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Tue 13 Aug 2013
03:34
Last update on: 12 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Mon 12 Aug 2013
News    Opinions    Sport    Business    Entertainment    Oshiwambo    Archive    Top Revs    Letters   
News    Opinions    Sport    Business    Entertainment    Oshiwambo    Archive    Top Revs    Letters   
 SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c
 Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair?
 Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform.
 SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam
 Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r
 Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p
 SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha
 Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in
 Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a
 SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for
 Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont
 Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
POLL
What do you think of the renaming and addition of regions and constituencies?

1. Long overdue

2. A waste of money

3. We have bigger issues

4. I don't care


Results so far:
 Older Polls
LETTERS - | 2013-08-09
No Sympathy For Mercenaries

Old Front Cover
LATELY, there have been out-of-place demands by men who served in former South African military and para-military formations in Namibia against freedom fighters of Plan [People’s Liberation Army of Namibia].
LATELY, there have been out-of-place demands by men who served in former South African military and para-military formations in Namibia against freedom fighters of Plan [People’s Liberation Army of Namibia].

These “omakakunya” (that is how they were known then) are reportedly seeking war veteran status as extended to Namibians who participated in the struggle for liberation.

Their case is ostensibly planked on the tenets of national reconciliation and this is where they have taken a wrong turn.

They need to grasp the Veterans Act, (Act No.2 of 2008) and the definition of a veteran contained therein. There appears to be some political force that is instigating this Koevoet/SWATF brotherhood. Nevertheless, they cannot expect parliament to amend the act to accommodate their frivolous demands.

These men served in enemy forces for mercenary purposes; their motivation was money. Conversely, freedom fighters joined Plan voluntarily and many sacrificed their lives for the freedom we are all enjoying today.

These proverbial prodigal sons are trying to abuse this policy for their own selfish and mercenary ends. However, they had sealed their own fate when they consciously opted to side with the enemy decades ago.

The fellows have made their rough bed many years ago and should have the decency to keep lying in it to the end of their days.

They should show the country some respect by keeping quiet and not start prodding at the scars they have inflicted on Namibians who stood on the right side of history in difficult times.

People who, during the war, lived outside the so-called “operational area” where the fighting was taking place might have some smidgen of uninformed sympathy for these Koevoet/SWATF collaborators as they have not witnessed first-hand what they were capable of.

Many of these people have been integrated in the national army and some are in the police; that is reconciliation at work. They are not persecuted. If they want to be recognised as “war veterans” they should demand such from their erstwhile handlers in South Africa.

Their threatening the government with instability and lawsuits should be viewed as an act of anarchy.

The government needs to guarantee us that this troublesome Koevoet/SWATF resurgence is being nipped in the bud as a matter of urgency.

Vapopya

Walvis Bay

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