Editorial

The call by Welwitschia University Chancellor Scholastika Iipinge for the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) to fully fund students at private higher education institutions deserves serious consideration. It also demands a more honest national conversation about what “equal treatment” in tertiary education actually means. At the heart of the issue is a principle that should be difficult for any government committed to expanding access to education to ignore: a student’s access to financial assistance should not be determined primarily by whether the accredited institution they attend is publicly or privately owned. If a Namibian student is pursuing an accredited…

The debate over informal trade in Dorado Park, and the wider question of informal markets across Namibia, requires a level of honesty that is often missing from public discourse. On the one hand, informal trading is an essential part of the Namibian economy. Thousands of people depend on selling food, clothing, household goods and other products to survive. For many, informal trading is not a lifestyle choice but a response to unemployment, poverty and the absence of sufficient formal economic opportunities. On the other hand, the existence of poverty cannot mean the suspension of public health, environmental standards, urban planning…

While the country debates unemployment, housing, education and economic growth, a quieter and potentially devastating crisis is taking root in schools, homes and communities across the country.Children are smoking Hubbly Bubbly. They are vaping. Some are mixing these substances with alcohol and cannabis. Some are skipping classes to smoke. Some are becoming distributors to finance their habits. Children as young as 10 have reportedly been found smoking Hubbly Bubbly.This should be a national emergency.Instead, the country has largely treated it as a social nuisance.That must change. The National Council is therefore right to investigate the impact of Hubbly Bubbly on…

As the National Assembly adjourns for its mid-year recess, the Eighth Parliament finds itself at an important juncture.The session has been marked by healthy debate, vigorous oversight and the consideration of several important pieces of legislation. By any conventional measure, Parliament has remained active in carrying out its constitutional responsibilities.Yet activity alone cannot be the benchmark by which this Parliament is judged. Namibia is entering one of the most consequential periods in its post-Independence history. The discovery of offshore oil and gas reserves, the emergence of green hydrogen projects, growing international demand for critical minerals and increasing geopolitical interest in…

One of the most difficult responsibilities of policymakers is finding the correct balance between prudence and opportunity. The Financial Institutions and Markets Act (FIMA) was introduced to modernise Namibia’s financial regulatory framework and, among other objectives, strengthen the protection of retirement savings. That is a worthy objective. Pension funds represent the financial future of hundreds of thousands of workers and should never be exposed to unnecessary risk. Yet as the implementation of Section 282 gathers pace, it has become increasingly apparent that a law designed to protect retirement savings may inadvertently be limiting one of the very investments that provides…

Namibia has, over the past 36 years, earned a reputation that many countries on the African continent continue to admire. It is a nation where constitutionalism generally prevails over expediency, where institutions function within clearly defined legal frameworks, and where disputes are resolved through the law rather than through intimidation or disorder. That reputation has become one of the country’s greatest democratic assets. It is precisely because that reputation matters that the current disagreement surrounding the appointment process of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) chairperson and commissioners deserves sober reflection rather than partisan celebration. The dispute between the Office…

Namibia has spent decades digging one of the world’s most strategic minerals out of its soil, shipping it overseas and then buying back electricity generated from resources that, in many cases, began their journey beneath our own feet. It is an economic paradox that has persisted for far too long. The proposed Nuclear Bill is, therefore, more than a legislative exercise. It is an attempt to rewrite Namibia’s place in the global energy value chain, shifting the country from being merely a supplier of uranium to becoming a nation capable of using its own strategic resource to power industrialisation. That…

There are national projects that deserve a second chance.Then there are national projects that simply cannot be allowed to fail. The Kalimbeza Rice Project falls squarely into the latter category. For years, Kalimbeza has lurched from one crisis to another. Machinery breaks down. Irrigation systems underperform. Fences collapse. Livestock wander into fields and destroy crops. Funding is inconsistent. Bureaucracy slows even the most routine repairs. Parliamentary oversight has once again exposed a project operating well below its potential. None of this is new. What is new is that Namibia is running out of excuses. Kalimbeza is not a vanity project.…

The President’s visit to China is more than a diplomatic ceremony. It is the first comprehensive opportunity for President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to redefine one of Namibia’s most important bilateral relationships around measurable national outcomes rather than symbolic declarations. The expectations are therefore exceptionally high. China has long occupied a unique place in Namibia’s foreign policy. Unlike many international partners whose engagement has fluctuated with changing geopolitical winds, Beijing has remained a consistent development partner since before independence. Roads, public buildings, housing, energy projects, hospitals and educational cooperation all testify to a relationship that has matured over decades. Friendship, however genuine,…

Few institutions are as fundamental to Namibia’s constitutional democracy as the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN). Governments come and go. Political parties rise and fall. Leaders are elected and eventually leave office. Yet the institutions that safeguard the democratic process must endure, retaining the confidence of all Namibians regardless of who occupies State House or Parliament. It is for this reason that the recent parliamentary debate surrounding the appointment of ECN commissioners deserves careful consideration. Opposition parties have alleged that Members of Parliament were asked to approve nominees without being given access to the documentation relating to the nomination and…