Observer – Page 758 – Windhoek Observer

22 Jun

Women’s freedom chained by apartheid laws

ObserverNational NewsDoreen Sioka, freedom, laws, minister of gender equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, SRHR

There is a petition signed by over 5,000 people calling for the government to legalize women’s rights to choose when they have children. We applaud this effort; it is long overdue. Any human being has a right to decide what happens to their bodies. The discussion around sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) is important. The debate must respond to the silent cry of women forced to give birth against their will. The existing Abortion and Sterilisation Act of 1975 law is 45 years old. This apartheid-era law was written by South African white men, who patronizingly considered women as…

19 Jun

Couch Kitten: I am no man’s winter bed warmer!

ObserverUncategorisedClementine Tjameya, Couch Kitten

Clementine Tjameya When the days get colder, seasonal relationships get going. There are memes about this everywhere on social media where people are saying that it’s getting so cold that they might ‘shiver’ their way into other people’s relationships. As funny as that sounds, there is some truth to it. This is the time when most senior boys at varsity are on the hunt for their ‘human heaters’ for the next couple of cold months. Beware fellow girls, if he has known you very long and mysteriously claims to have interest in you just now, don’t fall for it. Don’t…

19 Jun

Gents let’s do better

ObserverUncategorised

Observatory: Thandizo Kawerama As the news of the horrific rape incidents that occurred during this month made its way to newsstands, men online rushed to type out their usual ‘gents let’s do better’ posts to appease the growing rage surrounding these horrific acts of violence and destruction of women. After which it was business as usual for most of them. ‘Gents, let’s do better’ is the go-to phrase for Namibian men on social media to signal to their audience that they support the fight against rape culture that continues to terrorize our society. It’s their way of saying rape culture…

19 Jun

Lowering the bar damages our children

ObserverUncategorisedCovid-19, Jackie Wilson Asheeke

Jackie Wilson Asheeke I am disgusted at the ridiculous decision to drop the passing average for primary school to 35 percent. It was already obscenely low at 40 percent! I am throwing shade on any ministry of education official that agreed to reduce the passing rate percentage. I am insulted to read officials blaming this outrageous decision on COVID-19. That doesn't work! Step up and take your tomatoes in the face for this bad decision that hurts our children. Whether you realize it or not, our children are smarter than you think! The issue around low scores is less to…

19 Jun

Land of the free and home of the brave?

ObserverUncategorisedNamibians, The Time Traveler

The Time Traveler: Hugh Ellis I have very mixed feelings about the new US Embassy compound currently being built on a large plot of land in my neighborhood. On the one hand, the United States is a great nation. It's the nation of Barack Obama and Martin Luther King. The nation of the Wright brothers, the humble bicycle mechanics who built the first airplane. The nation of Neil Armstrong and Katherine Johnson, and all the others who got men to the Moon. My education would have been immensely poorer if it were not for the Americans who taught African history…

19 Jun

National Resistance only first phase of National Revolution

ObserverUncategorisedNamibian independence

Yours Truly Ideologically: Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Did March 21, 1990, the day of Namibian independence, usher in the first phase of the national revolution? Comes the question cautious to presume this may have been the case because of the lack of ideological clarity, if not lack of ideology all together in Namibia on national issues. There were two major epochs of national resistance. First against German colonialism and imperialism and occupation, and subsequently against the Apartheid South African regime’s occupation and de facto annexation of South West Africa as its first province. The National Resistance had in its first and launching…

19 Jun

Bank Windhoek cuts interest rates

ObserverUncategorisedBank of Namibia (BoN), Bank Windhoek, Monetary Policy Committee

Staff Writer In response to the announcement by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) to cut the Repo rate from 4.25 percent to 4 percent as announced on 17 June 2020, Bank Windhoek has announced a reduction of its Prime Lending Rate by 0.25 percent from 8 percent to 7.75 percent. The bank’s Mortgage Lending Rate will decrease from 9 percent to 8.75 percent, effective from Tuesday, 23 June 2020. “While the possibility of more cuts cannot be ruled out at this point, we expect that the benefit from the sharp cuts will gradually alleviate the…

19 Jun

Shiimi applauds private sector COVID-19 efforts

ObserverObserver MoneyBank Windhoek, Baronice Hans, Finance minister, Iipumbu Shiimi

Staff Writer Finance Minister, Iipumbu Shiimi, said that he is content with the response he has seen from all Namibians from both the private and public sector who continue to embark on fighting COVID-19 as a united front. He said this during the Capricorn Group/EY 2020 Budget Review Discussion, an online live social media broadcast focused on discussing and reviewing Namibia’s 2020/2021 Budget recently tabled in the National Assembly. “The pandemic's impact is something we have never seen before, and as a result, it requires a united front,” said Shiimi. Bank Windhoek's Managing Director (MD), Baronice Hans, echoed Shiimi’s sentiments.…

19 Jun

NAC HQ placed under lockdown

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, NAC, Namibia Airports Company (NAC)

Staff Writer The negative effects of Case 33 who was arrested by police for entering the country illegally are being felt by various organisations in Windhoek, with the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) becoming the third organisation this week to lockdown its building as part of precautionary measures against Covid-19. According the airports operator, one of its employees resides in the same building, 77 on Independence, where the Covid-19 positive suspect was arrested. “This decision comes after careful consideration of the possible risk of exposure,” NAC Chief Executive Officer, Bisey Uirab said. On Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture was also forced…

19 Jun

12% of Namibian adults HIV positive

ObserverObserver MoneyHIV, US Centre of Disease Control (CDC)

Andrew Kathindi The Country Director for the US Centre of Disease Control (CDC) in Namibian, Eric Dziuban says over 200,000 people in Namibia are living with HIV. “There are 200,000 people living with HIV in this country and that is around 12 percent of all adults in this country being HIV positive. The numbers are lower in young children, because we have such a successful programme in preventing mother to child transmission,” said the CDC Country director. “The latest data shows that people who are on treatment, taking their medicine every day virally suppressed, their life expectancy is basically exactly…