Zimbabwe labour minister visits Namibia

DESPITE the “extremely healthy” relationship that exists between Namibia and Zimbabwe, it’s safe to say that Namibia won’t be emulating its northern neighbour’s handling of the war veterans’ issue any time in the near future.

This conclusion could be drawn from remarks made yesterday by Namibian Labour Minister Alpheus !Naruseb while welcoming his Zimbabwean counterpart Nicholas Goche. Gotche, the minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in Zimbabwe, is on a five-day visit to Namibia aimed at strengthening co-operation between the two countries.He arrived on Sunday.On the agenda are land reform, HIV-AIDS, labour issues, poverty alleviation and the welfare of pensioners and war veterans.Sharing his country’s experience in dealing with the war veterans’ issue, Goche recounted a number of efforts made to satisfy former liberation fighters, including payment of Z$400 to each fighter during demobilisation in 1980, Z$50 000 in 1997 and currently a monthly allowance equal to the salary of a police warrant officer.Asked about Namibia’s take on this type of compensation, !Naruseb carefully replied that he “neither agreed nor disagreed” with it.He said government was doing all it could “without priding ourselves that it’s adequate”, referring to a number of grants and other programmes created specifically for this purpose.Swapo’s Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange had visited a number of countries in southern Africa to explore how they dealt with the issue, he said.Gotche, the minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in Zimbabwe, is on a five-day visit to Namibia aimed at strengthening co-operation between the two countries.He arrived on Sunday.On the agenda are land reform, HIV-AIDS, labour issues, poverty alleviation and the welfare of pensioners and war veterans.Sharing his country’s experience in dealing with the war veterans’ issue, Goche recounted a number of efforts made to satisfy former liberation fighters, including payment of Z$400 to each fighter during demobilisation in 1980, Z$50 000 in 1997 and currently a monthly allowance equal to the salary of a police warrant officer.Asked about Namibia’s take on this type of compensation, !Naruseb carefully replied that he “neither agreed nor disagreed” with it.He said government was doing all it could “without priding ourselves that it’s adequate”, referring to a number of grants and other programmes created specifically for this purpose.Swapo’s Secretary General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange had visited a number of countries in southern Africa to explore how they dealt with the issue, he said.