What you need to Know:
- At least N$1 million per flight everytime the casket-carrying plane took off.
- At least N$7 million set aside for memorials in all 14 regions.
- Around 5 000 troops deployed for the funeral and burial at Heroes’ Acre.
- Funds used for transport, military honours, memorials, security, and logistics.
- Defence ministry disputes the N$30 million figure but did not deny N$1 million flights cost.
By Timo Shihepo | 2 March 2025
The government will spend about N$30 million on expenses related to transporting founding president Sam Nujoma’s body across the country.
This includes N$1 million for each military plane trip.
Nujoma died in Windhoek on 8 February.
At least 5 000 troops were mobilised for the procession of with his body and a state funeral, which will conclude with his burial at Heroes’ Acre tomorrow.
The government has not been forthcoming on the cost of Nujoma’s funeral proceedings.
The media has over the past two weeks calculated estimated figures, including an amount of N$500 000 the government has allocated each region. This totals N$7 million.
However, a source familiar with the matter estimates that the cost of transporting Nujoma’s remains to the regions, including logistics, ceremonies and other costs, would reach around N$30 million.
Part of the millions are being spent on military cars and tanks, motorbikes and official government vehicles escorting the casket.
The money is also spent on aviation fuel for helicopters and military jets.
The Namibian Defence Force’s Shaanxi Y-9E military aircraft, which transported Nujoma’s remains, could cost the government around N$1 million per take-off in fuel, totalling around N$8 million in flight expenses.
The Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs has, however, rejected the figure of N$30 million.
But executive director of defence and veterans affairs Wilhelmine Shivute does not deny that the government paid N$1 million per military flight.
She says the use of the NDF’s Chinese-made aircraft, acquired last year, was the most cost-effective option.
“Given that this is our own aircraft, the choice to use it was seen as the most cost-effective to the government, since the military is responsible for organising and executing the state funeral arrangements,” she said this week.
Namibia was the first foreign country to use this Chinese plane.
The Shaanxi Y-9E military aircraft comes with added expenses for servicing and crew operations.
Additionally, military pilots, ground crew, and security personnel accompanying the body contribute to the overall expense.
The defence ministry acknowledged that a state funeral is costly, but did not reveal how much has been spent so far.
“All the cost-related military operations are budgeted for and paid by the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs,” Shivute said.
ANGOLA OFFER
The transportation of a late president’s body became a point of discussion last year, following former president Hage Geingob’s death in February.
At that time, Angola reportedly offered the country military cargo transport, an offer the Namibian government declined at the time.
This decision was made, it is believed, to avoid revealing the Namibian military’s previous lack of adequate cargo capacity.
The NDF acquired two Shaanxi Y-9E aircraft at N$1 billion each in December, enabling the transport of Namibia’s first president to seven regions.
Although the deal was finalised in early 2023, the planes were delivered last year, the media has reported.
The Shaanxi Y-9E has a top speed of 660km per hour, a cruising altitude of 7km to 8km, and a maximum operational range of 5 200km.
With a maximum takeoff weight of 65 tonnes, the aircraft can transport up to 20 tonnes of personnel and cargo.
‘DANKIE BOTSWANA’
The Shaanxi Y-9E comes with the additional expense of two Chinese crew members.
Defence ministry spokesperson Petrus Shilumbu defended the presence of the foreign crew members, but insisted that the aircraft was flown by local pilots.
“An aircraft is not a Dankie Botswana (nickname for Toyota Corolla) you can just buy today and drive tomorrow and know it inside out.
“This is an expensive asset that cost millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money,” he said.
Shilumbu said the aircraft was jointly operated by Namibian and Chinese crew members.
The involved Namibian pilots are wing commanders Alfeus Shalimba and David Ndeshaanya.
“So far they are doing excellent. These are pilots who have been in the defence force for a long time. They have flown different aircraft. However, on this specific aircraft, they spent six months training in China doing theory and practicals.
“But that is not enough. In aviation, it’s different. You just don’t buy an aircraft today and off you go. You need some assistance,” Shilumbu said.
“Those assistants . . . are there to observe whether the pilots are really doing the correct thing. Are they operating the aircraft the way they’re supposed to? Are they following the standards? Are they applying the safety precautions?” he said.
The defence ministry was allocated a budget of N$6.7 billion for the 2024/25 financial year.
In the 2023/24 financial year, the ministry was allocated N$6.3 billion, of which 67% was for personnel expenditure.
About 21% went into goods and other services, while 12% was spent on the acquisition of capital assets and infrastructure development.
