Defence minister Rear-Admiral Peter Hafeni Vilho said there’s a deliberate attempt to use the current economic and health crisis to drive a wedge between the nation and the security forces.
Vilho said this in parliament Wednesday while motivating his ministry’s budgetary allocation in the National Assembly this afternoon.
During the 2019/2020 budget debate, former defence minister Penda ya Ndakolo said what disappoints him the most is the habitual negative attitude of some citizens towards the defence budget.
“It seems that while the majority of us and the Government understand the necessity of our Defence Force, some quarters of our society appear to understand it as something optional.
And that is a big misconception because the NDF is founded based on the provisions of the Namibian Constitution,” Ya Ndakolo said in the National Assembly last year.
Vilho was defending his ministry’s budget allocation of N$ 6 (billion) 229 (million) 103 (thousand) 000 in the 2020/21 Financial Year.
This is the highest increase the defence ministry received in the last years.
In the 2019/2020 financial year, the ministry’s budgetary allocation was decreased to N$5,8b from slightly more than N$6b for 2018/19, while in 2017/18 financial year, the defence ministry received N$6m.
The Ministry has been receiving the third-highest budget allocation.
