Observer – Page 752 – Windhoek Observer

19 Jun

Bank Windhoek cuts interest rates

ObserverUncategorisedBank of Namibia (BoN), Bank Windhoek, Monetary Policy Committee

Staff Writer In response to the announcement by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) to cut the Repo rate from 4.25 percent to 4 percent as announced on 17 June 2020, Bank Windhoek has announced a reduction of its Prime Lending Rate by 0.25 percent from 8 percent to 7.75 percent. The bank’s Mortgage Lending Rate will decrease from 9 percent to 8.75 percent, effective from Tuesday, 23 June 2020. “While the possibility of more cuts cannot be ruled out at this point, we expect that the benefit from the sharp cuts will gradually alleviate the…

19 Jun

Shiimi applauds private sector COVID-19 efforts

ObserverObserver MoneyBank Windhoek, Baronice Hans, Finance minister, Iipumbu Shiimi

Staff Writer Finance Minister, Iipumbu Shiimi, said that he is content with the response he has seen from all Namibians from both the private and public sector who continue to embark on fighting COVID-19 as a united front. He said this during the Capricorn Group/EY 2020 Budget Review Discussion, an online live social media broadcast focused on discussing and reviewing Namibia’s 2020/2021 Budget recently tabled in the National Assembly. “The pandemic's impact is something we have never seen before, and as a result, it requires a united front,” said Shiimi. Bank Windhoek's Managing Director (MD), Baronice Hans, echoed Shiimi’s sentiments.…

19 Jun

NAC HQ placed under lockdown

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, NAC, Namibia Airports Company (NAC)

Staff Writer The negative effects of Case 33 who was arrested by police for entering the country illegally are being felt by various organisations in Windhoek, with the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) becoming the third organisation this week to lockdown its building as part of precautionary measures against Covid-19. According the airports operator, one of its employees resides in the same building, 77 on Independence, where the Covid-19 positive suspect was arrested. “This decision comes after careful consideration of the possible risk of exposure,” NAC Chief Executive Officer, Bisey Uirab said. On Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture was also forced…

19 Jun

12% of Namibian adults HIV positive

ObserverObserver MoneyHIV, US Centre of Disease Control (CDC)

Andrew Kathindi The Country Director for the US Centre of Disease Control (CDC) in Namibian, Eric Dziuban says over 200,000 people in Namibia are living with HIV. “There are 200,000 people living with HIV in this country and that is around 12 percent of all adults in this country being HIV positive. The numbers are lower in young children, because we have such a successful programme in preventing mother to child transmission,” said the CDC Country director. “The latest data shows that people who are on treatment, taking their medicine every day virally suppressed, their life expectancy is basically exactly…

19 Jun

Walvis Bay records five more cases

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Kalumbi Shangula, Minister of Health, Walvis Bay

….as 10-year old becomes youngest case Andrew Kathindi Namibia has recorded its single biggest jump in one day for COVID-19 positive cases, after the Minister of Health, Kalumbi Shangula, on Friday evening announced five new cases from Walvis Bay. This is in addition to the 40th case, a Namibian male from Kuisebmund, whom the minister announced in the morning (Friday), bringing the total number of cases in the country to 45. All five new cases have been in contact with case 34, the 39-year old female, who is an officer at the Walvis Bay Correctional Services. “Case number 41 is…

19 Jun

Job vs Swapo is not the point . . . inclusive democracy is

ObserverNational NewsAffirmative Repositioning (AR), City of Windhoek, Electoral Commission of Namibia, Job Amupanda, SWAPO

The new normal could mean a serious reconsideration of proportional representation in Parliament and an end to parties making decisions about who represents people locally. Affirmative Repositioning (AR) has registered with the Electoral Commission of Namibia in time for the upcoming 2020 local authority and regional council elections. AR co-leader Job Amupanda has had long-stated aspirations to be the Mayor of the City of Windhoek. The stage has been set for an exercise in inclusive democracy that is long overdue in Namibia. Namibian politics has shifted significantly from where things were in March 1990. The world has altered remarkably since…

19 Jun

Close the preferential treatment door

ObserverNational Newsbillionaires, Frans Kapofi, Minister of Home Affairs

Rules and laws must apply to all, especially during a state of emergency for a global pandemic. There must be no preferential treatment for well-connected billionaires of anyone else. Apparently, Russian billionaire Rashid Sardarov's private jet landed at HK International airport with a crew of people from the outside that were not put in quarantine. The Executive Director in the ministry of works evidently commented that they have recorded increased frequencies of private planes coming in when this is not supposed to be happening. The rich and powerful do not have an inherent resistance to COVID-19. Let the pandemic restrictions…

19 Jun

Learner tests positive for COVID-19

ObserverObserver MoneyMariental High School, Ministry of Education Executive Director, Sanet Steenkamp

Andrew Kathindi Namibia has recorded its first school COVID-19 case after a 20-year-old learner from Mariental High School in the Hardap region tested positive for the virus on Thursday. The learner is case number 37 who travelled from Walvis Bay, a current hotbed for the rising COVID-19 cases in the country and attended school on 11th of June. This comes less than a month since over 49,000 learners in grade 11 and 12 across the country returned to school as part of the first phase of the Ministry of Education’s roll out plan to resume face to face teaching. Ministry…

19 Jun

Rising cases won’t determine lock down status – Shangula

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Erongo, Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula, lockdown

Andrew Kathindi With the two week lockdown in Erongo region set to end on 22 June and cases rising almost daily, Health minister Kalumbi Shangula says the extension or lifting of the stage 1 lockdown will not be determined by the rising cases. “We don’t take a decision based one or two cases. We take the totality of the factors into consideration, epidemiological, public health, economical, then we take the sum total and make a decision. There are many factors being taken into consideration, not just the number of cases. The public will know before the expiry of the deadline,”…

19 Jun

Union denies deal on Pick n Pay retrenchments

ObserverObserver MoneyNamibia Food & Allied Workers Union (NAFAU), Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group

Staff Writer It has emerged Pick n’ Pay could have jumped the gun by announcing plans to retrench 500 employees without reaching an agreement with the Namibia Food & Allied Workers Union (NAFAU). According to Nafau, the union and the retailer owned by the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group, were still to engage over the company plans and the retrenchment announcement took it by surprise, a position confirmed by company. This also comes as it emerged that Pick n’ Pay had only communicated plans to retrench 450 employees to the union and not the 500 announced. “We are not in…