National News – Page 395

23 Jun

Current export value of agronomy product at N$311.3

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Stefanus Nashama The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), in its statistical bulletin, says during the first quarter of 2023, the total export of agronomy products was valued at N$311.3 million, while the import bill for the same period amounted to N$518.3 million. NSA Statistician-General and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Shimuafeni released this in the quarterly agriculture, and fishing indicators statistical bulletin, this month. According to him, the NSA indicates that Maize was exported to the value of N$311.1 during the review quarter, mainly for export. In terms of import of agronomy products, Maize and Wheat contributed the highest to the import…

23 Jun

Close corporation amendment bill tabled

info_e12wt4csNational NewsClose corporation amendment bill tabled

Martin Endjala The Minister of Industrialization and Trade Lucia Iipumbu yesterday tabled an Amendment Bill to the Close Corporation Amendment Act No. 26 of 1998 in parliament after Namibia underwent her second peer-review evaluation by the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The outcomes of the peer review necessitate a piecemeal amendment of the Act to avoid Namibia from being greylisted. She said that while the government is prioritizing the findings from the peer review, the government is also cognizant of the fact that the review of the law should be…

23 Jun

Namibia must change laws to avert food insecurity

info_e12wt4csNational NewsNamibia must change laws to avert food insecurity

Niël Terblanché The Meat Industry Act of 1981 should be amended to include poultry, dairy and pork to foster growth in production and to protect producers of all meat and related products. In this regard, certain amendments to the act have already enabled the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform to rename the Meat Board of Namibia as the Livestock and Livestock Products Namibia Board. New amendments tabled in Parliament by the agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein aim to regulate pork, dairy and poultry. “The inclusion of dairy and dairy-related products as well as the poultry and poultry-related products including…

23 Jun

Occupancy rate slowed to one percentage point

info_e12wt4csNational NewsOccupancy rate slowed to one percentage point

Martin Endjala The Occupancy Rate which is referred to as the percentage of occupied rooms in a house at any given time has slowed by a meagre one percentage point in May 2023, from 51.8 percent in April to 50.8 percent in May 2023. However, on an annual basis, occupancy rates have improved by 11.4 percentage points from 39.4 percent in May 2022, still indicative of a recovery in the sector. This is according to the May 2023 Simonis Storm Economist Theo Klein. He said that Namibians have been facing a notable surge in travel expenses, with prices nearly doubling…

23 Jun

SADC police chiefs gather to address transnational crime

info_e12wt4csNational NewsSADC police chiefs gather to address transnational crime

Niël Terblanché Member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are experiencing an increase in transnational crimes of a deadly serious nature that will negatively impact the sub-region. The SADC Chiefs of Police Sub-Committee (SARPCCO) of the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC) gathered in Swakopmund to discuss the regional crime threat assessment. The assessment for the SADC showed that trafficking of illicit small arms and light weapons as well as explosives, cash in transit heists, trafficking in illicit drugs, infrastructure and environmental crimes, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants and illegal mining, among others are negatively impacting…

22 Jun

Uproar as 11-year-old boy commits suicide amid bullying rumors

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Stefanus Nashama The family of the late Christopher Boois, an 11-year-old learner at Kronlein Primary School has been left in shock after he committed suicide on 15 June 2023 by hanging himself at home after he was reportedly bullied at school. According to the family Spokesperson, Wilhelmina Goeieman, the boy, who was in Grade 5, took his own life after bullies tore up his report card and his shirt which he went to fetch. Boois was allegedly attacked by a group of boys who wore masks. He told a family member that some of the boys were older than him…

22 Jun

Oshikoto Region rocked by GBV and teenage pregnancy

info_e12wt4csNational NewsOshikoto Region rocked by GBV and teenage pregnancy

Martin Endjala The Oshikoto Region has of late recorded a ten percent increase in the number of gender-based violence (GBV) cases while teenage pregnancies and school dropouts also pose a challenge. Penda Ya Ndakolo, the Oshikoto Regional Governor during his State of the Region Address, revealed that GBV is a prevalent problem in Namibia that impacts all aspects of life. Ya Ndakolo said that in most cases these incidences happen because children are left alone at home without parental care. So far there have been 81 rape cases, 46 domestic violence cases, and 246 stock theft cases reported in the…

22 Jun

Hygiene is the only way to curb the scourge of scabies

info_e12wt4csNational NewsHygiene is the only way to curb the scourge of scabies

Martin Endjala The Executive Director of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Ben Nangombe has reiterated that the best measure to curb the outbreak of scabies is by practising good hygiene at all times while ensuring that clothes and blankets are washed and hung to dry outside to be exposed to the sun. Nangombe was responding to a question posed to him in the wake of the recent State of the Regional Address of the Ohangwena region, in which Governor Walde Ndevashiya revealed that the region is still battling scabies. Ndevashiya said this is attributed to the rising number…

22 Jun

N$40m spent on infrastructure development in Oshikoto

info_e12wt4csNational NewsN$40m spent on infrastructure development in Oshikoto

Martin Endjala The Oshikoto Regional Council used N$40 million from its budgeted N$46 million for the development of infrastructure in the region during the past year while the execution rate for infrastructure development stood at 88 percent. Penda Ya Ndakolo the Oshikoto Regional Governor during his State of the Region Address, said that the region focused on the provision of clean drinking water, electrification of rural areas, settlements and growth centres, surveying of settlements, implementation of the sanitation program, and the construction of roads and offices. During the year under review, the Oshikoto Regional Council budgeted for 17 areas to…

22 Jun

Women are key in combating desertification

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Niël Terblanché The Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Heather Sibungo says women are major global actors in reducing and reversing land degradation. She also noted that despite women making up half of the global population, they have unequal and limited access to and control over land in most countries while being regarded as the vital element in the combat against desertification. Sibungo was speaking at the commemoration of Desertification and Drought Day. “We cannot achieve land degradation neutrality without gender equality, and we cannot exclude half of the world’s population from land management decisions because of their gender,”…