SAFETY and security minister Charles Namoloh said, given another chance, he would call out president Hage Geingob to attend to the plight of war veterans.
Namoloh drew the wrath of Geingob and former president Hifikepunye Pohamba on Friday during the memorial service of the late colonel Matias ‘Mbulunganga’ Ndakolo when he accused the two of ignoring the war veterans.
Ndakolo, who died last week aged 75, was buried at Eenhana. The government accorded Ndakolo a state funeral.
Speaking on behalf of Ndakolo’s friends, Namoloh told Geingob that although he preaches that the Namibian house should accommodate everyone and that no one should be left out, some are feeling left out.
“Nobody should feel left out? I think we are feeling left out as Plan commanders and fighters. It should not be addressed only to some but to us all,” Namoloh said.
Namoloh, who described Ndakolo as a fearless and inspirational guerrilla, said many Plan fighters were buried in unmarked places.
Geingob and his predecessor, Pohamba, criticised Namoloh, for using the memorial service to say he was unhappy with the way veterans were being treated by the government.
Pohamba said Namoloh as a minister has an opportunity to speak to Geingob and raise his concerns without using the gathering as a platform.
The former president also said he was not aware that there was an exclusion when he was in office.
“Talking about indirect exclusion from the house. Some of these people who come to the gathering when there are so many people, and they start talking. Namoloh is a minister, how many times did he go to the president to tell him?
“Was he waiting for a gathering like this? I don’t think Namoloh, a minister, is correct. And he has been a minister for a long time. Your statement is not good, more so when you sit in the Cabinet, and you sit everywhere. Why don’t you talk?” Pohamba asked.
Geingob, in turn, said Namoloh failed the war veterans as he serves on the committees which come up with solutions to their problems.
“I didn’t create the shrines here that some will be buried as heroes. He was there as the defence minister. I will not leave out anybody recommended by the committee. I have not rejected any recommendations. So really, why do we bring out this kind of thing here?” he stressed.
Namoloh, who also served under the command of Ndakolo since 1975 during the liberation war, said, given a chance, he would say it all over again. He also said there is no rule as to which platform he can use to air his grievances.
During a phone interview with yesterday, Namoloh said: “I do not regret what I said, and I can say it all over again. We know these things. I am not an observer. We are part of Plan. What I said is correct and right unless he does not want to understand. I know what I am saying.”
He said when Pohamba was in office he also recorded unmarked graves of war veterans and compiled a catalogue which he submitted together with the former minister of veteran’s affairs, Nickey Iyambo.
Namoloh said he believes Pohamba handed over the catalogue and list to Geingob.
“With regards to Mbulunganga, we tried. I even brought a doctor to treat him, and he was able to walk again. He is just one of the few. Other people equally need medical treatment,” he said.
Namoloh said he spoke on behalf of all Plan fighters while adding that the condition in which they live is unacceptable and he sympathises with them.
He also added that if people think he is talking because he is campaigning to be buried at Heroes Acre, he has already decided that he will be buried at his place of birth.
“I want to be buried at Odibo where my parents are from. I already told my children and family because I decided this a long time ago. I am talking on behalf of the people I have commanded. People are suffering. We are not veterans of jokes. We carried guns for this country,” Namoloh stressed.
Ndakolo was only 18 years old when he went into exile. Many of today’s generals served under his command. He is survived by his wife, Ailly, and five children.
– tuyeimo@namibian.com.na
