National News – Page 245 – Windhoek Observer

23 Jun

SADC police chiefs gather to address transnational crime

ObserverNational NewsSADC police chiefs gather to address transnational crime

Niël Terblanché Member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are experiencing an increase in transnational crimes of a deadly serious nature that will negatively impact the sub-region. The SADC Chiefs of Police Sub-Committee (SARPCCO) of the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC) gathered in Swakopmund to discuss the regional crime threat assessment. The assessment for the SADC showed that trafficking of illicit small arms and light weapons as well as explosives, cash in transit heists, trafficking in illicit drugs, infrastructure and environmental crimes, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants and illegal mining, among others are negatively impacting…

22 Jun

Uproar as 11-year-old boy commits suicide amid bullying rumors

ObserverNational News

Stefanus Nashama The family of the late Christopher Boois, an 11-year-old learner at Kronlein Primary School has been left in shock after he committed suicide on 15 June 2023 by hanging himself at home after he was reportedly bullied at school. According to the family Spokesperson, Wilhelmina Goeieman, the boy, who was in Grade 5, took his own life after bullies tore up his report card and his shirt which he went to fetch. Boois was allegedly attacked by a group of boys who wore masks. He told a family member that some of the boys were older than him…

22 Jun

Oshikoto Region rocked by GBV and teenage pregnancy

ObserverNational NewsOshikoto Region rocked by GBV and teenage pregnancy

Martin Endjala The Oshikoto Region has of late recorded a ten percent increase in the number of gender-based violence (GBV) cases while teenage pregnancies and school dropouts also pose a challenge. Penda Ya Ndakolo, the Oshikoto Regional Governor during his State of the Region Address, revealed that GBV is a prevalent problem in Namibia that impacts all aspects of life. Ya Ndakolo said that in most cases these incidences happen because children are left alone at home without parental care. So far there have been 81 rape cases, 46 domestic violence cases, and 246 stock theft cases reported in the…

22 Jun

Hygiene is the only way to curb the scourge of scabies

ObserverNational NewsHygiene is the only way to curb the scourge of scabies

Martin Endjala The Executive Director of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Ben Nangombe has reiterated that the best measure to curb the outbreak of scabies is by practising good hygiene at all times while ensuring that clothes and blankets are washed and hung to dry outside to be exposed to the sun. Nangombe was responding to a question posed to him in the wake of the recent State of the Regional Address of the Ohangwena region, in which Governor Walde Ndevashiya revealed that the region is still battling scabies. Ndevashiya said this is attributed to the rising number…

22 Jun

N$40m spent on infrastructure development in Oshikoto

ObserverNational NewsN$40m spent on infrastructure development in Oshikoto

Martin Endjala The Oshikoto Regional Council used N$40 million from its budgeted N$46 million for the development of infrastructure in the region during the past year while the execution rate for infrastructure development stood at 88 percent. Penda Ya Ndakolo the Oshikoto Regional Governor during his State of the Region Address, said that the region focused on the provision of clean drinking water, electrification of rural areas, settlements and growth centres, surveying of settlements, implementation of the sanitation program, and the construction of roads and offices. During the year under review, the Oshikoto Regional Council budgeted for 17 areas to…

22 Jun

Women are key in combating desertification

ObserverNational News

Niël Terblanché The Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Heather Sibungo says women are major global actors in reducing and reversing land degradation. She also noted that despite women making up half of the global population, they have unequal and limited access to and control over land in most countries while being regarded as the vital element in the combat against desertification. Sibungo was speaking at the commemoration of Desertification and Drought Day. “We cannot achieve land degradation neutrality without gender equality, and we cannot exclude half of the world’s population from land management decisions because of their gender,”…

22 Jun

Tutaleni location gets new Police Station

ObserverNational News

Niël Terblanché The Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security officially inaugurated a new Police Station in the Tutaleni neighborhood of Walvis Bay on Wednesday. Albert Kawana, the Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, while officiating at the inauguration of the new Police Station called on the residents of Tutaleni to assist the Namibian Police to maintain peace and stability. The new police station has a charge office, eight holding cells, a boardroom and 23 offices. Accommodation for officers consists of two blocks of barracks with 40 bedrooms. There are also three three-bedroom houses that have garages,…

22 Jun

Adequate financing will revolutionise education in Namibia

ObserverNational NewsAdequate financing will revolutionise education in Namibia

Niël Terblanché Eduvision Online Learning’s (EOL) initiative which aims to provide accessible online learning to all learners in Namibia through its Adopt-a-School project received a huge financial injection from the Gondwana Care Trust. The trust in collaboration with Eduvision announced that a recent networking and fundraising evening, held on the 15th of June 2023 raised more than N$2 million for the initiative. Eduvision, a Non-Profit Association Incorporated Section 21 company, was founded in 2017. The company has its roots in the Edugate Academy in Otjiwarongo. It was started after one of the founding members, Frikkie Louw, paid a visit to…

21 Jun

Illegal lottery facilitators to face N$ 4 million fine

ObserverNational News

Hertta-Maria Amutenja The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta yesterday said people or media houses that are participating, promoting or facilitating lottery activities as defined within their publications or platforms without first confirming with the Lottery Board whether such activities are legal, will be liable to a fine of not more than N$4 million or a prison sentence of not more than 20 years. “A person who participates in or conducts, facilitates, promotes or derives any benefit from a lottery, promotional competition or sports pool, conducts or organises, facilitates, promotes or derives any benefit from a lottery, promotional competition…

21 Jun

Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever no longer pose any danger to Namibians

ObserverNational NewsCrimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever no longer pose any danger to Namibians

Niël Terblanché The danger level of Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever in Namibia has been reduced after no new cases of the disease were reported over the past four weeks. Dr Kalumbi Shangula, the Minister of Health and Social Services, announced that the Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever outbreak is officially over following an intensive 28-day surveillance of contacts of a man that passed late in May as a result of the disease. “A suspected case of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever was reported to the Ministry of Health and Social Services on the 17th of May 2023. Unfortunately, the patient succumbed to the…