WINDHOEK – The relatives of the late liberation hero retired Colonel Fredrick Matongo have dismissed as misleading the story about Matongo’s elderly mother Matakala Lucas in which she complained about being excluded from his funeral.
Family member George Simataa – also the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare – has dismissed as highly inaccurate the story that appeared in New Era newspaper headlined “Matongo’s mother missed funeral” in which she complained of not having been acknowledged during the funeral. Contrary to the news report Simataa says his grandmother was acknowledged by one of the speakers in one of the eulogies that were transmitted live on NBC National Radio. The story in which some officials from the Zambezi Regional Council were quoted also portrayed the elderly blind woman as living in extreme poverty.
However, Simataa the grandson told New Era that the “people of the regional council should be concerned about the development issues of the region, and not about the alleged poverty levels of my grandmother. If they are worried about poverty levels in families, I suggest they start with taking account of the poverty levels of their own families first before they talk about others.”
“Who has been feeding my grandmother for the past 100 years of her existence in this world? Does council think that the once-off food they gave her… will be there forever?” he asked in reference to the food that the regional council officials apparently took to the old lady after they discovered their so-called omission.
Simataa further said contrary to the information availed to New Era the decision not to allow his blind elderly grandmother to attend the funeral of his uncle was a collective decision that was taken after the committee considered her frail condition and felt that travelling would have taken a toll on her already frail condition and her poor health.
He said several days prior to his uncle’s burial at Heroes Acre relatives had made arrangements for her to travel to Windhoek to see her son, who was gravely ill at that time and she was only sent back to the Zambezi on November 01 several hours before her son lost his battle with cancer. “She could not attend the funeral because she is very frail and because of her ill health,” explained Simataa, who added his grandmother is being looked after at Malindi by Nyambo who is one of her biological daughters.
Simataa further said when the elderly woman was sent back home by the relatives she was well provided for and even received a substantial amount of money from her daughter-in-law Helena Matongo.
He also dismissed as misleading claims that good Samaritans support Matakala Lucas saying even he occasionally sends money and food to his grandmother and he often visits her at Malindi whenever he is on holiday in the Zambezi Region. Simataa also dismissed the claim that the elderly woman supports twelve grandchildren, saying this is untrue, because the children in question live with their parents and only visit their grandmother occasionally since they are in the same village.
Simataa further said not all his relatives from Malindi, Kabbe and even from Katima Mulilo could attend the funeral, because this posed some insurmountable logistical challenges since his relatives are just too many.
By Staff Reporter