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Ester Mbathera & Martin Endjala Political Analyst Rui Tyitende has described the ongoing presidential and national assembly elections as the worst in the history of post-Apartheid Namibia. “Considering the widespread chaos across the polling stations, one can only deduce that this was either choreographed chaos or gross incompetence, or a combination of both,” he said. The ECN leadership informed the public that they were ready for the elections but the evidence suggests otherwise. On election day many people could not cast their votes because of many logistical issues at polling stations. “It appears as if they prepared everything this week,…

Mallex Shipanga and Moses Magadza Monday marked the beginning of the international campaign of 16 Days of Activism opposing violence against women and children. This annual United Nations initiative runs from 25 November to 10 December. The UN Women Desk estimates that 736 million women, or 30% of women aged 15 and older, have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their lives. “This figure does not include sexual harassment. Women who have experienced violence are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and HIV,…

Johnathan Beukes Given Namibia’s increasing international importance, considering its strategic location, its standing in the region, and its potential newfound oil wealth, the southern African nation’s Presidential and National Assembly elections this week will be watched keenly across the planet. Wednesday’s elections, amidst a rapidly changing political milieu internationally and in Southern Africa. While the focus in recent weeks has hinted at the possible strong-arm tactics or even interference by regional players, Namibians, especially the youth, have been at least urged to vote in their own interest. Currently, new political, ideological, economic, and military alliances are being formed. These are…

Niël Terblanché Thousands of electricity consumers risk being left in the dark unless they update their prepaid meters in time for the 24 November deadline for the Token Identifier (TID) rollover. The TID rollover resets prepaid electricity meters to accept new credit tokens. Failure to update the meters before this Sunday will result in electricity distributors’ inability to process payments, leaving households and businesses without power. The looming challenge stems from the nature of the technology underpinning prepaid meters, which rely on a 20-digit token identifier to validate and process credit tokens. The identifier mechanism operates on a 31-year cycle…

Martin Endjala The Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs (MODVA) executive director Wilhelmine Shivute has refuted Affirmative Repositioning (AR) leader Job Amupanda’s claims that the ministry spent N$8 million on a single spare part for the NDF's Wer'wolf armoured vehicle. The Wer'wolf MK2 is a Namibian-designed and -built military vehicle that offers protection against small arms fire and landmines. At a media conference on Wednesday, Shivute said that the ministry did not purchase a single spare part but rather over 14 different parts. “It is true that the invoice quantified quantity indicated one. However, one does not denote one spare…

Martin Endjala A group of medical interns practising at Windhoek Central Hospital and Katutura Hospital has threatened to work only the standard hours outlined in the Labour Act, citing poor working conditions and inadequate compensation. Sam Endjala, a third-year medical intern, expressed frustration over their treatment. “We can no longer go on living like slaves of the industry. We also deserve decent compensation and a favourable working environment because the current status quo is affecting the mental health of medical doctor interns due to stress on the job, among other things,” he said. The interns delivered a petition to the…

Ester Mbathera The leader of Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) denied ever belonging to the ruling party. Itula made this statement during an interview with Sophie Mokoena, the international editor for TV news at the South African Broadcasting Corporation, on Monday. “I never had a membership card for the Swapo party. I was never a functionary of the Swapo government to start with. Neither in any of its structures. After independence, I participated in nothing whatsoever to do with governing Namibia or to do with the administration of the Swapo Party. My role ended at independence when we had freedom…

Ester Mbathera The United People’s Movement (UPM) has distanced itself from statements made by Polykarp Ameya, a parliamentary candidate on its party’s list, in a widely circulated video. Ameya in the video accused the University of Namibia (Unam) of funding the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) party and acting as its political training ground. “UNAM is funding AR political party. What have I said? The Faculty of Political Science of Unam is currently serving as the political party school of the AR political party,” he said. Ameya further accused Amupanda of being politically corrupt. “You are the president of a registered political…

Allexer Namundjembo and Stefanus Nashama Political parties have rejected proposals to rally behind one presidential candidate who will unseat Swapo. The proposal comes as the preliminary results from the Special Voting Day show that if put together, the opposition parties' votes are more than that of Swapo presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. The suggestion to join forces was made by the United People’s Movement secretary general, Celeste Becker. “Add all opposition votes, and we will have the lead. This is not all about the opposition presidential candidates, but it is all about the people. We can still be one. Agree already…