The Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs (MoDVA), Frans Kapofi has told the members of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) to treat veterans well.
Kapofi said that the ministry has received complaints on “how the members talk to the veterans as it lacks empathy”.
“We receive letters and phone calls from the Veterans of the Struggle for National Liberation all the time, because we are custodians of the programme dealing with their welfare, many times they complain about how we receive and talk to them and it lacks empathy, we seem to show that when dealing with their issues,” said Kapofi.
He was speaking during his staff meeting here on Wednesday.
Kapofi added that a good number of their clientele are the liberation struggle veterans, some of whom are retired servicemen and women of the NDF while the MoDVA is a public institution which is part of the Government system that belongs to the people.
“I would like to plead with you as I have done on some occasions we met, especially the staff directly working with our veterans. These are people who sacrificed their lives to ensure that we enjoy the freedom and various opportunities we have today, let’s be empathetic when attending to them,” he cautioned.
Moreover, he added that most of the veterans attended to by MoDVA are in their advanced ages and they do not have much time to live – as to why they need proper treatment and respect.
The MoDVA in 2022 started with the payment of cash to veterans who applied for projects, and the process is going far despite budget constraints that compelled them to pay a limited number of veterans, Kapofi said.
Source: Namibia News Press Agency
