National News

Secret plan to evict Oshikoto farmers<br>….future of small stock farmers threatened

Secret plan to evict Oshikoto farmers
….future of small stock farmers threatened

Obrein Simasiku Nearly 150 small stock farmers in the Okashana woodlands in the Oshikoto Region fear eviction allegedly at the hands of the Ondonga Traditional Authority. About 10 farmers who spoke to the Windhoek Observer revealed that there was a meeting held a week ago by representatives of the traditional authority, who informed them that they are planning to establish an agricultural project where these farmers are currently settled. Against that backdrop, the OTA allegedly requested the farmers to move to an area that is about 20 kilometres away. Okashana is a free range grazing area stretching from Omuthiya all…
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Namibia’s broken society needs reconstruction

Namibia’s broken society needs reconstruction

Tujoromajo Kasuto Strong early childhood development is critical to repairing a broken society and as a country we cannot have a functional society if the children are broken. This concern was expressed by First Lady Monica Geingos at the official unveiling of the life size Africa’s Fearless Thinker and Lion Bench in front of the First National Bank’s headquarters in the Capital on Wednesday. ‘’We cannot have a functioning society if our children are broken; unfortunately, the victims of our broken homes are women and girls, as broken boys and men are to blame. We also need to talk to…
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Lukato sues over family graves

Lukato sues over family graves

Staff Writer National Democratic Party leader Martin Lukato, the head of Chisinzi village, has filed a lawsuit against EMS Contractors, a local construction company, for allegedly violating the graveyard where eight of his family members are buried. Lukato is suing the contractor for N$400,000 for disturbing his family graves in Chisinzi village, Zambezi region, in 2017. “It is on the foregoing premises that the defendant is liable to the plaintiff for the payment in the amount of N$400 000 for violating and damaging the plaintiff’s family graveyard,” reads Lukato’s court documents. “During the year 2015, the Defendant was contracted by…
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Namfisa learnt from FIMA fiasco

Namfisa learnt from FIMA fiasco

Tujoromajo Kasuto After massive national backlash from affected stakeholders of the Financial Institutions and Markets Act (FIMA) pension preservation regulation, the new strategic plan for the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA) will focus primarily on three overarching themes that will drive the organisational strategy, namely Stakeholder Engagement, Operational efficiency, and Innovation. According to Namfisa Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Matomola, the new plan also aims to have more grass root level engagements and the postponement of the implementation amid intense pressure from various stakeholders to drop the contentious clause on compulsory preservation of retirement benefits will have no effect on…
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Mootu wants sports to be professionalised

Mootu wants sports to be professionalised

Martin Endjala Landless People’s Movement member of Parliament Utaara Mootu is calling on the government to professionalise sport in Namibia to improve the standard of athletes in the country for them to perform at the highest levels. Mootu says the country has an abundance of talent but the lack of well-structured scouting programs to discover youngsters across the country. She says LPM in its manifesto has a scouting program in place that will soon start looking for such talent in the country. She calls for more funds to be allocated to the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service to…
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NSFAF: AG misrepresented facts …..uproar over N$148 million accountability

NSFAF: AG misrepresented facts …..uproar over N$148 million accountability

Obrein Simasiku The Auditor General (AG) misrepresented facts, says the Namibia Student Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF), in retaliation to reports that about N$148 million in student funding at various tertiary institutions is unaccounted for. "We have it on record during our engagements with AG before the finalisation of the report in which we objected to some things, and we tried to put our inputs in it. However it seems the AG had his own version using his discretion based on powers vested in him. We are not disputing the report or what is contained [therein], but our facts were either…
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Achievement of development goals depend on quality data

Achievement of development goals depend on quality data

Tujoromajo Kasuto The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) Sustainable Development Goals Indicator Framework report reveals that the absence of data management systems and skilled statisticians in the National Statistical System (NSS) remain a serious challenge in ensuring that data requested from data providers in the NSS is submitted in a timely and accurate manner. Thus, NSA is working towards the implementation of Data Management Systems and Skilled Statisticians in the NSS, which is the ensemble of statistical organizations and units within a country that jointly produce statistics on behalf of the national government. Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, today at the launch…
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LPM launches youth development strategy

LPM launches youth development strategy

Martin Endjala The Landless People’s Movement Youth Command Element will be launching a Comprehensive Integrated Youth Development Strategy aimed at enhancing the ability of young people to access opportunities and meaningfully participate in the broader economy. This is in response to the prevailing triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality especially among young people, who remain the biggest impediment to the economic emancipation of young people in Namibia. “The high unemployment rate especially among young people is not just numbers but an expression of the real conditions of the life our people are confronted with. Currently youth unemployment stands at…
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Ruacana Town Council HR a mess

Ruacana Town Council HR a mess

Obrein Simasiku The Ruacana Town Council's Human Resource (HR) is in a mess, with a poor filing system, as well as failure to prepare salary advises and staff records, the Auditor General Junius Kandjeke said, as he gave qualified audit opinion to the local authority for the financial year 2019/20. Meanwhile for the year 2018/19 council got an adverse opinion for misstatement of its finances. "The HR documents are not filed properly in the personnel files of respective staff members. Generally, the filing system is poor and not easily traceable. Also the department does not make advises for any changes…
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LPM councils fund students

LPM councils fund students

Martin Endjala The Landless People’s Movement as part of its commitment to free quality education and well-resourced education, have announced a sponsorship for students in regions that it controls to the tune of N$400 000 and have also set aside about N$1.2 million towards tertiary education. The money was paid for registration and tuition fees for students in the region in the two southern regions it governs. This was confirmed by the LPM Youth League Command Leader Duminga Ndala during a press conference today in Windhoek.N$50 000 have so far been spent for tuition fees for students registered with higher…
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