Opinions – Page 10 – Windhoek Observer

09 Sep

The crucial role of student leadership in education: beyond politics

Opinions

Taapopi Naftali As a student leader, I have seen firsthand how student representative bodies like NANSO, NASA, SUN, and others are constantly contradicted and undermined, often for the wrong reasons. These organisations are essential because they are the voice of the learners; they identify challenges, propose solutions, and implement programmes that improve the educational experience for everyone. Yet, instead of being supported, we face unnecessary resistance from directors, principals, and institutional authorities. Student leaders are often blocked from carrying out their programmes; mentorship initiatives, awareness campaigns, peer-support sessions, and skill-building workshops are delayed or cancelled due to bureaucracy and unnecessary…

09 Sep

OBSERVER DAILY | Bantustan ghosts in a unitary state

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s address to the 26th Annual Meeting of the Council of Traditional Leaders should send shivers down the spine of anyone who cares about Namibia’s unity. On the surface, her speech was respectful and conciliatory, an olive branch to chiefs, hompas, and traditional authorities across the land. But between the lines lay a sobering warning: our country risks sliding back into a Bantustan mentality, the very disease our liberation struggle sought to cure. The illusion of tradition Let us be brutally honest. Traditional authorities play a role in our cultural identity. They preside over rituals, settle minor disputes,…

08 Sep

365 days of palliative care operations in Namibia

Featured, Opinions

Rolf Hansen The Cancer Association of Namibia (WO30) proudly marks the first anniversary of the House Zietsman Care Facility, under the auspices of Palliative Care Namibia, a programme in our organisation. This milestone offers an opportunity to reflect not only on victories but also on the many challenges that continue to shape our journey. It has not been an easy road. Yet the reward has been overwhelmingly positive. One lesson stands out clearly – the understanding of palliative care, even within Namibia’s broader medical ecosystem, remains limited. Too often, there is a reluctance to confront the reality of death and…

08 Sep

OBSERVER DAILY | Namibia’s unequal struggle: From recognition to real action

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

When Finance Minister Erica Shafudah addressed over 800 delegates and 80 central bank governors at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Global Policy Forum in Swakopmund, she did something that deserves recognition: she confronted the uncomfortable truth. Namibia, three decades after independence, remains one of the most unequal societies in the world. The minister did not hide behind slogans or polished talking points. Instead, she acknowledged that inequality, rooted in colonial dispossession and apartheid exclusion, continues to cast a long shadow over our democracy. That candor matters. Too often, governments facing stubborn structural problems resort to denial or distraction. Commending…

05 Sep

OBSERVER DAILY | GIPF-backed home loans: Hope or hidden risk?

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

For many Namibians, home ownership remains more of a dream than a reality. The numbers are sobering: a housing backlog of 300,000 units, more than 200,000 shacks in Windhoek alone, and an average three-bedroom house in the capital costing around N$1.2 million. Against this backdrop, the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) has launched its Pension-Backed Home Loan Scheme (PBHLS), which will take effect next January. The scheme allows civil servants and other GIPF members to use up to one-third of their pension savings as collateral for a home loan. On paper, it promises cheaper financing, easier access, and the dignity…

05 Sep

Is a national airline really a development pillar?

Opinions

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Air Namibia ceased operations and was liquidated in 2021. The Namibian government decided to shut it down as a last resort given the substantial financial burden on the state. Thus, Namibia currently lacks a national flag carrier, for better or worse. For better or worse. For better with its demise having been a good riddance for releasing much-needed resources for other priorities rather than investing such in a bottomless hole as it seemed. Although given the kleptomaniac culture that has for long now been engulfing and gripping the country extensively, firmly and systemic, there’s no certainty if indeed…

05 Sep

The interplay of economic diplomacy and conventional diplomacy: the case of Angola and Namibia’s bilateral & multilateral trade agreements

Opinions

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Abstract With the Inter-Africa Trade Fair (IATF) taking place in Algiers this September under the theme “a gateway to new opportunities” underpinned by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), this article follows in the footsteps of the article on 30 August 2025 that appeared in this newspaper under the title “Diplomacy or Trade: Where is the centre of gravity? In that article, it is said that today’s ambassadors are called upon to transcend traditional confines and embrace their paramount role as Namibia’s chief economic architects and frontline salespeople in…

04 Sep

Voting at sixteen risks exploiting the youth

Featured, Opinions

Hidipo Hamata Over the past weeks, Namibians have witnessed the tabling of a motion in the National Assembly proposing that the voting age in Namibia be reduced from eighteen to sixteen years. On the surface, the idea may appear to be progressive, perhaps even inclusive, as it purports to recognise the voices of our younger generation. However, a deeper interrogation of this matter reveals far more complex constitutional, developmental, social, and political implications which we must not overlook for the sake of political expedience. The Namibian Constitution, as our supreme law, is the foundation upon which we build our democracy.…

04 Sep

OBSERVER DAILY | Sergeant Eustance Simasiku Matongo: a life of service, cut short

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

On Wednesday night, Namibia lost not just a police officer but a son of the soil, a protector, and a man whose devotion to duty shone through even in his final moments. Sergeant Eustance Simasiku Matongo, aged only 34, was gunned down in Walvis Bay while responding to an armed robbery. His death is a painful reminder of the risks our men and women in uniform face every single day, often with little appreciation, and sometimes with outright hostility from the very society they serve. The weight carried by police officers The Namibian Police Force, like many across the world,…

03 Sep

Are honorary PhDs in Namibia sending the right message?

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

Allexer Namundjembo Namibia has seen a growing trend of awarding honorary doctorates to sitting politicians and high-ranking officials. While intended to recognise public service, we must ask: are we equating political office with academic achievement? Honorary degrees should celebrate exceptional contributions to society or scholarship. When they are routinely given to presidents or ministers without evident academic work, the value of higher education risks being diluted. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu reminds us: “Education is not just about knowledge. It is a means of establishing legitimacy and authority. When credentials are given without the corresponding effort, the social value of education is…