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Shifeta turns to police over alleged rape claim

Shifeta turns to police over alleged rape claim

Justicia Shipena  Former environment and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta is demanding a police investigation into how details of a rape allegation against him were leaked to the media before he was contacted by investigators. Shifeta’s lawyer, Sisa Namandje, said in a letter to inspector general Joseph Shikongo that the leak violated his client’s rights.  He said it exposed Shifeta to public scrutiny over what he described as a false and malicious allegation. “Our client was published on what is clearly a false allegation of rape without being accorded an opportunity to explain,” Namandje wrote. He further called on the police…
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Ashipala-Musavyi calls for more exports under AfCFTA

Ashipala-Musavyi calls for more exports under AfCFTA

Justicia Shipena  Minister of trade Selma Ashipala-Musavyi called for increased exports under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).  She urged greater participation from SMEs, women, and youth across a wider range of products and services. She was speaking on Thursday at the ministerial regional business engagement in Swakopmund.  Her remarks come after Namibia made its first official export under the AfCFTA framework last month, sending 45,000 tonnes of salt from Walvis Bay to Nigeria. She said consultations between businesses and the government will continue.  “These consultations are meant to continue engaging in order to foster a conducive business environment…
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Namibia builds capacity for cleaner aviation

Namibia builds capacity for cleaner aviation

Erasmus Shalihaxwe Namibia has made progress in aviation decarbonisation through national capacity building, regulatory development, and policy improvement.  This is according to Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) executive director Toska Sem. Sem was speaking on Wednesday at a regional workshop on sustainable aviation fuel and emissions reduction underway in Windhoek.  The three-day event, which ends Friday, is organised by the NCAA in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The workshop focuses on the carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation (CORSIA), sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), and CORSIA Eligible Fuels (CEF).  It forms…
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Job seekers forge grade 12 certificates

Job seekers forge grade 12 certificates

Allexer Namundjembo Several individuals have submitted forged Namibia Senior Secondary Certificates (NSSC) when applying for jobs, the ministry of education has said. The directorate of national examinations and assessment (DNEA), according to education executive director Mbumba Haitengela, discovered the discrepancies during the verification process.  “Upon further review against the official national examinations database, discrepancies were found between the submitted documents and the original examination records,” Haitengela said. The DNEA flagged multiple cases of forgery during the authentication of academic documents submitted to both public and private institutions.  It expressed concern about the growing number of forged qualifications submitted for verification.…
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Women leaders urged to influence policy

Women leaders urged to influence policy

Allexer Namundjembo Women in politics were urged to move beyond representation and focus on creating meaningful impact.  This call was made during a national roundtable on women in politics and decision-making held on Wednesday at Seaside Hotel in Swakopmund. Speaker of the National Assembly, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, opened the event by emphasising the importance of inclusive leadership.  “Appointing women is not a favour but a recognition of the value they bring to society,” she said. She raised concern over the drop in women’s representation in Parliament.  “During the 7th Parliament, we achieved 50%. Today, we stand at 38%. This decline must…
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Nampoa aims for stronger industry voice with new leaders

Nampoa aims for stronger industry voice with new leaders

Justicia Shipena The newly appointed leadership of the Namibian Petroleum Operators Association (Nampoa) aims to enhance its role in the oil and gas sector by strengthening dialogue, coordination, and engagement across the industry. On Wednesday, Nampoa announced changes to its board. Shell Namibia country chair Eduardo Rodriguez has been appointed chairperson, replacing Klaus Endresen, who stepped down after two terms and over 30 years of service to the association and the industry. As a founding member of Nampoa since its establishment in 1992, the association said Endresen will remain on the board as a representative of BW Kudu.  The association…
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Use of local materials can cut building costs – INQS

Use of local materials can cut building costs – INQS

Justicia Shipena  Sourcing construction materials locally or within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region can help reduce building costs in Namibia, says Frederick van Greunen, a board member of the Institute of Namibian Quantity Surveyors (INQS). He was speaking to the Windhoek Observer on Wednesday during the INQS business breakfast held in Windhoek.  The event brought together over 60 participants, including architects, engineers, banks, lawyers, suppliers, and equity financiers, to discuss the role of quantity surveyors in the building industry. “We need to look in our neighbourhood if we are buying materials—tiles, steel, paint, sheeting. We mustn’t always import…
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Hot weather slows Namibian swimmers in Singapore

Hot weather slows Namibian swimmers in Singapore

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The World Aquatics Championships in Singapore  has postponed the event yesterday, after extreme heat pushed temperatures to 31 degrees Celsius The organisers said the event will proceed once the water temperature has dropped to acceptable levels under World Aquatics regulations. Namibia Aquatic Sports Federation president Riaan Steyn said the hot weather negatively affected Namibian swimmer Nico Esslinger, who finished 47th in the 10 km open water event with a time of 11 minutes and 57.90 seconds. “The race was postponed until water quality became better. During this morning’s testing there was a significant improvement in water quality and…
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Welwitschias lean on home crowd spirit ahead of Africa Cup final

Welwitschias lean on home crowd spirit ahead of Africa Cup final

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The national rugby team, the Welwitschias, have called on supporters to rally behind them as they prepare to face Zimbabwe in the Rugby Africa Cup final. The final is set for Saturday at Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda, where the tournament has been taking place for the past two weeks, featuring several African rugby nations. Speaking on Wednesday, vice-captain Danco Burger thanked sponsors and fans for their support so far and urged them to continue backing the team in the final. “I would love to thank our loyal supporters and sponsors for your immense support these couple…
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How competition among students is making them lose touch with their roots.

How competition among students is making them lose touch with their roots.

Junias VH Shipwilikineni Today, many students are caught up in a fierce race to outdo each other. Competition has become part of our daily lives, mostly driven by peer pressure. But in the middle of all this, we are losing something very important: our connection to where we come from. As a student myself, I have realised that we are messing up a lot because of this pressure to compete. We forget our culture, our families, and the values that once guided us. Instead, we focus only on being the best, sometimes at any cost. This is making us truly…
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