Observer

8195 Posts

LEGALIZE IT – With immediate effect

It is ridiculous for Namibia to insist upon putting its head in the sand regarding the legalization of cannabis. Why are we pretending the world has not changed on this issue since 1970 or ‘80. Older decision-makers want to believe that the majority of the population thinks as conservatively as they do. They think that the judgemental social ideas that ruled society when they were young are the same in Namibia in 2020. They are wrong. Their conservative thinking is retrogressive. It is not representative of the thinking and ideas of the majority of the population affected by the decision…
Read More
MPs want coordinated action  … as African Migratory Locusts threaten food security

MPs want coordinated action … as African Migratory Locusts threaten food security

Moses Magadza WINDHOEK- Members of Parliament from the SADC Region are calling for a concerted regional effort to prevent African Migratory Locusts (AML) exacerbating an already dire food security situation, amid reports that the destructive pests have become “smarter”. The locusts are already wreaking havoc in several SADC countries that include Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Angola, stoking fears of famine in a region in which nearly 44.5 million people are already food insecure. Dr Lewis Hove, the Resilience Team Leader at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Sub Regional Office for Southern Africa last week told the lawmakers that…
Read More
Ministry dismisses COVID-19 second wave fears ..as country sees spike in cases

Ministry dismisses COVID-19 second wave fears ..as country sees spike in cases

Andrew Kahindi The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) has dismissed concerns about a second wave of COVID-19 in Namibia. This is in the wake of a rising number of cases in the past week with 200 new cases recorded since last Friday, 13 November. A second wave of COVID-19 has swept across Europe where most countries beginning to see a spike in numbers again. In France, a second lockdown was announced after daily COVID-19-related deaths reached their highest levels since April. Germany recorded 23,542 cases last Friday, a record high according to media while Portugal is currently experiencing…
Read More
Fishcor fires Nghipunya

Fishcor fires Nghipunya

Staff Writer The National Fishing Corporation (Fishcor) has announced the termination of the employment of Mike Nghipunya as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the corporation with immediate effect. “The Temporary Board of Directors has concluded an objective approach of the employer-employee relationship and on the assessment of the continuation or termination of Mr Mike Nghipunya employment as the suspended CEO. Specifically with reference to his inability to tender his services to ensure institutional continuity, stability and sustainability of the corporation and its subsidiaries in terms of the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) Act 1991 and the Public Enterprise Governance…
Read More
Namandje takes on Nust over VC appointment

Namandje takes on Nust over VC appointment

Clifton Movirongo Lawyer Sisa Namandje has confirmed to the Windhoek Observer on Monday 16 November that an urgent application to High Court is being prepared. This is over Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) Council’s decision to overlook Professor Frednard Gideon for the post of Vice-Chancellor (VC) even though he outperformed Dr Erold Naomab. This comes after the Nust Council announced last Friday that Naomab is the new Nust VC for the next five years, effective January 2021. Namandje who will represent Gideon under his law firm, Sisa Namandje & Company, says the decision by Nust Council was invalid,…
Read More
Higher Education Minister is above the fray

Higher Education Minister is above the fray

Brian Doeseb This is a response to the media flurry and online comments about Higher Education Minister Itah Kandji-Murangi and unconfirmed speculations and assumptions regarding NUST in relation to the Honourable Minister. Please note these clarifications and contextual comments. Namibians from all walks of life and from all the regions of this nation, pride themselves in having successfully emerged from the yoke of apartheid, injustice and social divisions, into a peaceful and stable nation. Ours is a country governed by the rule of law. Anything that goes against our constitution, established laws, institutional systems, processes and procedures, must be subjected…
Read More

Freedom of speech is absolute

State House Press Secretary Alfredo Hengari got it wrong when he decried legal plans for citizens to demonstrate against the killing of Namibians by the Botswana Defence Force (BDF). The best course of action for government officials regarding citizens expressing their constitutional right to demonstrate and express their opinions (following all regulations), was to say nothing. During an election campaign and any other time, the president should not be exposed in such a way. The statements articulated on this issue make Hage Geingob look as if he wants people to be silent just because he says so. The statements came…
Read More

USA elections springboard for the people globally to march on

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro The just ended Presidential elections in the United States of America (USA) may have been either of particular and/or indifferent interest to Namibia, and Africa, for different reasons depending which country and her citizens. Be it government actors or/and the people, especially class actors, like working class and business sectors. It must have been of particular interest to Namibian state governors given the cordial relationship Namibia seems to have been enjoying since independence. Essentially, whether the Namibian state actors would wish to admit or not, a neo-colonial cordial through which the umbilical cord between especially Namibian state actors,…
Read More

Shifting Africa from the back seat to the front seat …Unity and the pursuit of purpose

Sarah Goroh It is not news that Africa has been at the back seat for far too long with minimal influence in our global society. There is a need to shift Africa from the back seat to the front seat. A change in our perception is one of the ways to achieve this dream. This article reveals the power in unity and the pursuit of purpose as major drivers of change. The key to unlock the doors to economic freedom and development, and to set Africa at a place of influence in our global society, can be achieved through education,…
Read More

When budgets are cut, services die …pay attention to what is happening in Zambia right now!

Jackie Wilson Asheeke It seems obvious to say, but when the budget for an office is cut, there is no way to expect that the services previously on offer, will still exist. Let us stop the “tighten our belts” and “do more with less” euphemisms and face the truth. If you cut the budget for any office, then what was being done before is dead. I like what NSFAF did. They have a lower number of loans available because they must match their cash with their expenditures. I believe building their ridiculous office space in the middle of an upper-class…
Read More