National News

Erasmus Shalihaxwe Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo said his ministry has a vision to manage the oil and gas sector transparently and ethically. Alweendo made these remarks in parliament while defending his ministry’s budget recently. “Our participation is only guaranteed if we prepare ourselves. For that to happen, we need to develop dogged determination to make it happen. Success will require Namibian entrepreneurs that are both curious and serious, lest we create an environment characterised by fronting and tokenism,” he said. One of the plans initiated is the development of a Local Content Policy for the sector. Alweendo…

Stefanus Nashama The Security Association of Namibia (SAN) has distanced itself from the national strike which took place early this week at the Katutura Youth Complex in Windhoek. The strike was organised by the Namibia Security Workers Union (NASWU), and led by its president, Michael Amushelelo. Amushelelo and his union are demanding a minimum hourly pay rate of N$15 for guards from the currently gazetted minimum wage of N$8.75 per hour. , According to SAN’s national president, Dhiginina Uutaapama the strike earlier this week was illegal since it was organised by NASWU, an unregistered union, which he said is not…

Stefanus Nashama Oshakati Town Council has allocated N$1 million to introduce a prepaid water meter system. This comes after residents of the town requested the town council to introduce the prepaid water meter system, citing that the meter system works better because of the unrealistic way the municipality charges for water supply. Speaking to the Windhoek Observer yesterday, the town’s mayor, Leonard Hango, said the town council is aware of the matter. He revealed that the local authority management has allocated the necessary funds from the current budget to address the matter. “The prepaid meter system has been a wish…

Niël Terblanché The minister of health and social services Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, has expressed concern about the implication the increase in population poses on the Namibian health and social services infrastructure. Namibia’s population surged from 2,113,077 in 2011 to 3,022,401 in 2023. In a recent update to the nation, Shangula revealed that the health system was originally designed to serve a much smaller population of 1.4 million. “Addressing the challenges brought about by this population growth, the ministry has embarked on an extensive program to enhance public health and social services, which are vital for over 85% of Namibians,” the…

Hertta-Maria Amutenja Namibia is grappling with a deficit in safe houses catering to adult victims of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the various regions of the country. This was confirmed to the Windhoek Observer by various police regional commanders on Wednesday when questioned on how they handle GBV victims. This comes in the wake of increasing GBV cases in the country. Hardap Region crime investigations cordinator deputy commissioner, Eric Clay disclose that although a safe house exists in the region, it has been non-operational since 2020. "There is a safe house, but it's not operational. There have been no staff members…

Niël Terblanché The global diamond industry is encountering unprecedented challenges, with significant impacts on countries like Namibia that are reliant on diamond exports for vital foreign revenue. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo highlighted these concerns during a parliamentary budget speech. He emphasised the declining global demand and highlighted the potential risk posed by the G7's new regulatory stance on the diamond trade. The G7/EU sanctions regime is based on technological traceability and has set forth import restrictions on Russian diamonds, impacting the trade of rough and polished diamonds of any size imported directly or via third countries…

Martin Endjala Namibia is currently experiencing a more rapid slowdown in annual inflation than anticipated. This was said on Tuesday by an economic researcher at Simonis Storm Securities, Halleluya Ndimulunde who was responding to the recently released economic outlook report, stating that this marks a deceleration from the 7.2% recorded in March 2023 and 5.0% in February 2024. In March 2024 the country saw an annual inflation rate of 4.5%, the lowest since July 2023. “Monthly inflation remained unchanged, consistent with the rate reported in the previous month (0.0 %). The primary contributor to headline inflation remains the food and…

Martin Endjala The trade volumes between Namibia and China will be U$1.3 billion in 2023, with a year-on-year growth of 16.5 percent. This was revealed by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy Shen Jian, at the promotion conference of the Seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE) and Hongqiao International Economic Forum held in Windhoek on Tuesday. According to Jian, China has been the second-largest trading partner of Namibia for many years. “China welcomes more Namibian products to enter the Chinese market, and the two governments are currently negotiating on the export of Namibia’s deep-sea red crab, abalone, mutton, grape,…

Niël Terblanché An act of desperation led to the arrest of eight farmers from Gobabis who took matters into their own hands by occupying a government-owned farm near Gobabis in the Omaheke Region on Saturday. The group, along with their livestock, set up residence at the Witsand farm, which has reportedly been unused for more than three years. This action led to their arrest for trespassing by the Namibian Police on Tuesday. The farmers, frustrated by a lack of grazing land and what they perceive as inaction on the part of authorities, erected shacks and offloaded more than 300 of…