Observer

8771 Posts
Genocide agreement unlikely to be rejected … as analysts predict German apology embarrassment

Genocide agreement unlikely to be rejected … as analysts predict German apology embarrassment

Andrew Kathindi Despite groundswell sentiments against the genocide agreement between Namibian and German government s, it is and is ikely to succeed when it is brought to Parliament. “It is difficult to see it being rejected in Parliament unless Swapo members from the affected communities vote against it, which I don’t think is likely to happen as they would not wish to be seen as going rogue from the Party’s wishes,” says University of Namibia (Unam)’s Senior Lecturer and Political Analyst, Ndumba Kamwayah. Kamwayah says the only way the motion could possibly be rejected in Parliament is if a secret…
Read More
Geingob locks down Khomas

Geingob locks down Khomas

Andrew Kathindi President Hage Geingob has restricted the exit and entry into Windhoek, Okahandja and Rehoboth local authority areas amidst an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases, in which Khomas has accounted for 52 percent thereof. The ban comes as on Tuesday evening 15 June, Namibia recorded 1206 new cases of COVID-19, of which Windhoek reported 359 cases, Okahandja 1 and Rehoboth 47. Travel into and out of these local authority areas have been banned with the exception for returning residents, essential service providers in possession of the relevant permit, emergency medical cases and the transportation of human remains to other…
Read More
PDM youth calls for schools to end face-to-face teaching

PDM youth calls for schools to end face-to-face teaching

Andrew Kathindi The Popular Democratic Movement Youth League (PDMYL) have called for all face-to-face teaching countrywide to be suspended as the tide of the third wave continues to rise in Namibia. This comes as the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture has sent out a call to its education regional directors to advise on the way forward. “It is therefore an undeniable fact that the country has entered the third wave of Covid-19, and our basic education centres have become hotspots for the spread of the virus,” PDMYL Secretary General,Bensen Katjirijova, states. “The PDMYL therefore calls on the Ministry of…
Read More
ReconAfrica in water license misunderstanding

ReconAfrica in water license misunderstanding

Kandjemuni Kamuiiri A misunderstanding from ReconAfrica, an oil and gas exploration company searching for oil in the Kavango basin, led to the company operating without a water permit, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) Deputy Executive Director (ED) Maria Amakali has revealed. “As such, there was a misunderstanding from their side that because they are operating in non-water control area, they did not need a permit.” This appears to be a contradiction to Agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein’s revelation last month that the company had applied to drill boreholes, for both exploration and abstraction and purposes and that, thus…
Read More
Empire retooling, preparing for colonial comeback

Empire retooling, preparing for colonial comeback

African national liberation movements are not only being deconstructed and decentred via contemporary neoliberal discourses, but colonialists and imperialists have always made manifold efforts to destroy African liberation movements and other resistance movements throughout colonial history. Suffering natural attrition through the death of aging African national liberation fighters and leaders, African national liberation movements are in states of atrophy that is expedited and precipitated by liberal philosophies, organisations and institutions that have tripped the historic agenda of African national liberation movements. Indeed the epithet “movement” signifies ephemerality in contrast to organisational stability and permanence. With neoliberally inclined nongovernmental organisations and…
Read More

Accept ye projects kingdom first and Germany will offer reparations later?

Yours Truly Ideologically cannot but be perplexed that those from the affected communities who must be in the better know and how, are the ones today in the forefront of delivering their communities on the altar of the second genocide. Because if the agreement between the Namibian government, and its German counterpart, needs to be seen as and/or called anything, then it is no more better than a second genocide against the very communities of the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama, that the agreement purported to reconcile and reconstruct. With the midwives of the purported reconciliation and reconstruction, sadly, none other…
Read More
Members of the executive violating the law

Members of the executive violating the law

Rose-Mary Haufiku It has emerged that it is illegal for any member of the executive to embark in any business activity, the Windhoek Observer can reveal. Attorney General (AG), Festus Mbandeka, has revealed that the law does not allow all members of the Executive to have any business interests. The AG according to Article 42, section 1 of the Constitution of Namibia that states that “During their tenure of office as members of the Cabinet, Ministers may not take up any other paid employment, engage in activities inconsistent with their positions as Ministers, or expose themselves to any situation which…
Read More
Face to face classes continue amidst Covid-19 skyrocketing cases

Face to face classes continue amidst Covid-19 skyrocketing cases

Tujoromajo Kasuto Education, Arts and Culture Ministry plans to go ahead with face-to-face learning despite alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. Namibia reported 1,432 new COVID-19 cases on Friday evening, the highest number of new cases ever recorded in 24 hours, a day after the country reported 1,045 cases. The Executive Director of the Ministry, Sanet Steenkamp, says the ministry was taking the situation case by case. “At this moment the ministry is only looking at case by case, if the case arises for example the school in Aroab where the Ministry of Health advises the school must close and other…
Read More
Secret ballot not on genocide … if Parliament has to vote  on agreement?

Secret ballot not on genocide … if Parliament has to vote on agreement?

Andrew Kathindi Parliament may have to vote on the genocide agreement the government of Namibia and it the German counterpart are due to sign before it is eventually debated in the Namibian Parliament and thereafter ratified. If there should be no consensus after the debate and a vote is necessary. Meaning the august house would then have to decide whether to go for a secret ballot or not to allow for conscience voting, if members of the same political party may be divided on the issue. Former Swapo Party of Namibia Parliamentarian and former deputy minister, Kazenambo Kazenambo, explaining the…
Read More
Kavango West the poorest Namibian region

Kavango West the poorest Namibian region

Andrew Kathindi Kavango West has been found to be the poorest region in Namibia according to a multidimensional poverty index report conducted by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), with 79.6 percent. After Kavango West, the incidence of multidimensional poverty is followed by Kavango East (70.0 percent), and Kunene (64.1 percent). The two Kavango regions have generally been reported as among the poorest regions in the country over the years. The national multidimensional poverty stands at 43.3 percent. According to the NSA, the region with the highest poverty intensity levels is Kunene region, reported at 59.2 percent, “which indicates that on…
Read More