Moongo wants S&T for soldiers

DTA Member of Parliament Philemon Moongo has again proposed that ordinary soldiers in the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) be given subsistence allowances when they are out in the field.

Holding up a tin of fish imported from Thailand in Parliament on Friday, he said soldiers cannot survive on that over protracted periods of time.He also wanted to know from Defence Minister Charles Namoloh why Namibian fish is not given to soldiers.Namoloh said soldiers get food parcels only when they go into combat or when they are out on exercises. Otherwise, he said, they are served three hot meals a day.He said S&Ts are only given when accommodation or rations cannot be supplied. The defence minister said the Thai fish is provided by the companies contracted to provide food.Earlier in the year, Moongo charged that only high-ranking officials were entitled to S&Ts, and maintained that all soldiers should be entitled to it depending on the nature of the assigned missions. Namoloh denied a suggestion that there is a mass exodus from the NDF, saying those who have at left have done so for greener pastures, or to get their pensions paid out only to rejoin to the army. Over the last 12 months, 39 soldiers were discharged from the NDF for misconduct.The defence ministry is planning to build a state-of-the art military hospital in Windhoek, which Namoloh said would be open to MPs and VIPs, and possibly their immediate families.