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The Time Traveler: Queen for a day

Hugh Ellis By the time you read this, the Duchess of Sussex’s allegations of racism and victimization in the British Royal Family - more correctly in the bureaucracy that surrounds them - will have been headline news around the world for a week. As a Namibian with some - increasingly tenuous - links to the United Kingdom, I’m saddened but not surprised. Firstly, it lays bare the kind of subtle racism which Europe (as opposed to Southern Africa or the United States) specializes in. You’ll commonly find white Bits or Germans or Frenchmen as cleaners or gardeners, and it’s extremely…
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AstraZeneca faces mounting bans

AstraZeneca faces mounting bans

Kandjemuni Kamuiiri and Rose-Mary Haufiku Controversy continues to dog the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine as several European countries suspending the use of AstraZeneca vaccine. Despite Namibian Minister of Health and Social Services, Kalumbi Shangula, remaining adamant that Government will go ahead with the procurement of the controversial vaccine through the COVAX facility. European media have been carrying reports that the AstraZeneca vaccine caused thromboembolic events or blood clots among some individuals who received the jab. Three of 17 European countries that have received the AstraZeneca vaccine (Denmark, Norway and Iceland) have, as a precautionary measure, stopped administering the vaccine while Italy,…
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Former SME Bank employees demand N$67m from Government

Former SME Bank employees demand N$67m from Government

Andrew Kathindi Former employees of the now defunct SME Bank are demanding over N$67 million from Government in payment at the value of 12 months’ salary. According to the 208 former employees of the bank, the claim is supported by the recent decision by Finance Minister, Iipumbu Shiimi, to pay out Air Namibia employees’ salaries for one year. The SME Bank employees received their termination of service letters on 25 July 2017, with some only receiving accrued annual leave days, pro-rata bonuses, severance pay and five years long service award for those eligible. “There was no retrenchment package. Nothing at…
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Govt plans Addis murder accused repatriation

Govt plans Addis murder accused repatriation

Maria Hamutenya Namibia is planning to evoke diplomatic immunity for murder accused, Kristofina Amutenya, who allegedly strangled her three children, killing two of them. According to the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation (MIRCO) spokesperson, Bertha Amakali, MIRCO was informed by the Namibian Embassy in Addis Ababa that the Ethiopian Police has finalised investigations and submitted a report to the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The relevant stakeholders, the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General’s Office are finalising the case, at which point the Namibian authorities will be requested to accompany the suspect in question home,” said Amakali.…
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More routes for NAC airports

More routes for NAC airports

Staff Writer Airlink, the privately-owned regional airline has commenced with a new direct service between Cape Town and Walvis Bay scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The new route which started on 02 March 2021, is Airlink’s fourth between South Africa and Namibia, with other services linking Cape Town and Windhoek in addition to flights from Johannesburg to Windhoek and Walvis Bay. The route will also enable seamless multi-city travel itineraries for international and local tourists visiting popular destinations in Namibia and South Africa. This comes as another privately-owned airline FlyWestair intends on increasing their frequencies to Andimba Toivo Ya…
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The impact of COVID-19 on women

The impact of COVID-19 on women

Sepo Haihambo At the core of its purpose, commemorating International Women’s Day is aimed at celebrating women’s accomplishments as well as to honour their contributions to their families and society as a whole. In as much as there is a lot to celebrate in terms of how far society has come in allowing women access to the same opportunities that have always been available to their male counterparts, one needs to concede that much more still needs to be done to ensure broader equality and inclusivity. Progress has indeed been made to enable women to acquire and dispose of property,…
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Wake Up My Beloved Namibia!

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Wake Up My Beloved Namibia, I am consciously, conscientiously and in a moment of sobering realisation and reawakening purposefully titling this week’s instalment, paraphrasing South African novel by Alan Paton, Cry My Beloved Country. Careful in not inducing and lulling fellow Namibians into self pity, and thus helplessness and despair in the face of the mammoth task of reawakening and recharging their ideological consciousness in terms of the struggle of the workers. And consientisation against the self destructive and suicidal development trajectory not to succumb to Alan Paton’s fate of helplessness ala Cry My Beloved Country. There can…
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The Time Traveler: The Covid-19 Ambassadors

Hugh Ellis No one doubts that the restrictions of public gatherings currently are designed to minimize the spread of a deadly disease and improve public health. It’s also no secret these rules are being disobeyed. It’s no secret that mask-wearing, social distancing and so on, even in gatherings of much less than 50 people, is not strictly taking place. I myself have given classes under super strict social-distancing, mask-wearing, hand-and-desk-and-keyboard-sanitizing conditions, only to see some students freely mingling without masks in the corridors outside. While I have no knowledge of any police shooting or beating while enforcing Covid-19 restrictions, anecdotal…
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LPM to face High Court challenge over recall

LPM to face High Court challenge over recall

Maria Hamutenya The Landless People Movement (LPM) is set to be dragged before the High Court by two former Mariental town councillors, Daniel Gariseb and Rogetta Haak. This is after their calls to be reinstated by the opposition party went in vein. The former councillors, through their lawyer, Richard Metcalfe, on Thursday demanded to be reinstated by the party or they will drag the party to court and report them to the Anti-Corruption Commission for corruption. “We gave them till the end of business day on Thursday and until now, we have not received any response from LPM, so we…
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NPS rules out condoms, conjugal rights in prison

NPS rules out condoms, conjugal rights in prison

Maria Hamutenya The Namibian Prison Service (NPS) has ruled out distributing condoms and offering conjugal rights to prisoners despite allegations of sexual abuse and activity among inmates. Commissioner Sam Shalulange of the NPS said condoms cannot be issued to inmates as long as sodomy remains a crime in Namibia. “Issuing condoms to inmates will thus seem to be promoting sodomy in correctional facilities.” Shalulange’s justification for ruling out the distribution of condoms to prisoners to prevent the spread of HIV is that since consensual sodomy is illegal, “providing condoms might make prison officials accessories to crime.” About cases of sexual…
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