Veterans are not serious: Ministry

A COMMITTEE of Swapo ex-combatants who are threatening to demonstrate against Government’s refusal to heed their demands seem to be motivated by something other than a desire for a plausible solution to their dilemma, the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs says.

Permanent Secretary Ndeutapo Amagulu said yesterday that the Ministry would not respond to the group’s latest efforts, namely a meeting held this past weekend. More than 200 people promised to take to the streets in a protest march at the end of this month.The group, led by war veterans Ruusa Malulu and Alex Kamwi, attracted national attention last year when they handed over a 13-point list of resolutions to Government on how they believed ex-combatants needed to be compensated.Their demands included an N$8 000 a month payment to each former combatant, fishing quotas and mining concessions, free schooling and medical services for their children and a fund through which all parastatals and businesses would be compelled to make contributions to war veterans.Government rejected these proposals, arguing that at a total cost of approximately N$6 billion the committee’s demands were simply too unrealistic.This led to various threats by the committee to stage mass demonstrations throughout the country, and also to a heated rivalry over the airwaves between supporters of the committee and those of former President Sam Nujoma, the most vocal of their opponents.A planned march in September last year was cancelled at the last minute because of a lack of support on the day as well as an offer by Bishop Zephania Kameeta of the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) to mediate between the group and Government.Since then, Government has set up a new ministry to deal specifically with issues regarding war veterans.In a telephonic interview yesterday, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary told The Namibian that he was surprised by the group’s insistence that they had not heard anything from the ministry since its inception.”I spent almost half a day with them at their request shortly after the ministry was set up,” Amagulu said.”We had rather fruitful discussions I thought.I told them that they were not considered the bargaining body for all war veterans, and that we were in the process of setting up such a body.At the time they seemed to understand that.So I was astonished by their statement that they haven’t heard anything from us,” Amagulu said.He added that Bishop Kameeta, who Kamwi said had failed to respond to the committee after taking over the mediating role between them and Government, had also been in contact with the ministry to hear about progress in setting up the ministry.Amagulu said the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs was still in its infancy, adding that they were still appointing staff and organising their budget.The committee had been briefed on this, he said, and their impatience seemed to have been a factor in their organising this past weekend’s gathering.”It doesn’t seem like this group is really serious about finding a solution.They’re supposed to give the ministry a chance but they appear to be moving very fast,” he said.”We’re not going to respond.It’s a free country, so they can say what they want.But Government has long been working on the problems of the war veterans and this process has recently been re-evaluated, which led to the formation of this ministry,” he said.More than 200 people promised to take to the streets in a protest march at the end of this month.The group, led by war veterans Ruusa Malulu and Alex Kamwi, attracted national attention last year when they handed over a 13-point list of resolutions to Government on how they believed ex-combatants needed to be compensated.Their demands included an N$8 000 a month payment to each former combatant, fishing quotas and mining concessions, free schooling and medical services for their children and a fund through which all parastatals and businesses would be compelled to make contributions to war veterans.Government rejected these proposals, arguing that at a total cost of approximately N$6 billion the committee’s demands were simply too unrealistic.This led to various threats by the committee to stage mass demonstrations throughout the country, and also to a heated rivalry over the airwaves between supporters of the committee and those of former President Sam Nujoma, the most vocal of their opponents.A planned march in September last year was cancelled at the last minute because of a lack of support on the day as well as an offer by Bishop Zephania Kameeta of the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) to mediate between the group and Government.Since then, Government has set up a new ministry to deal specifically with issues regarding war veterans.In a telephonic interview yesterday, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary told The Namibian that he was surprised by the group’s insistence that they had not heard anything from the ministry since its inception.”I spent almost half a day with them at their request shortly after the ministry was set up,” Amagulu said.”We had rather fruitful discussions I thought.I told them that they were not considered the bargaining body for all war veterans, and that we were in the process of setting up such a body.At the time they seemed to understand that.So I was astonished by their statement that they haven’t heard anything from us,” Amagulu said.He added that Bishop Kameeta, who Kamwi said had failed to respond to the committee after taking over the mediating role between them and Government, had also been in contact with the ministry to hear about progress in setting up the ministry.Amagulu said the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs was still in its infancy, adding that they were still appointing staff and organising their budget.The committee had been briefed on this, he said, and their impatience seemed to have been a factor in their organising this past weekend’s gathering.”It doesn’t seem like this group is really serious about finding a solution.They’re supposed to give the ministry a chance but they appear to be moving very fast,” he said.”We’re not going to respond.It’s a free country, so they can say what they want.But Government has long been working on the problems of the war veterans and this process has recently been re-evaluated, which led to the formation of this ministry,” he said.