Observer

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COVID-19 drives rentals down . . . as Ondangwa rentals contract  -27.4 % y/y

COVID-19 drives rentals down . . . as Ondangwa rentals contract -27.4 % y/y

Staff Writer This economic weakness is reflected in FNB’s latest FNB Rental Index, which shows a 12-month average growth of 0.3 percent year on year (y/y) at the end of June 2020, following the short-lived growth momentum of 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent y/y seen in April and May 2020 respectively. The development has brought the national weighted average rent price to N$7022 at the end of June 2020 from N$7404 in June 2019. “Namibia has seen an unprecedented spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases over the last three months, signaling that the worst economic effects of the…
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Couch Kitten: All good things come in time

Wetumwene Shikage There are many things we wish to accomplish or at least to tick off from our “to do" lists. We are impatient for success or for our desires and we forget that there is a time for everything. Everything cannot be done at once. It is important to take your time to understand that sometimes, some things come before other things. Some things don’t even come at all. While you take your time working to get what you want, learn along the way. Sometimes all you want to be is your best self. You must not be what…
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A method in his madness

The Time Traveler: Hugh Ellis The rapper Kanye West’s decision to run for US President, announced via tweet on the fourth of July, set sections of the Internet on fire. As did a strange rally a couple of weeks ago. Kanye showed up on stage in a bullet-proof vest, explained he’d wanted his wife Kim Kardashian to have an abortion until God told him personally to get with the program, said that family planning clinics have been placed inside cities by white supremacists to ‘do the Devil’s work’, made out presidential hopeful Joe Biden to be a boring loser, and…
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COIVD-19 is real; do people get it yet?

Jackie Wilson Asheeke A teacher at the Coast tested positive for the pandemic. Yet, the risk-averse principal took no urgent steps to protect the students, other teachers and staff that were exposed. He said that he was waiting for ‘instructions’. COVID-19 does not need instructions or paperwork; it takes charge without permission. This incident and similar stories force me to wonder if, at this late date, people understand that the pandemic is real. The school principal is claiming bureaucracy as his ‘excuse’ for inaction. He says he must be ‘told’ to close the school or take other actions. He’s waiting…
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Socialism only route to a radical socio-economic transformation

Yours Truly Ideologically-Fifth Installment: Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Yours Truly Ideologically is submitting that a radical socio-economic transformation of the colonial capitalist economic system was never envisioned and envisaged for Namibia by the various political principals and formations. Because for such an socio-economic transformation to be taking place, it must have been accompanied by a socialist-oriented socio-economic reconstruction programme of a post-colonial Namibia, informed by a Marxist-Leninist ideology. There can and could never be any other route. Which in Namibian is completely absent, without even any semblance of ideological soul-searching. To say the least, most of the Namibian political parties, have been…
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Lessons drawn from the Twaloloka catastrophe

Observatory: Clementine Tjameya It is devastating the amount of catastrophic events that can happen in just a week. The past week has been nothing but a string of unfortunate events for our country. For starters, there is the Twaloloka shack fire that left everyone in dismay on behalf of those who were affected. Then there are homicide cases and a suicide case, and to top it all off, Covid-19 cases are spiking like a forest fire. The Namibian Director for the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Eric Dzluban said yesterday that the rise in cases is very likely…
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The generals must stand down

The country must ask the brave veterans to come to the aid of nation once again. Namibia is on the brink of economic disaster. Veterans must not make further demands and add to the grave problems the country must face. The government is struggling to feed, house, protect and provide healthcare and jobs for the people. Veterans are respected and appreciated. As a result, they have received many layers of compensation and benefits since independence. In 2020, there is no more money available and, in our view, no more benefits are required. Recent reports claim that frustrated ex-generals wish to…
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Unions happy with Hage’s school decision

Unions happy with Hage’s school decision

Andrew Kathindi Namibia National Teachers Union (NANTU) said it is satisfied with President Hage Geingob’s decision to suspend face-to-face teaching for grades 0-9 countrywide. This comes after the union has been in meetings for the last two days over a possible call for the closure of schools out of concern for the rising number of cases around the country. “What directed our focus is the health and safety of everyone involved. The over-populated phase is grade 0-3. Schools that are in the rural and urban areas are not the same. Most of the schools in the northern regions are accommodating…
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Fishcor hunts for CEO

Fishcor hunts for CEO

Staff Writer The National Fishing Corporation (Fishcor) which has been operating for more than five months without a substantive head following the arrest of Mike Nghipunya in February has begun the hunt for an interim Chief Executive Officer. The company’s new board is serving for six months until January 2021 and is led by Mihe Goamab II. The successful CEO candidate can either come from internal or external applicants and will receive a 12-month contract, with a possibility of renewal, “upon satisfactory performance.” “We are two weeks into the duration of the Temporary Board mandate and we are appraising the…
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New measures for Stage 4 . . . as tourist quarantine conditions revised

New measures for Stage 4 . . . as tourist quarantine conditions revised

Andrew Kathindi President Hage Geingob has declared new measures for stage 4 lockdown restrictions as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country. While the rest of the country will remain under Stage 4 of the lockdown state of emergency restrictions, Erongo Region and the towns of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Arandis will remain unchanged in Stage 3 until midnight on Monday 31 August. As for the other 14 regions, public gatherings have been reduced from 250 to 100 persons, along with a list of new measures to help battle the spread of COVID-19, including the suspension of face-to-face teaching…
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