Disarmanent, demobilisation and reintegration of combatants in Namibia : war veterans' perception on 'compensation'

• Main Author: Ndjadila, Olivia Ndiwakalunga
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Namibia > Armed forces > Demobilization; Disarmament > Namibia; Peacebuilding > Namibia
• Online Access: Ndjadila, Olivia Ndiwakalunga (2017) Disarmanent, demobilisation and reintegration of combatants in Namibia : war veterans' perception on 'compensation', University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/23707>; http://hdl.handle.net/10539/23707

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Management (in the field of Public and Development Management) 2016 === The purpose of this research study was to obtain the views and perceptions of Namibia veterans of the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), the armed wingof SWAPO, on compensation as a part of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) process. This process compensates former freedom fighters as a reward for having contributed to the liberation struggle. DDR is one of the most important peace stabilising tools that is internationally recognised and the UN has adopted it as a pre-requisite for any peace agreement process in countrieswhich had experienced violent conflict. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the war veterans’ perception regarding ‘compensation’ being paid as a reward to former fighters of the Namibia liberation struggle by the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs.Structured interviews were conducted to collect data, and data analysis was done by identifying themes.Microsoft Excel statistics functions were used to calculate the totals, produce tables, graphs and pie charts. The main finding of the study was that the former freedom fighters were facing many challenges and the government was far from addressing these challenges in their totality. The study found that the government was committed to address the plight of the former freedom fighters; however, the implementation of such a programme was fraught with challenges, such as the lack of resources and good governance. Moreover, the study established that the reintegration process was not addressing the issues of both groups of ex-combatants in Namibia. === GR2018