Windhoek Observer – Page 418 – Windhoek Observer

30 Jul

Six tons of dried fish donated to drought relief

National News

Niël Terblanché Deepsea Consolidated Investments donated six metric tons of salt-dried fish towards the government’s drought relief effort. John Mutorwa, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Transport, expressed profound gratitude to Deepsea Consolidated Investments for the donation on Monday. “This act of generosity is a demonstration of the collaborative spirit required to combat the challenges caused by natural disasters,” he said. This is the latest donation towards drought relief activities. The government's Drought Relief Programme, running from July 2024 to June 2025, is a comprehensive initiative aimed at providing immediate relief and long-term solutions to mitigate the…

30 Jul

NamLITS service interruption scheduled for August

National News

Niël Terblanché The Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) within the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) announced a scheduled service interruption of the Namibia Livestock Identification and Traceability System (NamLITS) from 23 to 27 August. The acting director of the DVS, Dr. Johannes Shoopala, informed all users in a special notice issued on Monday that the maintenance work will affect several services rendered by the DVS and the Livestock and Livestock Products Board of Namibia (LLPBN). “This downtime is due to essential maintenance of NamLITS hardware,” he said. Shoopala added that services such as the issuance of livestock…

30 Jul

Does Namibia’s Refusal to Legalize Gay Marriage Question Its Democracy?

Opinions

Tomas Nashongo A closer examination of democracy reveals that it is a system of governance where eligible members of the state dictate laws and policies through their elected representatives. Consequently, these elected representatives work to serve the people. We can thus assess that democracy is a system of governance by people for the people equality and freedom is thus at the core of democratic principles. The refusal to legalize same-sex matrimony questions the anatomy of Namibia's democracy because it denies same sex couples the fundamental tenets of democracy, which is equality and freedom in this case to marry. Furthermore, the…

29 Jul

Environmental assessment for GMO maize underway in Oshikoto

Main

Hertta-Maria Amutenja An environmental assessment is currently being carried out for the release of genetically modified organisms (GMO) maize and irrigation-based agricultural activities at farm Heidelberg-Sued in the Oshikoto Region. Heidelberg 291 CC has appointed Geo Pollution Technologies (Pty) Ltd. to conduct this assessment. Farm Heidelberg-Sued currently irrigates 50 hectares using centre-pivot irrigation systems, sourcing water from registered boreholes on the farm. The main crop is maize, and there is a proposal to replace traditional maize cultivars with genetically modified strains that are resistant to insects and/or herbicides. The assessment covers activities related to the transport, storage, and planting of…

29 Jul

Ngalangi threatens to blow whistle on Phala Phala mastermind’s illegal border crossing

National News

Ester Mbathera Paulus Ngalangi, the former group general manager of finance at Seaflower Whitefish Corporation Limited, has announced plans to expose alleged police misconduct in the Phala Phala cash-in-the-couch saga. Ngalangi confirmed this to the Windhoek Observer on Friday. “Soon, I will demonstrate how the police facilitated the illegal border crossing of Immanuela David and allowed him to travel all the way through to Windhoek, an individual accused in the Phala Phala farm burglary, under the directives of Police Commissioner Nelius Becker,” said Ngalangi. He also claims that the media received false information in an attempt to hide the incident.…

29 Jul

U.S. commits another N$90 million for drought relief

National News

Niël Terblanché The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide an additional N$90 million in humanitarian assistance to support drought-affected people in Namibia. Randy Berry, the U.S. Ambassador to Namibia, made the announcement during a meeting with President Nangolo Mbumba at State House last week. According to a statement released by the U.S. embassy in Windhoek, Berry said that the funding aims to alleviate the impacts of the El Niño-induced drought that has severely affected Namibia's food security and agricultural productivity. He indicated that the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has received a portion of the funds, roughly…

29 Jul

NSA distances itself from AR poster

National News

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The statistician general and chief executive officer of the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), Alex Shimuafeni said the agency's logo appeared on an Affirmative Repositioning movement (AR) poster without the agency's knowledge or consent. Shimuafeni made this statement on Monday while addressing an AR poster about the movement's election workshop in Windhoek over the weekend, to which the NSA among other institutions was invited. At the weekend event, the NSA was to present statistics on economic and demographic data, with the specific theme "Namibia at Glance: Key Demographic and Economic Statistics." “Since the NSA produces data for all data…

29 Jul

Namdia to address vote of no confidence in CEO matter

National News

Niël Terblanché The Namdia board of directors has acknowledged the employees' concerns over revenue losses amounting to approximately N$230 million, leading to a vote of no confidence in the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), Alisa Amupolo. Last week, the employees, under the auspices of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), in a letter addressed to the board of directors and dated 18 July, requested Amupolo’s removal. They cited her alleged incompetence and mismanagement as the primary reasons for the drastic financial downturn. On Monday, the company board assured that they, supported by a governance committee, are committed to addressing these…

29 Jul

Liberation struggle refugees demand war veteran benefits

National News

Niël Terblanché A group of Namibians who claim that they were displaced during the country's war for independence has handed a petition to the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, demanding the same recognition and treatment as war veterans. These individuals, who were repatriated in 1989 from various countries, claim discrimination in the allocation of veteran benefits and are calling for immediate government intervention to rectify the situation. The petition submitted outlines several demands, including the distribution of N$400 000 to each member of the group and access to project funding similar to what recognised veterans of the liberation struggle…

29 Jul

Outjo residents demand cancellation of re-advertisement of CEO position

National News

Martin Endjala The residents of Outjo have criticised their town council following changes in requirements for the chief executive officer position re-advertised in local newspapers last week. The previous requirements were that the candidate should have a minimum of eight years of working experience, five of which should be at the senior management level in a local authority environment. The new requirements entail eight years of working experience, of which five years should be at the middle management, senior management, or executive management level in the local authority environment. The reason for changing these requirements is unclear. The urban and…