THE government paying out less than 280 war veterans per year to start their economic projects means that it will take 40 years to complete this exercise.
This is according to group spokesperson Sossy Shimanya, who was speaking during a meeting with ombudsman Basilius Dyakugha at Ongwediva on Friday to express their concerns.
He said the veterans have on several occasions raised their concerns with defence minister Frans Kapofi, but their plight has fallen on deaf ears.
"The payout of 276 veterans per financial year is unacceptably low, because at this rate it would take more than 40 years to complete the payout for about 11 000 veterans who are entitled to these funds.
"We also want the money earmarked for projects to be inheritable. It is unfair to have paid some veterans money for their projects, while some of us have been excluded.
"Hence the public institutions are expected to provide services to citizens in a fair and equal manner," Shimanya said.
Group members with pending projects are disgruntled with the decision made by the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs to reduce the amount towards projects from N$200 000 to N$170 000.
The veterans say they have been waiting for far too long, and they were hoping the ministry would increase the funds.
Shimanya said the majority of veterans have been suffering for 32 years since independence, while some are ageing, sick or living in poverty.
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"Comrades are diminishing [sic] without receiving their entitled benefits, leaving their children with nothing to live on in the form of an inheritance. The majority of the veterans who were outside the country have not received their money earmarked for projects.
"The defence ministry fails to budget for dead people to accord them state funerals. The veterans are living in poverty with no proper shelter due to the fact that the resettlement part of United Nations (UN) Resolution 435 of 1978 has not been implemented since the Namibian refugees returned home in 1989," he said.
The veterans have therefore requested Dyakugha to intervene in the matter and find an amicable solution.
"Now that the government has recognised the war veterans, it is important for such people to be taken care of as well. When people are poor and you give them money, it does not cure their poverty, money does not cure poverty. To make money, you need to first cure poverty.
"So, for you to have projects, you need to have money, and I agree with you that you need project money," Dyakugha said.
He said he would try to engage with the line ministry to resolve the matter.
Meanwhile, Kapofi told Namibian Sun this week that the government is for all all citizens, not just war veterans.
He said the government is willing to attend to the needs of the veterans, but does not have the financial resources to do so immediately.
"I said to them we only distribute what we have. Should the government find resources to fund those projects, we are willing to pay, but we don't have the money," Kapofi reportedly said.
