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Hertta-Maria Amutenja The Inspector General of the Namibian Police Force, Lieutenant General Joseph Shikongo has, last week, announced the promotion of four senior officers that will become effective from 1 September. In this regard, Deputy Commissioner Philip Hidengwa has been promoted to the rank of Commissioner. He previously served as the Kunene Regional Crime Investigations Coordinator and along with the promotion, he was transferred to become the Regional Commander of Otjozondjupa Region. Chief Inspector Swaama Mburuu has been elevated to the renal of Deputy Commissioner. Mburuu will transition from heading the Regional Crime Investigations Division in the Kavango East Region…

Stefanus Nashama The leader of the Affirmative Repositioning movement (AR), Job Amupanda, has appealed to the nation for financial contributions to enable the party to launch its election campaign. He made the request during a media conference in Windhoek on Thursday. “Unlike existing political parties that receive funds from Parliament, the Chinese, the Brits, or through corruption, the AR movement does not receive any money from any defined institutional or well-established sources. We are funding our campaign from our pockets and through Good Samaritans whose hearts and minds have been touched by God,” he said. Amupanda said that despite the…

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has acknowledged a complaint from the Landless Peoples Movement (LPM) for not registering inmates. The LPM’s spokesperson, Lifalaza Simataa wrote to the ECN on Monday that the electoral body is excluding Namibians who are incarcerated from registering for voter cards. Simataa stated that every eligible Namibian should have the opportunity to participate in their democratic rights. The ECN's mandate is to ensure that all Namibians have the ability to register to vote. “This unfair and intentional exclusion of inmates is robbing these Namibians of their democratic rights, further dehumanising and excluding them…

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The Popular Democratic Movement’s (PDM) secretary general, Manuel Ngaringombe has urged party members who wish to contest for any position at the upcoming elective congress to start campaigning publicly. Ngaringombe made the call during the party's training of trainers workshop, which took place at Otjiwarongo over the weekend. ‘’I am therefore calling upon all members of the PDM who want to contest for any position within the movement to please start campaigning openly and prepare themselves to be voted into any position of their choice, in order to advance the mission and vision of this great movement,’’ said…

Niël Terblanché Namibia will impose new visa requirements on nationals from 33 countries at the beginning of April 2025. This decision, announced by Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security Deputy Minister Lucia Witbooi, follows a thorough review of the visa-free agreements established 33 years ago. Deputy Minister Witbooi explained that despite Namibia's long-standing goodwill in exempting many countries from visa requirements, several of these nations have not reciprocated. "Namibia has extended visa exemptions to many countries, but unfortunately, the same courtesy has not always been returned. In recent years, both Canada and the UK reintroduced visa requirements for Namibian passport…

Martin Endjala Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing survival challenges as government capital projects and funds are redirected to the state-owned August 26 Construction. Peter Amadhila, vice president of the Namibia Local Business Association, noted that, as a result, many SMEs in the construction sector are struggling. “Stop asking about projects, as there are hardly any or no more projects, especially construction, going into the SMEs countrywide. All government construction projects are allocated directly to August 26, uncontested,” he said. Amadhila said roads are also allocated to the government's parastatal company, Roads Construction Company (RCC). “The native businessmen and…

Martin Endjala The Whistleblower Protection Act, passed in 2017, urgently needs to go into effect, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM). Graham Hopwood, the executive director of IPPR, made the call on African Anti-Corruption Day, observed annually on July 11. This year's theme is “Effective Whistleblowers Protection Mechanism: A Critical Tool in the Fight Against Corruption”.“ “In view of this, the IPPR, through its Integrity Namibia project, calls on the government to urgently operationalise the Whistleblower Protection Act, which was passed in 2017. Seven years later, this crucial law remains unimplemented,…