NAMIBIA spent 100 million Namibian dollars in allowances for over 2 000 troops deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the past seven months, Finance Minister Nangolo Mbumba said this week. Tabling the revised budget for 2000/2001 in the National Assembly, Mbumba said the unbudgeted expenditure was approved in terms of the Namibia State Finance Act. In addition to the allowances paid to the Namibian troops in the DRC, the Finance Minister granted another N$41 million to the defence Ministry for the purchase of military equipment. Namibia’s defence expenditure has soared by over 100% since 1998 when it sent troops to the DRC to back President Laurent Kabila, alongside soldiers from Zimbabwe and Angola. – Reuters