Windhoek Observer

26 May

Governor pushes healthy living in Rundu

Latest

Allexer Namundjebo Kavango East governor Hamunyera Hambyuka has called on residents to adopt healthier lifestyles and embrace organic food production, saying poor diets and inactivity are contributing to lifestyle-related illnesses. Hambyuka spoke during a peaceful walk organised by Dynapharm Namibia’s Rundu branch last week. He praised the organisers for bringing the community together to promote health awareness and disease prevention. “The message being promoted today is very powerful: ‘We are what we eat.’ The food we consume directly affects our health, our wellbeing, and our quality of life,” he said. Hambyuka warned against relying heavily on processed foods containing preservatives…

26 May

Chiefs, customs and the cost of standing still

Editorial

Namibia’s debate over communal land reform has once again exposed a difficult but unavoidable national truth: too many of our institutions remain trapped between the demands of modern governance and the comfort of inherited tradition. The recent warnings by traditional leaders in Kavango East and Kavango West that government-led communal land reforms threaten ancestral land and weaken customary authority deserve to be heard respectfully. Yet respect for tradition cannot become an excuse for resisting progress, accountability and economic transformation. The country must confront an uncomfortable question. Are some customary systems still serving the people, or are they increasingly serving themselves?…

26 May

Telecom on thin ice over network failures

Main, National News

Patience Makwele Telecom Namibia says it will comply fully with a summons from the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran). This follows repeated nationwide broadband disruptions that have affected businesses, institutions and households. Cran summoned the state-owned telecommunications company for an urgent briefing amid growing concerns over recurring network instability and service quality failures. The regulator said the repeated disruptions to Telecom Namibia’s fixed broadband network are affecting communication, financial transactions, education and daily operations across the country. Telecom Namibia said it is cooperating with Cran and will provide a full briefing on the technical causes of the disruptions and…

26 May

Chiefs fear loss of ancestral land in land reforms

National News

Patience Makwele Traditional leaders from Kavango East and Kavango West say government-driven communal land reforms could weaken customary authority and increase pressure on ancestral land. The concerns were raised during consultations between the Chiefs’ Council and the parliamentary standing committee on urban and rural development and land reform. Traditional leaders said growing pressure on communal land, illegal fencing, weak enforcement and delays in land administration are creating uncertainty in rural communities already affected by population growth and shrinking grazing areas. They also warned that formal land registration could lead to increased land sales and leave future generations without access to…

26 May

Windhoek mayor’s Azerbaijan trip raises eyebrows

National News

Allexer Namundjebo Windhoek activist Sem David has called on the City of Windhoek and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to release full details of Windhoek mayor Sackarias Uunona’s trip to the World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan. David said residents were not informed in advance about the trip or its purpose. “Residents were never informed that he would be travelling, nor were we told the purpose of the trip,” he said. He said he only became aware of the visit through a Facebook post. David questioned why the municipality sent the mayor instead of technical officials from departments…

26 May

Journalists’ union vows to tackle exploitation

National News

Allexer Namundjebo The newly elected Namibia Media Professionals Union (Nampu) president, Shelleygan Petersen, has pledged to defend the rights of media workers and ensure employers comply with labour laws. Responding to questions from the Windhoek Observer on Saturday, Petersen said all media organisations must follow the Labour Act when employing staff. “Media professionals have been exploited for far too long. We are engaging international partners for support on issues affecting freelancers and exploitation in the industry," she said. Petersen said her leadership plans were to establish union branches at media organisations across the country and organise the union’s first congress.…

26 May

Kamwi to lead Africa’s AIDS and public health body

National News

Renthia Kaimbi Former minister of health and social services Dr Richard Kamwi has been appointed president of the Society for AIDS in Africa following a leadership handover ceremony and executive board transition meeting held from 14 to 15 May in Accra, Ghana. The event took place at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel and marked a leadership transition for the organisation, which focuses on strengthening Africa’s response to HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis, emerging infectious diseases and broader public health issues. The handover was conducted under the constitution of the Society for AIDS in Africa and overseen by the Board of Trustees, which is…

26 May

Namibians visit uranium mine in Russia

National News

Allexer Namundjembo A delegation of Namibian farmers, a journalist and employees from Headspring Investments, a subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom mining group, recently visited the Dalur in-situ uranium mine in Russia to learn more about its operations and extraction methods. The delegation visited the Dalur mine in Yekaterinburg, where the director general of Dalur JSC, Dinis Ezhurov, explained the in-situ leaching method used to extract uranium. The method dissolves uranium underground and pumps the solution to the surface, removing the need for open-pit mining or underground tunnelling. “There is no ore mass subsidence or damage, and therefore no rock dumps or…

26 May

TransNamib set to relaunch N$1.7bn tender

Observer Money

Chamwe Kaira A year after the minister of works and transport, Veikko Nekundi, cancelled TransNamib’s move to buy 23 new locomotives for N$1.7 billion because of what he termed 'single sourcing', TransNamib has disclosed that the procurement process for new rolling stock will commence in due course. This follows the completion of an independent technical evaluation of locomotive manufacturers. Before the cancellation, TransNamib had planned to standardise its fleet through the procurement of general electric/wabtec locomotives. The company is one of the world’s largest rail technology manufacturers and supplies freight and passenger rail systems. TransNamib manager for corporate communications Alina…

26 May

Producer prices drops by 1.7% in Q1

Observer Money

Chamwe Kaira The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) says the Namibia Producer Price Index (NPPI) declined by 1.7% during the first quarter of 2026, mainly due to lower prices in the mining and quarrying sector. According to NSA statistician general and CEO Alex Shimuafeni, the report analyses wholesale price movements across major sectors of the economy, including mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity generation and water supply. Shimuafeni stated that the NPPI measures inflationary pressures and economic conditions by tracking the prices producers receive for locally produced goods and services. Despite the quarterly decline, the index still recorded annual growth of 2.7%…