Featured – Page 10 – Windhoek Observer

25 Jul

Let’s confront the spectre of tribalism before it consumes us

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

Tribalism is rearing its ugly head in Namibia. What was once whispered in hushed tones has now found a loudspeaker in burning food stalls, toxic social media narratives, and widening social fault lines. The recent incident in Otjinene — where food stalls belonging to Aawambo and Ovazemba people were torched, reportedly by members of the Ovaherero community — is not just an isolated act of criminality. It is a symptom of a deeper, more dangerous illness spreading through our national fabric: a growing sense of ethnic resentment. The background to this violent escalation is as tragic as it is telling.…

24 Jul

When the Cost of Living Becomes the Cost of Life.

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

In recent months, Namibia has borne witness to a heartbreaking and deeply troubling trend: a spate of suicides among teachers — the very custodians of our children’s futures. These tragedies are not isolated incidents. They are echoes of a deeper national pain — one rooted in financial strain, psychological isolation, and a silent war waged every day in households across this country. The teaching profession has always demanded sacrifice: long hours, modest salaries, and an unwavering emotional investment in others. But when those giving so much to society find themselves drowning in debt, struggling to feed their families, and confronting…

24 Jul

Namibia must embrace its indigenous languages for unity, identity and justice

Featured, Opinions

Ndaindila Allexer Namundjembo In the heart of every nation lies its language. It shapes how people think, relate to one another, and understand the world around them.In Namibia, a land blessed with rich linguistic and cultural diversity, our languages are fading into silence, not because they are unworthy, but because our systems continue to elevate the colonial tongue above our own.It is time for Namibia to radically reimagine its language policy. We must embrace and institutionalise our indigenous languages, not just as national symbols, but as living and functional communication tools in governance, education and public life.Each region should be…

22 Jul

Success is not copy-paste: Charting your own path to a meaningful future

Featured, Opinions

Ester Shangandi & Junias Erasmus . In our pursuit of success, it is natural to look around for examples that inspire us. Often, we find motivation in those closest to us, family members, mentors, or even neighbours who seem to be living the life we desire. For instance, if your neighbour (From the village) owns a beautiful house in the expensive suburb, drives a nice car, and appears fulfilled, it is easy to think that studying the same programme or walking the same professional path will yield similar results. While this reaction is human and understandable, it also presents a…

22 Jul

NDP6: Big Promises, Thin Substance — But We Must Still Hope

Featured, Opinions

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s launch of the Sixth National Development Plan (NDP6) marked a historic moment - not only as Namibia’s first female Head of State, taking the reins of long-term national planning, but also as a leader seeking to chart a new direction in the face of stagnating growth. Her leadership carries the promise of renewal. NDP6 presents an ambitious blueprint that speaks to the country’s most pressing concerns—economic diversification, youth empowerment, climate resilience, and national cohesion. Namibia is not short of plans. From Vision 2030 to Harambee Prosperity plan and five previous NDP’s, the country has demonstrated an admirable…

20 Jul

Welwitschias scrum for second chance at World Cup

Featured, SportsNamibia Rugby Union (NRU)

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The Welwitschias, the national rugby team, are determined to regroup and refocus following their loss to Zimbabwe in the Rugby Africa Cup final on Saturday. The tightly contested match ended 30–28 in favour of Zimbabwe in Kampala, Uganda. The win secured Zimbabwe a spot at the 2027 Rugby World Cup, marking their first qualification in 34 years. Namibia, which has featured in every Rugby World Cup since 1999, now risks missing out for the first time since 1996. However, the team still has a chance to qualify through the intercontinental repechage tournament. Following the loss, the Namibia Rugby…

17 Jul

Namibia’s re-classification meaningless to workers in the context of Capitalism

Featured, Opinions

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro At last Namibia has been reclassified as a lower-middle-income economy from an upper-middle one. A reclassification that the country, especially its late third president, Dr Hage Geingob, hardly missed any international financial and economic platform to plead with players on this platform, especially the World Bank, that the country has wrongly been classified as an upper-middle economy. Late President Geingob may have had his reasons why he very much and untiringly pleaded for a re-classification. Which no doubt had anything to do with what he thought the country at large could benefit from such a re-classification. Foremost, the…

16 Jul

Hot weather slows Namibian swimmers in Singapore

Featured, Sports

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The World Aquatics Championships in Singapore has postponed the event yesterday, after extreme heat pushed temperatures to 31 degrees Celsius The organisers said the event will proceed once the water temperature has dropped to acceptable levels under World Aquatics regulations. Namibia Aquatic Sports Federation president Riaan Steyn said the hot weather negatively affected Namibian swimmer Nico Esslinger, who finished 47th in the 10 km open water event with a time of 11 minutes and 57.90 seconds. “The race was postponed until water quality became better. During this morning’s testing there was a significant improvement in water quality and…

16 Jul

How competition among students is making them lose touch with their roots.

Featured, Opinions

Junias VH Shipwilikineni Today, many students are caught up in a fierce race to outdo each other. Competition has become part of our daily lives, mostly driven by peer pressure. But in the middle of all this, we are losing something very important: our connection to where we come from. As a student myself, I have realised that we are messing up a lot because of this pressure to compete. We forget our culture, our families, and the values that once guided us. Instead, we focus only on being the best, sometimes at any cost. This is making us truly…

16 Jul

Nored clears N$341m debt to NamPower

Featured, National NewsNored

Allexer Namundjebo The Northern Regional Electricity Distributor (Nored) says that it has fully settled its debt of N$341 million with NamPower. Nored acting chief executive officer Toivo Shovaleka said this week the debt, which had strained relations between the two entities, was cleared on 9 June 2025. He described the amount as a historic debt that had built up over several years. NamPower had previously suspended electricity supply to Nored due to the unpaid amount. To resolve the crisis, Nored entered into a repayment agreement with NamPower in June 2023, which allowed it to gradually settle the debt. “We are…