National News – Page 393 – Windhoek Observer

04 Nov

The Auditor-General needs teeth

ObserverNational NewsAuditor General, Auditor-General of Namibia (AGN)

The Auditor-General of Namibia (AGN) needs more than just a bark; the holder of that office needs the ability to take a deep, nasty bite. To do that, he needs legislative and regulatory teeth. The Act governing this office must be strengthened. We need our AGN to be able to subpoena records. The AGN must be able to lay charges with the Prosecutor General. The Auditor-General should have the ability (with a judge’s warrant) to have people locked up until they comply with the law for reporting, providing accurate records, and allowing access to registered AGN personnel. This is a…

03 Nov

State funds must build Namibia first

ObserverNational NewsECN, Namibia, SADC, South Africa

The contract for printing Namibian ballots is now farmed out to South Africa. This is a mistake during this unique, crisis situation in Namibia. How can this country hope to revive if state funds, i.e., taxpayer money, are going to secure South African jobs? The government must invest at home, even if it seems to cost more (on the surface) to kick start the economy and save local jobs, businesses and families. In this terrible economic crisis, the government must ensure that Namibia revives. The bottom line is that we need different avenues to invest at home to inject money…

30 Oct

SME bank – yet another money-loss debacle . . .when will we learn?

ObserverNational NewsBank of Namibia, Enoch Kamushinda, SME Bank, Zimbabwe

When will Namibia learn to guard its wallet better? We allow ourselves to be pick-pocketed far too often. This time, the named culprit is Enoch Kamushinda, a director of the now-defunct SME Bank. But, the real culprits are all who ignored a Bank of Namibia (BoN) warning and still allowed a man with shaky business histories in several countries to have the keys to a bank full of Namibian taxpayer dollars. These people must be named, shamed, held accountable. They should be in the dock alongside their criminal buddy. All who took quiet ‘loans’ from Kamushinda or smoothed the way…

30 Oct

Fishrot is a game-changer; accept it

ObserverNational Newsfishrot

One way people wiggle out of making substantive changes is to pretend that nothing serious has happened. The Swapo members of parliament are complaining about the Opposition pounding them with unending references to Fishrot. Their objections make it appear as if they wish to stick their heads in the sand. Namibia pre-Fishrot is not the same as the country post-Fishrot. Any Swapo MP that does not ‘get’ this is living in denial. The shocking and disappointing reality of the scandal is a huge thing. It exposed major theft, lies, and manipulation within the top leadership of the government of Namibia.…

29 Oct

Human-Wildlife Conflict is not a small thing

ObserverNational NewsCovid-19, Minister of EFT, Pohamba Shifeta

In all the necessary noise around COVID-19 and the upcoming elections and the various newsy points of the day, something that affects Namibians in a major, yet unappreciated way, is human-wildlife conflict (HWC). Too many newsmakers go on as if HWC is not their problem. It is some ‘distant’ issue. One of Namibia selling points for travel, tourism and hospitality is wildlife. This country's contribution to the worldwide wildlife conservation is EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS. Entire communities, our fellow citizens who have an equal right to a quality, safe life just like anyone else. And yet, they battle wildlife every day and…

28 Oct

Mental health patients need their medicine

ObserverNational NewsCOVID, Oshakati, Oshakati State Hospital

The mental health unit at the Oshakati State Hospital does not have the medicines needed to treat patients. This is disgraceful. Front line medical personnel tasked with helping those in mental distress are under siege. Their patients whose medical needs cannot be addressed are a threat to themselves and their caregivers. This crisis was avoidable. The officials responsible for the lack of medicines needed must be fired with immediate effect for incompetence. People are suffering because of this situation. Someone must be held accountable or it will keep happening. COVID is a national medical challenge, no doubt. But, we cannot…

27 Oct

Democracy must be unhindered

ObserverNational NewsDeputy Prime Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, USA

Deputy Prime Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said that she believes democracy exercised by any who choose to participate, causes instability in Namibia. As a higher-performing government official for the last three decades, her comments are a concern. First, we must fact check the Honourable. She is quoted as saying that the "USA is the oldest democracy in the world but they only have two political parties." The USA could claim to be the largest, oldest CONTINUOUS democracy (recall that only white male landowners could vote at first - no blacks, no women). But, it is widely known that Greece (particularly Athens)…

23 Oct

Choosing a PG is not a beauty pageant

ObserverNational NewsJudicial Service Commission (JSC), NGO

We are opposed to a public runway display for serious, professional legal candidates for the post of Prosecutor General (PG) A public interview process for the PG job is counterproductive. It can lower the dignity of the position and does not address the concerns about corruption in political appointments. Let the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) do their expert work according to the criteria. They should make their recommendations to the President in confidence. We do not accept that the appointment of the outgoing PG, Martha Imalwa over 17 years ago was tainted in any way. Allusions to this as if…

23 Oct

We must live with COVID …but we must not pretend it is gone

ObserverNational NewsCOVID, WHO

The president’s recently announced steps to further re-open Namibia as a country, society and economy are welcome. The year 2020 has been an unprecedented financial disaster for Namibia as a whole. We all have taken a major hit. Governments had to respond in the way that science and their best guesses dictated; they are doing their best. The danger with reported deaths and recorded new infections decreasing is that people think COVID is ‘over.’ People think that life can go back to the way it was before the outbreak. We must never lie to ourselves. Whatever was happening ‘before’ is…

22 Oct

The 800 pound gorilla in the room

ObserverNational NewsFinance minister, Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR)

There is no doubt that Minister of Finance Iipumbu Shiimi has to drink from the dual poisoned chalices of taking on the Finance portfolio in the middle of a severe economic recession and then COVID-19. The 800-pound gorilla in the room is that after the smoke clears, there remains a budget deficit of N$17 billion. How will we fill that gap? The mid-year budget review announced yesterday is, at the end of the day, only a plan; it is not money in the bank. It declares what the government should earn and what it will spend in a particular period…