Push for benefits for war veteran dependants

Namibia’s Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs has been told to consider granting of liberation war veterans government benefits. According to The Namibian, this is contained in a report by the parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, released by Parliament on Tuesday. The committee has instructed the Veterans’ Affairs Ministry, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice, to review the proposed amendments to the Veterans Act and to come up with amendments that would accommodate children who were in exile during the liberation struggle. This comes after the Association of Dependants Veterans Namibia (AODVD) demanded that the Veterans Act be amended to include them in veterans’ compensation, as it currently does not allow for such. The AODVD lodged a petition with the National Assembly last June requesting the amendment of the Veterans Act to change the definition of ‘a child of a veteran’. According to these dependants, they were below the age of 18 at the time of independence, but they are currently over 30. However, the Veterans Act was only enacted in 2008, and the definition of ‘a child of a veteran’ was stated as a person below the age of 18. Committee chairperson Kletus Karondo said after considering the concerns raised by petitioners and the views of the ministry, the committee believed the inclusion of the children born in exile or those who participated in the war as minors was an oversight from the ministry. The committee said the issue of the dependants of war veterans has been an ongoing concern for an extended period.

Full report in The Namibian