Catherine Sasman
5 September 2008
interview
Windhoek — General Martin Shali is spearheading an important transformation process in the Namibian Defence Force (NDF).
New Era spoke to him to find out what his plans are for the defence force.
IT is reported that you are working hard to professionalise the Namibian Defence Force (NDF). You have, for example, stressed the health of the Namibian soldiers, the improvement of their morale, that you demand stricter discipline, and urge for a culture of reading and studying. How do you go about to achieve this?
These are the aims of the Namibian Defence Force since its inception. That is to have a professional, well-trained and well-equipped defence force that the people of Namibia can be proud of. To achieve this, there has to be programmes and objectives. These are aspects to be managed. It includes training of people to be professional in their jobs.
We have a constitutional obligation to, very briefly, defend the country and its people, their properties and all other national interests. That is our primary mission. We are here to serve all the people of Namibia, and to safeguard our territorial integrity. That can only be done by a professional force.
I would also like to quickly add here that we are currently in a transformation period. The older generation of soldiers like myself and other veterans are preparing to pass on the baton to a younger generation, to people who have not been ex-fighters or anything else.
We are recruiting people, and the basic requirements are that applicants be Namibian, 18 years and older, and that they must have a Grade 12.
We need to pass on the skills, knowledge and experience we have to younger people.
One of the things we emphasise is professionalism; soldiers are here to serve the Government of the day and all people of Namibia, and not get involved in politics.
We want to create incentives to attract the best men and women into the force to become pilots, captains of ships entrusted with expensive equipment at sea that can operate sophisticated military equipment.
Discipline is very important. It is about self-conduct and how you deal with others. It is also about a spirit of oneness. We are one entity with a purpose. Without that, something will always be lacking.
I am trying to bring everyone together, regardless of where you come from and what your background is, and all the rest.
As far as education is concerned, when young people come here to be trained, they should not simply do what their commanders are telling them to do, or sit around and relax in their spare time. They should read and study. We have sent some to the Polytechnic and Unam (University of Namibia) to improve themselves and acquire skills necessary for the defence force and country.
We also encourage people to engage in sports to keep fit.
We have a campaign dealing with HIV/AIDS prevention, which is a priority for me. We should stop this from happening, and when it happens we have measures in place to assist those who have it.
But the aim is still prevention; distribution of condoms is the last thing we do.
Do you have any idea what the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is among soldiers?
It is not as high as many people tend to think. I do not know because there is no policy in place that compels people to declare their HIV status. But I have an idea, and my guess is that it is about five percent, which is still high. I base my assessment on the treatment we are providing, the money we spend on the provision of ARVs (anti-retrovirals), and also the death rates.
How has the recruitment process been conducted?
As I have mentioned, the basic requirement is that applicants must be Namibian. This is one of a few jobs that must be done by Namibians. Applicants should also not have a criminal record, and must be between the ages of 18 to 25.
However, we would also like to attract professionals outside this age bracket, such as doctors, nurses, pilots and technicians.
The idea with the transformation process is to leave a legacy of a professional force that is well trained and equipped, that is highly mobile. This is a big country to cover, and there is a lot of demand for the NDF.
Training of the new recruits will start next month.
What are the challenges facing the NDF today?
Really, our challenge first of all is getting enough resources to do what we want to achieve. We do appreciate that the government and the people of Namibia are committed to maintaining the defence force. This was clear from the last budget allocation, but it may look big on paper, but military equipment is getting more and more expensive.
We are in the process of modernisation and it is time to phase out some of the old equipment inherited from South Africa, or the vehicles donated to the Government by Swapo. These have reached the end of their life cycle and it is natural that these be replaced.
The more we delay in replacing these, the more expensive the equipment becomes. And one would not want equipment others are phasing out; you want value for money that serves the defence force better.
We also need to establish infrastructure. Since the inception of the NDF, we have not set up new infrastructure. What we found at independence were operational bases, some of which was really just dug holes, and so on, nothing to speak of.
You cannot have soldiers to live under those conditions; it is not good for their health, and are not incentive enough.
By 2030 we wish to be modernised and not remain behind.
This involves looking at the conditions of service of our soldiers, such as good retirement packages. Soldiers should retire by the age of 45, so we should look at attractive packages for them.
But we are here because of our passion to serve our country in uniform, because of the love we have for our country, and not because we want to become rich. This makes our job a special one, and it should be treated as such.
Negotiations are on between us, the government and other stakeholders to address this. It cannot continue like this forever. Many armies the world over are doing that.
Veterans on both side who have served as soldiers before independence were given the privilege to serve until they reach the age of 60. But the rest serve under different terms and conditions.
What are the security threats facing the NDF?
There are no conventional threats. We are working with our neighbours to establish peaceful co-existence.
Is the NDF preparing for the 2010 Soccer World Cup?
We are ever ready to assist the police whenever that becomes absolutely necessary - and I would like to emphasise the word absolutely. But I do not foresee too much of a problem.
People often manufacture enemies. Who says criminals will come in during 2010?
There are bigger threats like terrorism, but you would not need an entire army to run after two or three people that might pose a security threat. You need intelligence.
It is reported that you do not brook any form of corruption, discrimination or nepotism in the defence force. How do you tackle these?
Firstly, by telling people about the dangers of these, and to deal with people accordingly. I have fired a number of people for this.
It is a matter of balance. Yes, these cases happen here and there, but it is not something that worries me.
How many people have been recruited?
Normally, I recruit 1 000 people. It is not a big number when its comes to the allocations in all 13 regions. My idea is to recruit Namibians who qualify and who are willing to serve in the defence force. Gender is not an issue.
And we would like to look at the demography of the country. But during the last recruitment process, there was only one white applicant, and we have not received the best people from the south. When considering the San or others in rural areas, we might lower our entrance requirements to accommodate for them and provide them with the means to improve their education.
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