”
The group says they have not been given an opportunity to hand over their petition because Swapo secretary general Sofia Shaningwa has not made any effort to come out and address them since Wednesday morning.
Their petition outlines a list of long-standing demands, including registration and assistance for children of the liberation struggle, payment of outstanding individual veteran projects, financial aid, land resettlement, medical support and pension benefits.
“We live in poverty while the government keeps quiet about our United Nations (UN) money,” says Ester Shitumba (57), one of the protesters. “We were repatriated in 1989, but 36 years later, we are still waiting for the benefits and land we were promised.”
The veterans claim that a resettlement programme was meant to provide them with land and financial assistance through Agribank.
They are also questioning the allocation of land at Queen Sofia farm in the Kunene region and King Kauluma in the Oshikoto region, alleging that some veterans were resettled while others were left out without an explanation.
They further accuse the government of failing to release “UN money” meant for their reintegration into society after returning from exile.
“We brought cattle back from exile, we sacrificed and now we have nothing. All we ask is for the government to be transparent about where that money went,” says Simon Nghaamwa, another veteran at the protest.
The group is also demanding that the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs clears the backlog of unpaid veteran projects and scrap what they call an unregulated internal project scrutiny committee that is delaying payments.
They say they will continue camping outside the Swapo headquarters until their demands are addressed.
This is not the first time veterans have raised concerns about unpaid benefits. Earlier this year, members of parliament proposed a one-off lump-sum payment to ease the burden on the veteran benefits budget. At the time, the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs disclosed that about 16 000 veterans were still awaiting payments, estimated at around N$2 billion.
In July, it was revealed that out of roughly 33 500 registered veterans, only 13 398 had received payments, leaving more than 12 000 still unpaid under the Individual Veterans’ Projects scheme.
The ministry’s 2025/26 budget allocated over N$1.4 billion for veteran welfare, but veterans and their dependents continue to accuse the government of delaying or excluding them from benefits. Children of liberation fighters have also repeatedly called for inclusion in the Veterans Act of 2008, arguing that they have been left out of post-independence support. The Namibian reached out to Shaningwa for further commentary but she had not responded by the time of going to print.
In a statement issued yesterday by Swapo secretary for information and publicity Hilma Nicanor, the ruling party strongly condemns the demonstration, calling it politically motivated and orchestrated by members of opposition parties, particularly the Independent Patriots for Change.
“These brazen acts, cynically disguised as a concern for the plight of our revered veterans of the national liberation struggle, are nothing short of a vile political charade designed to sow discord, undermine national unity and advance the narrow partisan agendas of the opposition during this critical election campaign period,” the statement reads. Swapo says law enforcement should take note of what it calls provocative actions that allegedly violate the Electoral Act. It further argues that any legitimate veteran concerns should be addressed through the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs.
“It should not be hijacked for partisan spectacles, which to the contrary are harming the collective reputation of the veterans of the national liberation struggle. “We urge the agent provocateurs to cease this despicable exploitation immediately and engage in constructive, lawful politics,” the party says.
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