(JP) Jy hou daarvan om met die leeu se ........ te speel???? President Hifikepunye Pohamba van Namibia says ex-South West African Territory Force (SWATF) and Koevoets will never receive war veteran status in Namibia, adding that he will lobby his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma to ignore similar pleas from the two groups. Calling them “killers” Pohamba said former SWATF and Koevoet operatives deserve no hero or war veteran status, which got other war veterans compensated handsomely by the Namibian government. Some former Koevoet and SWAFT have recently declared their allegiance to the DTA, after the Swapo-led government maintained that it will not recognise them because they fought against Namibian’s independence during the liberation struggle. Pohamba reiterated his government’s position on the matter this week. “I am being asked to give veteran status to the killers. I say no. I will not do that,” he said at the Omugulugwombashe National Heritage Site in the Omusati Region on Wednesday. “I will even tell my successor not to accept their demand. If they want veteran status let them go to South Africa, but I will tell [President Jacob] Zuma not to accept them,” Pohamba added. He was speaking during the inauguration of a statue depicting PLAN combatants in an operational planning session under commander John Ya Otto Nankudhu. Pohamba unequivocally declared that the Swapo Party government will never accord the privilege of war veteran status to “the killers”. He said the former Koevoet and SWATF members are also demanding money and threatening to go into the bush. “Let them go and we will deal with them,” he said. Pohamba, however, said the former South African soldiers do qualify for old age pension like anybody else, but not for any special status. He said by demanding veteran status they are opening old wounds at a time when the government is repatriating the remains of those who died during the war. “We still feel the pain as we receive the remains of our heroes,” he said. Pohamba spoke at length about how the Ovamboland People’s Organisation (OPO) was established and how it was transformed into Swapo; the training of Swapo’s pioneer guerrillas in Egypt, Ghana and Tanzania and how Sam Nujoma, Peter Nanyemba and himself formed the trio that dealt with the movement’s secrets and took decisions that involved people’s lives, including the selection of fighters who were sent back home to start the armed liberation struggle. He said the time has come for people to know what exactly happened during those difficult years. “The struggle was not easy,” he said repeatedly. Young revolutionaries Although appreciating those young people who are following the footsteps of the liberation struggle icons, Pohamba seemed to be not entirely comfortable with some young people’s attitudes, saying “they seem to have become more revolutionary than us who started the revolution”. He said the government has decided to repatriate the remains of liberation struggle heroes and heroines who died outside the country. The remains of Peter Nanyemba, Homateni Kalwenya, Natalia Mavulu, Isak Pondo Shikongo and Augustus Nghaamwa McNamara were repatriated recently. The process is ongoing to repatriate the remains of other three buried in Lusaka, Zambia, and two who died while serving prison sentences on Robben Island, South Africa. “They will all be accorded a hero’s reburial,” said Pohamba. Turning to his impending retirement, President Pohamba said: “The next time you see me you will be seeing a former president. I am retiring, my contract has expired,” he said. He informed the gathering about the coming elections and repeated his call for a peaceful exercise. “What I do not want to see is violence. Elections do not mean we have become enemies. We want no more bloodshed in this country,” he said. Like other statues unveiled recently, the statue of PLAN combatants inaugurated this week was also made by North Koreans. The event started with President Pohamba laying wreaths at the graves of two Omugulugwombashe veterans, Joseph Uushona and Joseph Hipangerwa, who died on the same day last year aged 86 and 81 respectively. They were the first to be buried at Omugulugwombashe after it was declared a National Heritage Site. The event was also attended by Colonel (retired) Kambo Shixungileni, the only surviving member of the first ground of six guerrillas that infiltrated the country under the command by late John Ya Otto Nankundhu, as well as other Omugulugwombashe veterans including 98-year-old Isaac Shoome.
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 20:46:56 +0000
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