Staff Writer
SWANU is calling on all its cadres who have not been recognised as veterans, whether they waged the struggle from within or outside the country’s borders, to report to its Veterans’ Department at its headquarters in Katutura, Windhoek.
“The war for the liberation of this country was fought from all corners of this country. We are very much aware that there were Swanu comrades inside the country fighting for the liberation of this country, and in the same vein there were also Swanu comrades inside the country fighting for the liberation of this country. Therefore, it cannot only be Swapo veterans benefitting from state coffers,” says the party’s Politburo member and Secretary for Economic Affairs, Issy Tjihoreko.
The party yesterday marked 63 years since its birth in 1959, which was observed with a ceremony at its headquarters in Katutura. Committing to take up the issue of its unrecognised veterans with the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs. Taking issue with the “bilateral agreement” between the Namibian government and its German counterpart, by which Germany offered descendants of the genocide committed by Imperial Germany against the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama, N$18 billion in development aid, Tjihoreko describes the offer as “a clear sign of under-estimating the intellectual capacity of the affected people based on the colour of their skin, “ says he, adding he is sure if the genocide was committed against “any white community” Germany could not have made such an insulting offer.
Totally rejecting Germany’s offer, and thus the Joint Declaration, Tjihoreko says the genocide negotiations should start with the affected people negotiating for themselves. “These are the people who experienced the suffering and pain they endured and nobody else can feel and describe that pain other than the victims themselves,” adds Tjihoreko.
