Observer

8183 Posts
Weed Control an Integral Aspect of Crop Production

Weed Control an Integral Aspect of Crop Production

Hanks Saisai Crop production is a form of primary agriculture that provides many Namibian households with staple food (grains, fruits and vegetables). In most rural areas of Northern and NorthEastern Namibia, staple grains such as Maize, Pearl Millet (commonly known as Mahangu) and Sorghum are milled into a powder that is used as a staple porridge in many homes. Gratefully, Namibia continues to receive adequate rainfall in most parts of the country ensuring that soil moisture is readily available to support plant growth. When growing crops, it is of great importance to note that as soil moisture is maintained there…
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Hardap prisoners, officers in jailhouse battle

Hardap prisoners, officers in jailhouse battle

Details have emerged how the Namibian Police Force on Tuesday had to be called in to assist the Namibian Correctional Services (NCS) quell a prison fight that had broken out between inmates and prison officials at the Hardap correctional facility. According to insiders, it took more than six hours for the police and correctional officers to bring back order to the prison facility that houses over 250 inmates. The commotion is alleged to have been caused by demands by the correctional officers to carry out a routine search while prisoners were in the yard, where they converge when released from…
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PM roped into Shoprite saga

PM roped into Shoprite saga

Andrew Kathindi The Prime Minister, Saara Kuugongelwa has been dragged into the on-going Shoprite saga after Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (NAFAU) leadership has been in consultation with the Prime Minister over the matter, Windhoek Observer can reveal According to sources close to the matter, the NAFAU leadership have been in meetings over the last two days with the Prime Minister along with the Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation Utoni Nujoma, to try and resolve the matter. The development forced the Shoprite representative and NAFAU to meet on Thursday 14 January at the office of the…
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Smile! You may be on a viral video

In the new normal, video clips of anything and everything can go viral. Some of this footage is heartwarming or harmlessly hilarious. At other times, what is captured on camera is disturbing, frightening and whips up anger. But, those of us watching and forwarding such video clips or so-called ‘reports’ must be more responsible. The public must STOP believing everything they read and see automatically. People must check the source, corroborate, verify and question everything they read, hear or see online. If the public does not do this, access to the internet will be lost. Those in power will eventually…
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Education versus Development in Namibia

Fritz H Dausab “Education is both a tool of social justice as well as a fundamental driver of economic development.” - Kevin Rudd Let’s face it Namibians…COVID-19 just condemned our prospects of economic development to the gutters of soon to be Zimbabwean dictatorship chronicles. In national budgets for the past 30 years, Namibia has given billions upon billions of Namibian Dollars to the education sector. Nothing bad about it…if we believe that those billions is an investment into our human capital, I guess. But as they say, the proof is in the pudding! Which means that for the past thirty…
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COVID regulations extended . . .as virus variant suspicions surge

COVID regulations extended . . .as virus variant suspicions surge

Andrew Kathindi The government has extended the date for enactment of measures currently in place to control the spread of COVID-19 to 3 February. Minister of Health and Social Services Kalumbi Shangula admitted that the situation has worsened since his last address to the nation on 23 December 2020. In the Tuesday address, restrictions such as the daily curfew from 9pm to 4am, public gatherings being limited to a maximum of 50 were retained. Public gatherings are now, however, are not allowed to go beyond two hours and shall not continue beyond 8pm. The minister also revealed that there is…
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Thousands of learners become pregnant during lockdown

Thousands of learners become pregnant during lockdown

Andrew Kathindi The Ministry of Education has revealed that 3,629 school learners became pregnant since March last year when schools were forced to close due to COVID-19 lockdown regulations. Education Minister Anna Nghipondoka argued that this reality was partly the cause for the Ministry’s stance on the re-opening of schools. The figure is over two thousand more school learners than the entire 2019, which recorded 1,542 pregnancies of school going girls. “The number of learners who get pregnant within the time frame of closure and re-opening doubled the normal numbers. I'm just trying to re-emphaize the importance of reopening schools.…
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Shoprite vs workers – a mixed bag of concerns

There are arguments on all sides of the gap in the labour conflict at Shoprite. The solution will not be easy, and each side will end up feeling aggrieved. But, a resolution must be found. There is a need for clarification of ‘temporary’ worker. A part of the list of complaints by Nafau is that ‘temporary’ workers stay on staff for years as if they are permanent. They do the same jobs as ‘permanent’ employees. And yet, they have no benefits and no job security. There is a loophole being exploited. The call for a boycott and demonstrations should yield…
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Shangula to address spike in COVID-19 cases

Shangula to address spike in COVID-19 cases

Staff Writer On Wednesday 13 January Health Minister, Dr Kalumbi Shangula will provide a COVID-19 public briefing on new or extended measures to contain the virus. The briefing comes as the country continues to record rising rates of infection, with 573 new cases recorded on Tuesday, bringing the country cumulative total to 27,255. President Hage Geingob has previously warned that he could reinstitute another State of Emergence if the current measures are not followed and COVID-19 cases continue to rise. According to the Ministry of Health figures, Windhoek (Khomas region) remains the epicentre of the second wave of the pandemic…
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Nafau accuses Shoprite of ignoring judgement …as Thursday AR demonstrations loom

Nafau accuses Shoprite of ignoring judgement …as Thursday AR demonstrations loom

Andrew Kathindi Namibia Food and Allied Workers Union (Nafau) Secretary General Jacob Penda has accused the Shoprite group of not complying with terms of a High Court judgement issued last week. In the case of Nafau vs Shoprite, Justice Shafimana Ueitele on 8 January ordered that the retail chain “not to hire so-called seasonal staff or "fixed term" employees for the purpose of performing, in whole or in part, the work of the employees who embarked on a strike as from 23 December 2020 onwards for the duration of the strike.” However, the company has allegedly continued to disobey the…
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