National News

Renthia Kaimbi The governor of the Bank of Namibia (BoN), Johannes !Gawaxab, is allegedly planning to step down from his role.  The Windhoek Observer understands that !Gawaxab informed vice president Lucia Witbooi and finance minister Ericah Shafudah that he intends to resign next month.  The Windhoek Observer has learnt that !Gawaxab signalled his departure in recent days, but the exact reason for his decision remains unknown. He is set to resign a year before his contract ends.  !Gawaxab was appointed in 2020 by former late president Hage Geingob.  !Gawaxab was then reappointed in December 2021 for a second five-year term. …

Renthia Kaimbi The Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (Namfisa) says it is not opposing Entrepo Finance’s court application and only stepped into the case to help the High Court understand the legal framework it oversees.  The regulator made this point in its written submissions in the ongoing dispute between Entrepo and the minister of finance, Ericah Shafudah, over consumer protection rules in the microlending sector.  Entrepo accused Namfisa of siding with the minister after the regulator filed an explanatory affidavit.  Entrepo claimed that Namfisa was acting in support of the minister in its case against the company, but Namfisa dismissed…

Justicia Shipena  Mine workers at Rosh Pinah Zinc Corporation will now be able to buy Namitvest shares through salary deductions. This follows the signing of a Payroll Deduction Agreement between the company and Namitvest this week.  The deal allows Mine Workers Union of Namibia (MUN) members employed at the mine to purchase shares at a 50% discount and repay the cost through interest-free installments over 60 months.  Workers will keep full ownership of the shares they have paid off even if they leave the mine. The agreement aims to enhance worker participation and expand access to investment opportunities in the…

Justicia Shipena  The High Court ruled on Tuesday that Germany will not be joined as a respondent in the case challenging the 2021 joint declaration between Namibia and Germany on the 1904 to 1908 Ovaherero and Nama genocide.  The court also rejected a request to serve Namibian court documents on Germany in Germany, saying it has no jurisdiction to do so. The Landless People's Movement (LPM) leader Bernadus Swartbooi, the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, ten Nama traditional authorities, and the LPM are challenging the case.  They argue that the declaration violates the rights of genocide descendants and ignores a 2006 parliamentary…

Renthia Kaimbi Namibia has launched the seals subsector technical committee to guide the development of an ethical and sustainable seal industry.  The move follows a theft of seal genitals valued at N$1 million at a Henties Bay processing factory that exposed the strong demand for seal products.  Thieves stole 696 pieces of bull seal genitals and 2 225 smaller pieces were taken. The new committee will operate for three years under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform.  Its task is to build a responsible seal subsector that supports economic growth.  The ministry's executive director, Teofilus Nghitila, said…

Justicia Shipena Africa is bearing the greatest burden of conflict-driven hunger, the United Nations (UN) Security Council heard at its high-level debate on food insecurity in New York on Monday.  FAO chief economist Máximo Torero said the continent accounts for nearly half of the world’s undernourished population and is at the centre of a worsening hunger-conflict crisis. Torero said 307 million Africans lack sufficient food out of 673 million hungry people globally.  He said these numbers represent children whose growth is stunted, families forced to leave their homes and countries under strain.  He told the council that hunger has become…

Renthia Kaimbi Acting High Court judge Reinhard Tötemeyer has stepped down from hearing the government’s urgent case against Entrepo Finance. He withdrew after revealing a longstanding friendship with the company’s chief executive officer. Tötemeyer's recusal has now paused the matter until a new judge can be appointed. The revelation came as a surprise to legal teams, who expected any personal connections to be disclosed at the start of proceedings.  Judicial ethics mandate the early declaration of potential conflicts, enabling all parties to evaluate the judge's impartiality. The Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister applied for his recusal.  They argued…

Renthia Kaimbi Former Ongopolo Mining managing director Andre Neethling has defended the sale of company properties. He said the transactions were lawful, approved by the board and intended to keep the business afloat. His comments follow a Windhoek Observer report detailing allegations that former executives sold multi-million-dollar assets for “pennies” during liquidation, leaving the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) and the Tsumeb community without recovery. Neethling said the criticism ignores the facts. He provided a timeline, stating that Tsumeb Corporation Limited was in liquidation from 29 April 1998 to 13 March 2000.  Ongopolo later operated with its own capital and…

Justicia Shipena The Electoral Commission of Namibia has revealed several discrepancies in ballot paper packs supplied for the 2025 regional councils and local authorities elections. Voting for the elections begins next week. Chief electoral and referenda officer Peter Shaama said the issues were found during the final verification and packing of ballot materials at the ECN Logistics Store in Windhoek.  Political party representatives were present when the problems surfaced. Shaama said the discrepancies included under-allocation and over-allocation of ballot papers for some polling stations, as well as duplicate ballot papers in packs for both the regional council and local authority…

Allexer Namundjembo  The Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) will this week make its first leather export under the African Continental Free Trade Area. Meatco announced that it will dispatch two containers of wet-blue hides from its Okapuka Tannery to Mombasa, Kenya, through the port of Walvis Bay on Thursday.  The hides will be processed into finished leather by a newly secured Kenyan client under a trial arrangement. The shipment will be traded under AfCFTA’s non-tariff provisions and certificate of origin requirements. Meatco’s interim chief executive officer, Albertus Aochamub, said the export marks an important step forward for both the company…