Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Struggle kids demand inclusion

Struggle kids demand inclusion

Lahja Nashuuta

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs has recommended that the Ministry of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, amend the Veterans Act to include all children born in exile.

The proposed amendment intends to allow the law to extend benefits to dependents and children of war veterans who are over the age of 18, particularly those who joined the liberation struggle as minors.

This follows a petition submitted to the National Assembly by the Association of the Dependents of Namibia’s Veterans (AODNDV), which urged lawmakers to review Part 1, Section 1(a) of the Act, specifically the definition of a “child of a veteran.”

Children of the liberation fighters argue that they were excluded from government support since the Veterans’ Act came into effect in 2008. The current definition limits a veteran’s child to someone under the age of 18, effectively disqualifying many who were minors at independence but are now adults. 

“These individuals were under 18 at the time of Namibia’s independence, but because the Act was only enacted in 2008, they were excluded due to their current age,” said committee chairperson Kletus Karondo.

Speaking in the National Assembly last week,  he argued that many of these children were born in exile during the war, and are now facing socio-economic challenges without State support.

He said the amendment is crucial to addressing the ongoing hardships experienced by children and dependents of war veterans, especially those who lost one or both parents in the fight for Namibia’s independence.

Karondo maintained that excluding children over the age of 18 has had a lasting impact. “This situation has given rise to a group commonly known as children of the liberation struggle or ‘struggle kids’, who have continually raised their plight to the government,” he said.

In the current financial year, the Ministry of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs was allocated N$5.4 billion, with N$6.5 million specifically designated for veterans’ affairs. Planned activities include the construction of a guardhouse for the Zambezi regional office, a storeroom for the Kavango East regional office, and the Etaka Agricultural Project in Onesi. Additionally, there will be a boundary wall and internment project at the Okaongobati Heritage Site, as well as the erection of tombstones at cemeteries and graves of Namibian freedom fighters in Nyango, Zambia.

lnashuuta@gmail.com