Allexer Namundjembo
Defence and veterans affairs minister Frans Kapofi says the grievances raised by liberation struggle veterans camping outside the Swapo Party headquarters do not fall within his ministerial mandate, rejecting calls to personally visit the protesters.
Speaking to the Windhoek Observer on Monday, Kapofi said the group is not seeking assistance on matters related to veterans’ affairs but is instead raising issues beyond his responsibility.
“Those are the citizens of Namibia and former combatant fighters of the liberation struggle who are asking for other things outside my mandate. I have no business there,” Kapofi said.
He also dismissed suggestions by Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) Member of Parliament Aloisius Kangulu that he should visit the veterans at their protest site.
“Kangulu said he can take me there. I cannot imagine him asking to offer to take me to those people. I am not afraid of them. Many of them were under my leadership during the liberation struggle; possibly, one way or the other, I was their senior,” Kapofi said.
According to the minister, an invitation from an opposition member of Parliament does not change his position.
“For me to get an offer from a member of the opposition does not serve any purpose,” he said.
Kapofi further said many of the veterans have direct access to him and have not requested a meeting.
“Most of them have my number. They have never asked me to visit them. These people are trying to politicise their situation. If he thinks it is me who has their solution, he must inform them to come to me. But for now, they have said openly that they are not asking for veterans’ affairs,” he said.
He maintained that his responsibility as minister does not extend to intervening in matters outside the scope of the veterans affairs portfolio.
“It does not mean that the moment I am given the task to work with veterans that I must poke my nose and intrude into the affairs of other people. The party to which they are picketing has done what it was supposed to do,” Kapofi said.
He added that he had already informed Parliament that the Swapo Party Secretary General, Sophia Shaningwa had facilitated a meeting between the protesting veterans and a representative of the United Nations.
Kapofi’s remarks come after Kangulu urged him to personally engage the veterans, who have been camping outside the Swapo headquarters opposite Katutura State Hospital.
Kangulu told the Windhoek Observer on Sunday that he raised the matter through an urgent oral question in Parliament because he wanted the minister to witness the conditions under which the veterans are living.
“I asked when the minister would personally go down behind that building to familiarise himself with the real suffering of his own comrades, who, in their own words, are experiencing conditions worse than anything they endured during the liberation struggle in places such as KwaZulu, Lubango, and elsewhere,” Kangulu said.
He argued that, as the minister responsible for veterans’ affairs and custodian of the Veterans Act, Kapofi should engage directly with the protesters to help resolve their grievances.
“The Act clearly mandates the Minister to administer the Act and to initiate, formulate, and develop policies on all matters relating to veterans’ affairs, including matters incidental or connected thereto,” Kangulu said.
Kangulu said his concern was not whether the veterans were receiving statutory benefits but that they were demanding “justice, dignity, and the opportunity to be heard.”
“I nevertheless appreciate the Minister’s response and remain confident that he can still do more within the powers vested in him. He should personally visit the veterans, engage them, and intervene so that this painful situation is addressed,” Kangulu said.
He added that the veterans “deserve to feel valued, recognised, and respected in the country for which they sacrificed so much.”
The veterans have been camping outside the Swapo headquarters for several weeks while demanding engagement with government and party leaders over their concerns.
