Blog – Page 4 – Windhoek Observer

25 Feb

Beyond the paycheque: The unseen crisis in Namibia’s security sector

Opinions

Faizel Patterson The recent implementation of a new national minimum wage for the security industry is, without question, a welcome and necessary step towards social justice for some of our nation’s most essential workers. Both employers and employees agree that better pay is a shared goal. However, the public discourse surrounding its implementation has been dangerously simplistic, ignoring a complex economic reality that, if mishandled, could trigger the very crisis it seeks to prevent: mass unemployment. Approving a wage increase is easy. To implement it sustainably is hard. The inconvenient truth is that for any service-based company, from security to…

25 Feb

Women as economic architects

Opinions

Fransina Kahungu Secretary; Swapo Party Women’s Council for too long, the language of women’s empowerment has been framed around assistance, access and inclusion. We speak of women as beneficiaries of land reform, beneficiaries of grants, beneficiaries of procurement quotas, and beneficiaries of training. While these interventions have been necessary and meaningful, they cannot be the ceiling of our ambition. In March 2025, Her Excellency Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was sworn in as the first female president of the Republic of Namibia. Her leadership symbolised progress, unity and national pride. A stark reminder that women are not in leadership positions for pity,…

24 Feb

Immanuel requests home guards for 400 magistrates and prosecutors

Main, National News

Renthia Kaimbi Justice and labour relations minister Fillemon Wise Immanuel has requested round-the-clock residential security for every magistrate and prosecutor. In a letter dated 21 February to safety and security minister Lucia Iipumbu and copied to President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Immanuel requested the immediate deployment of security personnel to the homes of about 400 judicial and prosecutorial officers. The request follows the death of Ondangwa regional control prosecutor Justine Shiweda and recent threats against members of the justice system. Shiweda (32) died on 7 February from injuries she sustained in an attack in October 2025. During the attack, she was shot…

24 Feb

Teachers to get 5% salary increase over two years

National News

Allexer Namundjembo Teachers represented by the Namibia National Teachers’ Union (Nantu) will receive a five percent salary increase in the 2026/2027 financial year and another five percent in 2027/2028 under a new multi-year agreement with government. The outcome was communicated to members of the union’s Rundu branch in a report dated 21 February and issued from Rundu. The document confirms that regional and national union structures have accepted the offer, bringing the negotiation process to a close. “The Rundu Branch hereby presents the final outcome of the salary negotiations between the Union and the Government of the Republic of Namibia,…

24 Feb

Court gives thumbs up to Nored workers’ strike

National News

Justicia Shipena The workers at the Northern Regional Electricity Distributor (Nored) will proceed with planned industrial action after the High Court struck the company’s urgent application from the roll. The court dismissed the urgent application brought by Nored against the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN). Yesterday, High Court judge Johanna Salioga ruled the application did not meet the requirements for urgency. “The application for condonation to bring this application as one of urgency is refused. The application is struck from the roll for lack of urgency," she said. Judgement had initially been expected last week but was only delivered on…

24 Feb

Sankwasa reviews N$200 rent fine

National News

Justicia Shipena Urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa says a fine of N$200 under the Rent Ordinance of 1977 no longer meet the realities of today’s property market. Sankwasa said the penalties were set for a different time and must now be reviewed as part of efforts to modernise Namibia’s rental laws. “As I indicated in my previous responses, we are seized with drafting a new bill that speaks to today’s rental markets. That means matters such as N$200 fines were ideal for the property market of that time,” Sankwasa told Parliament on Thursday. He said the value of…

24 Feb

‘Our profits must benefit farmers’ – Meatco

National News

Allexer Namundjembo “We need concrete results that translate into income for producers and stability in our industry,” Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) deputy chairperson Stephanie De Klerk said as the state entity presented its latest financial results at its recent 37th annual general meeting in Windhoek. The meeting, held at the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM), focused on improved financial performance and the country’s preparedness against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which remains a threat in the region. Meatco reported that revenue increased by about 55% to roughly N$1.87 billion for the 2024/25 financial year. Profit before tax reached…

24 Feb

Defending the defenders of the law

Editorial, Featured, Observer Money

The Windhoek Observer welcomes, without hesitation and without qualification, the urgent call by justice and labour relations minister Fillemon Wise Immanuel for residential security protection for all magistrates and prosecutors in Namibia. This recommendation is long overdue. It is both tragic and sobering that it has taken the death of prosecutor Justine Shiweda to bring this matter into sharp national focus. No public servant tasked with upholding the law should have to pay with their life before the state recognises the gravity of the risks inherent in the administration of justice. Yet here we are, reminded in the harshest possible…

24 Feb

Does the presumed JD deadlock really matter?

Opinions

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Beginning in March, on the second of March to be exact, hybrid discussions shall be taking place in the German capital of Berlin, to be hosted by the German Parliament, the Bundestag’s parliamentary group of the Green Party, Die Grüne. According to the purpose of the discussions, to which a fellow descendant, Jephta Nguherimo, shall be amongst the participants, it is for the party to gain further insight into the state of the negotiations on the genocide of the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama. “We want to discuss how the reconciliation between Germany and Namibia can finally begin, and…

24 Feb

Response to the article titled: All presidents’ mansions: Constitutional obligation and public accountability

Opinions

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Reflecting on the benefits of former presidents, especially President Nangolo Mbumba Before engaging the proposed subject matter, it is important to pause and reflect on two significant public remembrance events held last week. A military funeral was accorded to former minister Erkki Ndineinge Nghidipohamba ya Nghimtina, who was laid to rest at the Eenhana Memorial Shrine on Saturday, 21 February 2026. We equally acknowledge the unveiling of the memorial tombstone for the victims of the 19 February 1988 Oshakati Barclays Bank bomb blast, now known as First National Bank (FNB),…