National News

Niël Terblanché The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide an additional N$90 million in humanitarian assistance to support drought-affected people in Namibia. Randy Berry, the U.S. Ambassador to Namibia, made the announcement during a meeting with President Nangolo Mbumba at State House last week. According to a statement released by the U.S. embassy in Windhoek, Berry said that the funding aims to alleviate the impacts of the El Niño-induced drought that has severely affected Namibia's food security and agricultural productivity. He indicated that the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has received a portion of the funds, roughly…

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The statistician general and chief executive officer of the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), Alex Shimuafeni said the agency's logo appeared on an Affirmative Repositioning movement (AR) poster without the agency's knowledge or consent. Shimuafeni made this statement on Monday while addressing an AR poster about the movement's election workshop in Windhoek over the weekend, to which the NSA among other institutions was invited. At the weekend event, the NSA was to present statistics on economic and demographic data, with the specific theme "Namibia at Glance: Key Demographic and Economic Statistics." “Since the NSA produces data for all data…

Niël Terblanché The Namdia board of directors has acknowledged the employees' concerns over revenue losses amounting to approximately N$230 million, leading to a vote of no confidence in the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), Alisa Amupolo. Last week, the employees, under the auspices of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), in a letter addressed to the board of directors and dated 18 July, requested Amupolo’s removal. They cited her alleged incompetence and mismanagement as the primary reasons for the drastic financial downturn. On Monday, the company board assured that they, supported by a governance committee, are committed to addressing these…

Niël Terblanché A group of Namibians who claim that they were displaced during the country's war for independence has handed a petition to the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, demanding the same recognition and treatment as war veterans. These individuals, who were repatriated in 1989 from various countries, claim discrimination in the allocation of veteran benefits and are calling for immediate government intervention to rectify the situation. The petition submitted outlines several demands, including the distribution of N$400 000 to each member of the group and access to project funding similar to what recognised veterans of the liberation struggle…

Martin Endjala The residents of Outjo have criticised their town council following changes in requirements for the chief executive officer position re-advertised in local newspapers last week. The previous requirements were that the candidate should have a minimum of eight years of working experience, five of which should be at the senior management level in a local authority environment. The new requirements entail eight years of working experience, of which five years should be at the middle management, senior management, or executive management level in the local authority environment. The reason for changing these requirements is unclear. The urban and…

Martin Endjala The Luderitz Municipal Town Council has allocated more than 140 residential serviced plots by way of an offer to purchase and private treaty in terms of Section 63(2)(3) of the Local Authority Act No. 23 of 1992 to people who earn below-average incomes. Speaking to the Windhoek Observer on Monday, the mayor of Lüderitz, Phillippus Balhao stated that the serviced land is only available for residential purposes. “The current serviced plots are only allocated for residential purposes for now; commercial and industrial plots will be made available in the future,” he said. The Lüderitz municipal council issued a…

Hertta-Maria Amutenja Paratus and Demshi Telco have signed a master lease agreement that will allow Paratus to use Demshi's open-access fibre network in Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, and Khomasdal in Windhoek, to provide high-speed fibre connections to their clients. The agreement signed on 29 July follows network testing conducted by both companies in Walvis Bay. “Demshi and Paratus undertook network testing in Walvis Bay, which was very successful and demonstrated the reliability of Demshi fibre network,“ said Demshi’s Managing Director, Werner Shilunga. Currently, the Walvis Bay fibre network is live, covering 3 500 house passes, making it the largest fibre network…

Martin Endjala The Oshikoto regional education director, Aletta Eises was accused of deliberately orchestrating the exclusion of six teachers from the Oshigambo High School from being part of the team that will mark the 2024 national examination for the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Advanced Subsidiary (NSSCAS) and the Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinary Level (NSSCO). The school principal, Pinhas Ekongo, said he only found out about the exclusion when questioned by the National Examination and Assessment (DNEA) on 23 July. Teachers from other schools at the time received their approved forms, but none from Oshigambo received recommendations for marking. “I…

Niël Terblanché President Nangolo Mbumba has called for substantial reforms in Namibia’s banking sector to address the concerns of ordinary Namibians, particularly regarding the financing of entrepreneurial initiatives. The President made the request during a meeting held at State House on Friday with the top management of all commercial banks in Namibia. Mbumba pointed out the critical role that banks play in the country's economic and monetary stability. He stressed the need for banks to extend their mandates beyond traditional roles and actively foster entrepreneurship, drive innovation, and promote technological advancement. Mbumba pointed out that high interest rates, excessive bank…