National News

Moses Magadza The Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) has called on Namibia to establish a National Women’s Parliamentary Caucus to accelerate gender-responsive governance and amplify women’s voices in decision-making. Speaking at a high-level roundtable on women in politics and leadership in Swakopmund, SADC PF Secretary General Boemo Sekgoma cautioned that the journey towards gender parity in politics requires both institutional muscle and sustained commitment. She applauded Namibia’s gender milestones, including the recent election of President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as the country’s first female President, but stressed that political progress must be impactful. “Women make up only 40% of…

Justicia Shipena  Former environment and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta is demanding a police investigation into how details of a rape allegation against him were leaked to the media before he was contacted by investigators. Shifeta’s lawyer, Sisa Namandje, said in a letter to inspector general Joseph Shikongo that the leak violated his client’s rights.  He said it exposed Shifeta to public scrutiny over what he described as a false and malicious allegation. “Our client was published on what is clearly a false allegation of rape without being accorded an opportunity to explain,” Namandje wrote. He further called on the police…

Justicia Shipena  Minister of trade Selma Ashipala-Musavyi called for increased exports under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).  She urged greater participation from SMEs, women, and youth across a wider range of products and services. She was speaking on Thursday at the ministerial regional business engagement in Swakopmund.  Her remarks come after Namibia made its first official export under the AfCFTA framework last month, sending 45,000 tonnes of salt from Walvis Bay to Nigeria. She said consultations between businesses and the government will continue.  “These consultations are meant to continue engaging in order to foster a conducive business environment…

Erasmus Shalihaxwe Namibia has made progress in aviation decarbonisation through national capacity building, regulatory development, and policy improvement.  This is according to Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) executive director Toska Sem. Sem was speaking on Wednesday at a regional workshop on sustainable aviation fuel and emissions reduction underway in Windhoek.  The three-day event, which ends Friday, is organised by the NCAA in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The workshop focuses on the carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation (CORSIA), sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), and CORSIA Eligible Fuels (CEF).  It forms…

Allexer Namundjembo Several individuals have submitted forged Namibia Senior Secondary Certificates (NSSC) when applying for jobs, the ministry of education has said. The directorate of national examinations and assessment (DNEA), according to education executive director Mbumba Haitengela, discovered the discrepancies during the verification process.  “Upon further review against the official national examinations database, discrepancies were found between the submitted documents and the original examination records,” Haitengela said. The DNEA flagged multiple cases of forgery during the authentication of academic documents submitted to both public and private institutions.  It expressed concern about the growing number of forged qualifications submitted for verification.…

Allexer Namundjembo Women in politics were urged to move beyond representation and focus on creating meaningful impact.  This call was made during a national roundtable on women in politics and decision-making held on Wednesday at Seaside Hotel in Swakopmund. Speaker of the National Assembly, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, opened the event by emphasising the importance of inclusive leadership.  “Appointing women is not a favour but a recognition of the value they bring to society,” she said. She raised concern over the drop in women’s representation in Parliament.  “During the 7th Parliament, we achieved 50%. Today, we stand at 38%. This decline must…