Observer – Page 254 – Windhoek Observer

14 Jul

Amupanda questions legitimacy of agreements with Malaysian university

ObserverNational NewsAmupanda questions legitimacy of agreements with Malaysian university

Niël Terblanché Job Amupanda, the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) leader and former Mayor of the City of Windhoek, in his crusade against the Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Itah Kandjii-Murangi has released a draft of a Memorandum of Understanding that would seemingly have forced the Namibian taxpayer to fund a privately owned university from Malaysia. Amupanda published a copy of the draft document on his Twitter account and said that the Minister was attempting to force the former acting Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Training Authority (NTA), Muvatera Ndjoze-Siririka, to sign the MoU with the Limkokwing University of…

14 Jul

Mushelenga’s “Lazy Journalists” condemned

ObserverNational NewsMushelenga’s “Lazy Journalists” condemned

Stefanus Nashama The Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Peya Mushelenga, is under fire for criticizing journalists and labeling them “lazy”, at a meeting hosted on Wednesday with local News Editors. At the said meeting, Mushelenga expressed concern with what he termed “lazy journalists,” urging them to do their work with the utmost professionalism. He further said in contrast with the past, journalists are too lazy to take notes when someone is speaking at an event, adding that they will rather request a copy of the speech from the speaker. Mushelenga stood his ground in an interview with the Windhoek…

14 Jul

Ex Air Namibia employees beg for Parliamentary intervention

ObserverNational News

Stefanus Nashama Former Air Namibia employees yesterday met with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources and Community Development in an effort to seek lawmakers’ intervention on the delay of payment of their severance packages. The consultation meeting with the Parliament follows two petitions received from the disgruntled employees of the now-liquidated airline. The former employees are begging the committee to summon stakeholders to explain the delays in the payment of their severance packages. According to the Former employees’ Representative, Renier Bougard, repeated attempts to seek an audience with stakeholders have not yielded any positive results. He said they have…

14 Jul

Itula concerned about hunger in the country

ObserverNational News

Hertta-Maria Amutenja Panduleni Itula, the leader of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), said if Namibia does not exercise extreme caution and if the government does not have a comprehensive strategy, the country will experience starvation. Itula yesterday said the suffering of the people is the manifestation of 33 years’ failure of the Swapo-led government. “Our people are hungry and we have got real poverty in this country. And if we are not very careful and our government has no contingency plans, we will be facing famine in this country, especially with the failure of the rains in various parts…

14 Jul

Walvis Bay applies for boundary extension

ObserverNational News

Hertta-Maria Amutenja Walvis Bay Mayor Trevino Forbes said the local authority has requested the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to extend the boundaries of the town. Forbes revealed this yesterday while reporting on the accomplishments of his office. According to a 1978 map, the municipal area of jurisdiction is estimated to be 1 124 square kilometres along 60 kilometres of coastline. This includes the airport, dunes, wetlands, Kuiseb River, Rooibank in the desert, and Sandwich Harbour. It stretches up to the middle of the Swakop River at the bridge south of Swakopmund. However, the town’s boundaries only cover an…

14 Jul

Thieves prey on shack fire victims

ObserverNational NewsThieves prey on shack fire victims

Niël Terblanché Residents of the informal part of Mondesa in Swakopmund have expressed despair after their belongings were stolen by bystanders while their shacks were being destroyed by fire. One of the residents, whose shack was miraculously saved from burning down, said that chaos erupted when the fire broke out in one of the backyard shacks on the same property. “We had to hurry to carry all the children to safety and save as much of our belongings as possible,” she said. The resident, who is a domestic worker and identified only as Julia, looks after children of primary school…

14 Jul

“ACC will never yield to kangaroo courts” – Noah

ObserverMainItah Kandjii-Murangi, “ACC will never yield to kangaroo courts” - Noah

Niël Terblanché The Director General of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Paulus Noa indicated that the heads of public enterprises that are accused of funding international trips of the Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Itah Kandjii-Murangi will be served with summonses to provide sworn affidavits about their alleged corrupt spending. Noa also confirmed that the institution awaits formal statements and documentary proof from the minister’s accusers. He added that Minister Kandjii-Murangi will also be served with a summons to depose a statement under oath and confirm that she does not owe the ministry any amount of money. “The ACC is…

14 Jul

“Come and invest”, Mbumba pleads with investors

ObserverNational NewsMbumba pleads with investors, Nangolo Mbumba, “Come and invest”

Martin Endjala The Vice President of Namibia Nangolo Mbumba has called on investors to come and explore what Namibia has to offer and invest, saying that it is a land with vast potential that offers trade investment opportunities in multiple sectors beyond energy. He made these remarks during the US-Africa Business Summit 2023, yesterday in Gaborone, Botswana. “With its overarching goal to enhance bilateral and multilateral trade between the United States and African nations, I would like to reiterate that Namibia is open for business and we are inviting investors who are interested in exploring the available opportunities for shared…

14 Jul

Traffic officers embroiled in a legal fight with CoW

ObserverNational NewsTraffic officers embroiled in a legal fight with CoW

Martin Endjala Officers of the City of Windhoek’s Traffic Department have locked horns with their employer, in their pursuit of justice. The traffic officers are claiming their five-year bonus leave payment, saying they have not received it yet as agreed in their employment contract of 2014. The officers signed a five-year and ten-year circle bonus leave agreement. The case was laid before the Windhoek High Court in 2020 where the court ruled in favour of the traffic officers to the entitlement of their bonus leave. The CoW opposed the ruling in an appeal, prompting a postponement in the matter. Since…

13 Jul

Namibia’s GDP growth expected to slow down

ObserverObserver MoneyNamibia’s GDP growth expected to slow down

Martin Endjala Namibia’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to slow down in 2023 and 2024, due to weaker global demand. Considering the current macroeconomic conditions, the Macroprudential Oversight Committee (MOC) deliberated and deemed it important to recommend a policy intervention on the existing Loan-To-Value ratios (LTV) regulation. Contrary to the robust growth of 4.6 percent observed in 2022, the domestic real GDP growth is projected to moderate to 3.0 percent in 2023 and is further expected to slow down to 2.9 percent in 2024. The moderation is mainly on account of global monetary policy tightening and ongoing…