National News – Page 498 – Windhoek Observer

17 Jul

Same-sex marriage debate puts human dignity at stake

National News

Niël Terblanché The rights to human dignity, freedom from discrimination and freedom of association are enshrined rights in the Namibian Constitutional Rights which cannot be changed by any politician. According to Advocate Richard Metcalfe, Article 25 of the Constitution specifically bars Parliament from making any law or the Executive from taking any action which abolishes or abridges such fundamental rights and freedoms. Advocate Metcalfe’s reaction follows the private member’s bill that was tabled in Parliament last week. The debate reached a deadlock after parliamentarians from different sides of the political spectrum could not agree on the specific definitions of marriage…

17 Jul

Water shortages and power outages challenge Kavango East

National NewsWater shortages and power outages challenge Kavango East

Hertta-Maria Amutenja Electricity blackouts continue to be a problem in the Kavango East region despite the electrification of Mutengo Mukuru in the Rundu Rural Constituency and Ncushe Primary School in the Mashare Constituency, which was successfully completed at the cost of N$714 889.54 and N$96 545.39, respectively. The region’s Governor, Bonifatius Wakudumo, stated that the issue of electricity blackouts in the region is regrettable and causes both business disruption and inconvenience to residents of Kavango East. “We must move with speed to end the nightmare of frequent blackouts or find a solution that will eliminate the blackouts before people call…

17 Jul

Trade unions and workers not part of the agreement – Klazen

National NewsTrade unions and workers not part of the agreement – Klazen

Stefanus Nashama During the engagements with the trade unions and fishing companies on Friday at Walvis Bay, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Derek Klazen, said unions and workers are not part of the agreement signed between the fishing companies and the government. The agreement signed between the government and the fishing companies is that of ‘the government employment redressing programme’ which aims to employ the fishermen who lost their jobs since 2015. The agreement also included Namsov workers, who experienced job cuts after the drastic reduction of horse mackerel quota allocations, and an estimated 1 000 fishermen who…

17 Jul

Namcol strives for quality education and inclusivity

National NewsNamcol strives for quality education and inclusivity

Martin Endjala The Namibia College of Open Learning (NAMCOL) wants to become an outstanding open distance and e-learning institution, that provides inclusive, high-quality education and training through innovative approaches. The institute stated that it strives to offer opportunities for adults and out-of-school youth to advance their education and acquire new skills Namcol signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Namibia Investment Promotion Development Board in May 2023 to strengthen its position in reaching its goal to implement the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Digital Bootcamps across nine regions at the NAMCOL Computer-Based Learning Centres. Responding to questions sent to…

17 Jul

Sleeping woman killed by cash in transit vehicle

National News

Niël Terblanché The 54-year-old Emilia Kuhafi Shuudifonya was killed on Saturday morning when a vehicle burst through the walls of her shack, located in the Tutaleni informal settlement of Walvis Bay while she was sleeping. According to the official incident report, provided by Inspector Ileni Shapumba, the head of the Community Affairs Division of the Namibian Police in the Erongo Region, the tragic accident occurred at about 10:00 when an employee of Namibia Protection Services, driving a Cash-in-Transit vehicle, lost control of it and smashed into the shack on the corner of Seemeeu and Cormorant streets. Inspector Shapumba said the…

17 Jul

Transforming school funding is key to inclusivity

National News

Martin Endjala The designing and implementation of a provision of school grant policy will do much for the realisation of two of the goals of education, equity and equality. Hofni Iipinge, the Central Committee and Politburo Swapo Party Member and Deputy Secretary of Education Arts and Sport at the party level, welcomed the decision to approve the School Grant Policy by Cabinet, citing it as a very positive move. Iipinge said that in the past, the provision of equal resources to state schools has been inappropriate, considering that schools in rural and remote areas face more pressing challenges than schools…

17 Jul

Woman (22) attempts to kill her baby

National NewsWoman (22) attempts to kill her baby

Hertta-Maria Amutenja A 22-year-old mother from the Okahandja district was arrested after she tried to kill her 11-month-old son by hanging him from the roof of a shack. The infant was miraculously saved by his uncle. Deputy Commissioner Kauna Shikwambi, Spokesperson for Nampol, said the incident occurred on Saturday morning at the Uitkomst resettlement farm near Hochfeld. “The baby was rescued by the suspect’s elder brother, who broke the door, entered and removed him from the hanging rope just in time. The victim is in a stable condition and received necessary medical assistance,” said Shikwambi. The suspect is detained and…

14 Jul

Amupanda questions legitimacy of agreements with Malaysian university

National NewsAmupanda questions legitimacy of agreements with Malaysian university

Niël Terblanché Job Amupanda, the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) leader and former Mayor of the City of Windhoek, in his crusade against the Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Itah Kandjii-Murangi has released a draft of a Memorandum of Understanding that would seemingly have forced the Namibian taxpayer to fund a privately owned university from Malaysia. Amupanda published a copy of the draft document on his Twitter account and said that the Minister was attempting to force the former acting Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Training Authority (NTA), Muvatera Ndjoze-Siririka, to sign the MoU with the Limkokwing University of…

14 Jul

Mushelenga’s “Lazy Journalists” condemned

National NewsMushelenga’s “Lazy Journalists” condemned

Stefanus Nashama The Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Peya Mushelenga, is under fire for criticizing journalists and labeling them “lazy”, at a meeting hosted on Wednesday with local News Editors. At the said meeting, Mushelenga expressed concern with what he termed “lazy journalists,” urging them to do their work with the utmost professionalism. He further said in contrast with the past, journalists are too lazy to take notes when someone is speaking at an event, adding that they will rather request a copy of the speech from the speaker. Mushelenga stood his ground in an interview with the Windhoek…

14 Jul

Ex Air Namibia employees beg for Parliamentary intervention

National News

Stefanus Nashama Former Air Namibia employees yesterday met with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources and Community Development in an effort to seek lawmakers’ intervention on the delay of payment of their severance packages. The consultation meeting with the Parliament follows two petitions received from the disgruntled employees of the now-liquidated airline. The former employees are begging the committee to summon stakeholders to explain the delays in the payment of their severance packages. According to the Former employees’ Representative, Renier Bougard, repeated attempts to seek an audience with stakeholders have not yielded any positive results. He said they have…