The parliamentary standing committee on constitutional and legal affairs has recommended to the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs to include dependents of veterans from exile for veteran compensation.
The committee has instructed the ministry, in consultation with the Ministry of Justice, to review the proposed amendments to the Veterans Act and to come up with amendments that will accommodate children who were in exile during the liberation struggle.
This comes after the Association of the Dependents of Namibia’s Veterans (AODNDV) demanded that the Veterans Act be amended to include them in veteran compensation, as it currently does not allow for it.
The AODNDV lodged a petition last year in June with the National Assembly requesting the amendment of the Veterans Act 2, regarding the definition of a child of a veteran.
According to them, at the time of independence, they were below 18 years old, but now they are over 30. Unfortunately for them, 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.
“The children were born in exile, and some joined the liberation struggle as minors. There was no reason why they could not be included in the act and benefit like the rest of the veterans who were in exile,” says committee chairperson Kletus Karondo.
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