Prime Minister Ngurare Calls for National Support to Vulnerable Elders and War Veterans

Statement by prime minister Elijah Ngurare, National Assembly, Windhoek, 7 October 2025.

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I rise to provide a ministerial statement on the voluntary initiative to ensure the welfare of vulnerable elders and veterans of the liberation struggle, especially those in rural areas.

It is a human trait that runs through all of us to look after the elderly. It is a time-immemorial gesture of kindness expected especially from the young in society. Recently, as announced by our minister of information and communication technology, we have discussed and approved a submission to expand this kindness through technical and vocational education and training (TVET) trainees in villages and informal settlements. They will assist in the rehabilitation, construction, and maintenance of households for vulnerable elderly people and veterans of the liberation struggle.

What would be required is the sourcing of materials from local entrepreneurs in the respective regional capitals. The ministry of defence and veterans affairs has undertaken to incorporate this initiative within its scope of responsibilities. President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah advised further that we ensure this matter is clarified so that an expectation is not created that families must now abandon their elderly because the government wishes to take over.

I wish to recognise that many elderly people are cared for by their respective families, and many are doing so admirably. For those who can afford it, some are kept in elderly homes in urban areas. But for rural areas, many vulnerable elders are not cared for in the same way. The government is assisting through social grants and old-age pensions. However, we are also aware that in our society, there are households where the elderly need our support – where traditional authorities equally know that certain households need care and assistance in terms of basic amenities such as a decent place to sleep, with access to water, sanitation, and food.

We have also recently announced that every village will have a community garden where unemployed young people and others will work to produce food. This model has begun at Otjombinde in the Omaheke region, where 13 000 hectares were allocated by the traditional authority. We have begun the process of requesting other traditional authorities to emulate this model.

To complement these basic needs, we therefore intend to use unemployed TVET trainees and other unemployed young people in villages and informal settlements to carry out, on a regular basis, the aforementioned interventions. It is a voluntary initiative for which the government will compensate those involved through the food-for-work and cash-for-work programmes. We therefore appeal to the humanity of our country to join this effort – to ensure that no elderly person suffers from avoidable inconveniences of life. Those in the private sector willing to join, we are ready to collaborate.

On the welfare of veterans of the liberation struggle – whose supreme sacrifices helped bring about Namibia’s independence on 21 March 1990 – the ministry of defence and veterans affairs has rightly indicated that this has always taken centre stage in development programmes designed to ease the veterans’ plight since independence.

When founding president Sam Nujoma returned home on 14 September 1989, that day ushered in an era of hope, especially for the young people of our country. Namibians were relieved and deeply excited that independence was indeed finally around the corner. The sight of seeing Dr Nujoma back home rekindled the spark of freedom. And sure enough, the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) won the 1989 United Nations-supervised elections and formed the first government of independent Namibia on 21 March 1990.

Our independence, for which many brave sons and daughters of Namibia paid with their blood and lives, must therefore be treasured forever. Those veterans returned home soaked in blood and sweat. The armed struggle that brought about our independence lasted for 23 solid years. War is war – it is never a walk in the park. Our armed struggle for independence must therefore be understood in that context.

In wars, many dreadful things happen on both sides. But when wars end, painful wounds remain unhealed for years. War memories become nightmares that give us sleepless nights. We came out of that war bitter and angry – a war, as president Nandi-Ndaitwah always says, that was imposed on us by the brutal apartheid regime of South Africa.

It was with that painful chapter in mind that Swapo, under the outstanding leadership of Dr Nujoma, framed the policy of national reconciliation that conceived and nurtured the peace and stability we enjoy today – the very peace and stability some people now take for granted. Ceaseless and seamless efforts were woven together to convince former enemies who once carried guns to hold hands and embrace one another for the sake of peace and freedom.

It was not easy to bring about that peaceful environment. Much went into that process. We can only thank our founding fathers and mothers, including those who waged the wars of resistance against colonial and imperialist German occupation.

Founding president Nujoma presided over that peaceful transition – which to some seemed almost impossible – with a majestic sense of purpose. With the policy of national reconciliation firmly in place, Namibians buried their brutal past and embraced their future with both hands. We are where we are today because of that unparalleled sense of understanding – letting go of that painful chapter in our history without revenge.

The lesson learned is this: the past, however bloody and violent it was, we have already lived. The future, we must still live. We could not build seeds of violence into that future. It was our magic wand solution to a deadly challenge we faced. Today, we are the envy of many nations precisely because of that.

And it is because of that background that we must continue to take care of our revered war veterans, especially those in traumatic and unbearable conditions.

There is also a heartless culture evolving among us where some war veterans are mocked and vilified because of the conditions in which they unfortunately find themselves. We cannot, as a nation, stoop so low. This is sheer wickedness. It is our duty to honour our war veterans. Every effort is being made to ensure that no war veteran lives in deplorable conditions. We owe it to history to do just that, and their basic needs must be met while they await their cash payouts from the ministry of defence and veterans affairs.

Once again, through this voluntary act of kindness, we intend to work with all stakeholders to rehabilitate vulnerable elderly and war veterans’ households by installing basic facilities such as decent ablution facilities, water, and electricity where possible. Our overarching objective is to ensure that they live decently, especially those in rural areas.

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