National News

Niël Terblanché Members of the Nam ibian Police were horrified when Michael Simaneka Martin, a resident of the Oshikweyo Village near Eheke committed suicide by shooting himself in the head while they were approaching him for questioning. Martin is accused of killing two of his colleagues on Tuesday, before fleeing to the north. The horrific suicide was also witnessed by members of Martin’s family. According to the incident report provided by the Public Relations Division of the Namibian Police, the 30-year-old Martin was the main suspect in the brutal murder of 22-year-old Visser Bock and his 30-year-old brother Albertus Bock.…

Stefanus Nashama Nigel Van Wyk, who reportedly earned a salary of over N$40 000 as an employee of disgraced former Justice Minister Sakeus Shanghala, yesterday accused the office of the Prosecutor General of being selective, biased, and executing an unfair prosecution. Van Wyk, who is charged alongside Shanghala and other Fishrot accused persons faces serious charges of classic money laundering and obstructing the course of justice. Van Wyk, through his Lawyer Mbanga Siyomunji, said prior to his arrest, he was not given time to explain himself. His bail application is before Judge David Munsu. He, alongside former Fisheries Bernard Esau…

Hertta-Maria Amutenja The Deputy Commissioner General of the Namibian Correctional Services (NCS), Sam Shaalulange has expressed disappointment at the lack of representation of Correctional Officers at peacekeeping missions of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN). According to him, Namibia currently only has one Correctional Service Officer deployed at the UN Mission in South Sudan. He says Police Officers, while deployed at peacekeeping missions are taking over duties intended for Correctional Officers, resulting into a lack of representation of the service at peacekeeping missions. “The Police, Defence and Correctional services all have…

Hertta-Maria Amutenja At least 11 700 children living with HIV in Namibia were able to improve their health while on a new treatment regimen for HIV-positive children and adolescents. The antiretroviral therapy known as the Dolutegravir-based (DTG) regimen, was introduced by the Ministry of Health and Social Services last year and is said to be more effective at suppressing HIV viral loads, less likely to cause side effects, easier to take, and is better tasting than other medicines for children. The introduction of this new medicine in Namibia was achieved through a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Health’s partners…

Stefanus Nashama Vice President Nangolo Mbumba has disputed reports alleging that he said young people will never win elections. However, a daily newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Vice President said the youth are forming political parties along tribal and regional lines, and that they will never win national elections to run the country. Moreover, Mbumba also denied announcing his retirement plans without naming a specific date, as reported by the daily. According to a media statement released yesterday by Mateus Kaholongo, the Executive Director in the Office of the Vice President, the article says Mbumba remarked “People did not…

Martin Endjala The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund has opened a new Emergency Medical Response Services centre in Mariental, which is aimed at bringing equitable quality health care to communities. MVA’s Corporate Communication and Stakeholder Relations Manager, Hilaria Graig during the launch of the response centre said access to equitable quality health care, particularly in emergency medical response services for road crash victims, remains a high priority to the Fund. “This is in response to Pillar Five of the Decade of Action Plan which aims to increase responsiveness to post-crash emergencies and improve the ability of health and other systems to…