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Justicia Shipena The Cabinet has placed a moratorium on official funerals from 16 June 2025 to 31 March 2026.  The move allows the government to review the current criteria and processes for granting such honours. Minister of information and communication technology Emma Theofelus announced the decision on Thursday, following the 11th Cabinet meeting.  “This moratorium will remain in place while a detailed review is conducted on how official funerals are awarded,” she said. Theofelus said the suspension does not affect the President’s constitutional powers to confer national honours.  “The moratorium does not infringe on Article 32(3)(h) of the Namibian Constitution,…

Allexer Namundjembo The plan to introduce toll gates on major roads across the country remains stalled, with no significant progress reported.  The Road Fund Administration (RFA) has confirmed that the project is still undergoing internal approvals and has not moved to the public rollout stage. “There is no progress on tolling yet. The matter is still receiving internal process approvals first. An update will be provided to the public in time,” said RFA chief executive officer Ali Ipinge in response to an inquiry by the Windhoek Observer. The toll gate proposal was first introduced in 2021 and aimed to install…

Niël Terblanché For the first time since Namibia ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, a locally produced consignment of salt left the port of Walvis Bay on Monday. The cargo symbolised the country’s entry into a single African market with approximately 1.4 billion consumers. The minister of international relations and trade, Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, said the milestone represented the start of Namibia’s practical participation in intra-African trade under the AfCFTA framework.  She linked the project to the vision of the Organisation of African Unity’s founders in 1963, saying their dream of economic emancipation began to materialise through Agenda…

Hertta-Maria Amutenja Businessman José Luis Bastos and Emeritus Fishing (Pty) Ltd have denied that any fishing dividends were ever paid to the late founding president, Sam Nujoma, in his personal capacity. Bastos’ lawyer, Richard Metcalfe, said the Sam Nujoma Foundation, not Nujoma himself, holds a 20% share in Emeritus Fishing.  He said the company distributes audited dividends annually to shareholders in line with corporate governance procedures. “The skewered and false article pertaining to fishing dividends allegedly paid to the deceased Founding President is fake and false,” said Metcalfe. He further stated that the Foundation appointed John Nauta as the nominee…

Justicia Shipena The government has paid approximately N$3.1 million in legal fees for its defence in the veterinary cordon fence case, also known as the red line case.  The payments were made to advocates Raymond Heathcote SC, Marius Boonzaaier, and Hermann Steyn. A document dated 16 April 2025, seen by the Windhoek Observer, shows that the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises authorised the payments as part of outstanding civil litigation costs owed to various legal service providers.  The total amount approved for settlement of all civil litigation costs was over N$24 million. Heathcote submitted an invoice of N$1.1 million…

Hertta-Maria Amutenja The High Court has ordered the Bank of Namibia (BoN) to return over N$20 million taken from an investment account held by retired Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army general Francois Tete Olenga. The court found that the central bank acted outside its legal authority when it forfeited the funds. Acting High Court judge Johanna Prinsloo delivered the judgment this week, setting aside the decision made in August 2023 by BoN deputy governor Leonie Dunn.  She also declared all related decisions and actions unlawful. Prinsloo ruled that only the Bank of Namibia’s Board or the Governor has the…

Allexer Namundjembo The chief executive officer of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), Nangula Nelulu Uaandja, has welcomed the decision to move the board under the newly restructured Ministry of International Relations and Trade (MIRT).  The announcement was made by President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah during the Invest in Namibia session in Luanda, Angola, on Tuesday. Speaking in a statement, Uaandja said the NIPDB supports the realignment, describing it as a strategic step to improve coordination between government bodies responsible for investment, trade, and inclusive growth. “The NIPDB welcomes this strategic alignment, which is part of a broader effort to…

Allexer Namundjebo The Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises has returned N$21.5 million to the state treasury after underspending its budget for the 2023/2024 financial year. This is revealed in the latest audit report by Auditor General Junias Kandjeke, who said the funds could have been used for other urgent national needs. While the ministry received an unqualified audit opinion for the year, Kandjeke raised several concerns.  One was the failure to allocate or disclose revenue of more than N$2.44 billion in the revenue ledger. “This means that all the revenue received and deposited from the revenue collected, amounting to…

Justicia Shipena The Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) recovered less than 1% of student loans during the financial year that ended in March 2024. According to the latest audit report by Auditor General Junias Kandjeke, NSFAF recovered only N$18.27 million during the year under review.  “The auditors noted that total recoveries were only N$18,271,916, which is less than 1% of total student debtors owing the Fund,” Kandjeke said. He found that the NSFAF has been ineffective in collecting student debt, noting that most debtors are years in arrears and there was no evidence that they had been contacted to…