Featured – Windhoek Observer

24 Apr

YOUNG OBSERVER | Stigma shadows youth uptake of HIV prevention pill

Featured, Uncategorised

Patience Makwele PrEP is a daily pill taken by HIV-negative people to prevent infection. When used consistently, it can reduce the risk of contracting HIV by up to 99%. HIV remains a concern among young people, especially young women. Data from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS shows that women aged 15 to 24 in sub-Saharan Africa are more than twice as likely to contract HIV as men of the same age. Some young people say stigma makes it difficult to access the medication. Fatima Amukweya (29) said she started using PrEP after losing family members and a friend…

24 Apr

YOUNG OBSERVER | Breaking the silence on mental health

Featured, Uncategorised

Patience Makwele More young Namibians are speaking openly about mental health in homes, on campuses and online, challenging long-standing silence and stigma. At the centre of this shift is Windhoek-based mental health practitioner DieMut Amushila, founder of NeuroBloom Psychology, whose work is drawing interest from young people seeking safe spaces to talk. “Healing is possible not just for individuals but for the society at large,” she said. Amushila has more than a decade of experience in neuropsychology and neuroscience. She said her work goes beyond clinical care and focuses on changing how mental health is understood, especially among young people.…

24 Apr

Baroque concert to showcase young talent

Featured, Uncategorised

Patience Makwele A Baroque concert set for this weekend in Windhoek will place young Namibian musicians at the centre of a live orchestral performance. The concert is presented by the Namibian National Symphony Orchestra and will feature 52 participants, including seven young Namibian soloists selected through auditions. The event’s chairlady and organiser, Irmgard Rannersmann, said the selection was based on performance, not competition. “They did auditions where they had to play and show if what they’re playing is good enough. Their prize was that they were good enough to be one of the soloists at the concert," she said. She…

23 Apr

All hands on deck: Nandi-Ndaitwah, Witbooi, Ngurare and Zamwaani chart a new course for Namibia’s fishing industry

Editorial, Featured

In a political climate often defined by distance between policymakers and the sectors they regulate, the Namibian government’s decision to dispatch its most senior leadership to the coast for direct consultations with the fishing industry stands out as both rare and commendable. It's unprecedented. The presence of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Lucia Witbooi, Elijah Ngurare and Inge Zamwaani in one room with industry stakeholders is not merely symbolic; it is a deliberate acknowledgement that the fishing sector, anchored along the cold and productive waters of the Atlantic Ocean, is far too important to be managed through fragmented dialogue or bureaucratic detachment. This…

23 Apr

OBSERVER COASTAL | Businesses taught how to handle trade disputes

Featured, National News

Renthia Kaimbi A three-day workshop on the dispute settlement mechanism under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) ended in Swakopmund, with organisers saying it will help Namibian businesses handle trade disputes and take part in continental trade. The workshop was hosted by the Ministry of International Relations and Trade with the AfCFTA Secretariat. It brought together entrepreneurs, policymakers and private sector representatives. Discussions focused on how the dispute settlement system works in practice. The mechanism provides a process to resolve trade disputes between member countries through rules and procedures. It is meant to ensure fairness and predictability in cross-border…

22 Apr

Homes under the hammer: When the law protects property but fails people

Editorial, Featured

A troubling pattern is emerging across Windhoek: families are losing their homes through property auctions under circumstances that raise serious questions about fairness, transparency and basic human decency. What should be a carefully regulated, last-resort legal process has, in too many instances, become a mechanical exercise that disregards the lived realities of those affected. No one disputes that debt obligations must be honoured. Financial systems rely on enforcement. Courts exist to uphold contracts. But there is a fundamental difference between enforcing the law and exploiting its rigidity. Increasingly, residents are not challenging the existence of debt; they are challenging the…

20 Apr

THE TURNING POINT | From “Ostora” to Ownership: A Call to Rethink Scale in Namibian Entrepreneurship

Featured, Opinions

The recent decision by Sintana Energy to pursue a listing on the Namibia Securities Exchange (NSX) should not be viewed as a routine corporate development. It is, in many respects, a moment of quiet significance, one that invites reflection on the structure, ambition, and trajectory of Namibian enterprise itself. As a Namibian entrepreneur, I applaud this move. Not merely because it signals confidence in our market, but because it underscores an uncomfortable truth: the pipeline of locally grown, especially black Namibian-owned, companies reaching the level of public listing remains deeply inadequate. The statistics are not just disappointing; they are structurally revealing. They point to…

20 Apr

Sossusvlei: When access becomes a luxury

Editorial, Featured

Few places on earth capture the imagination quite like Sossusvlei and Deadvlei. Rising from the ancient sands of the Namib Desert, these landscapes are not merely tourist attractions; they are living symbols of Namibia’s identity, resilience, and natural inheritance. For generations, they have represented an open invitation to Namibians to experience the profound beauty of their country, an accessible wilderness that belonged to all. That understanding is now being fundamentally altered. At the centre of the controversy is a shift in how access to Sossusvlei and Deadvlei is managed. Historically, visitors, both local and international, could enter the Namib-Naukluft Park,…

17 Apr

‘My baby would have been alive’ — Mother speaks from prison

Featured, National News

Patience Makwele When Fiona, an inmate at the Windhoek Correctional Facility, realised she was pregnant at 17, fear set in. Months passed before her body showed signs of pregnancy. When she told the man she believed was responsible, he denied it and cut off contact. “I had missed my period for two months. But it didn’t click at first that I was pregnant because it was not something new; I always missed my periods for longer than five months.” “He blocked me everywhere; told me if I ever called him, he would make my life a living hell and he…

17 Apr

YOUNG OBSERVER | Graduates take any job to survive

Featured, National News

Patience Makwele The Asoli Progressive Party has raised concern over a growing gap between Namibia’s tertiary education system and labour market demands as a new group of graduates prepares to enter a strained job market. In a statement this week, party president Joseph Kauandenge questioned whether universities are equipping students with skills that match economic needs. He warned that many graduates face limited job opportunities after years of study. Kauandenge has called for a review of tertiary education programmes and stronger links between government, universities and the private sector. It also called for policies that help graduates enter the workforce.…