Opinions – Windhoek Observer

19 Dec

YOUNG OBSERVER | It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Featured, Opinions

With less than 7 days to go before many of us are indulging in the annual gluttony contest of eating slain goats under a tree in remote areas, the year 2025 is wrapping up wonderfully, and as young Namibians, it is safe to say we had a good run. Across the country, the signs are familiar. Traffic thins in the capital city, traffic officers hide behind bushes on long roads to trap fast drivers, offices slow down, and families begin to gather again, some by choice, others by obligation. December has always carried its own rhythm in Namibia. 2025 was…

19 Dec

Writing as resistance: memory, mandate and the discipline of freedom

Opinions

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) When writing refuses to be silent Amílcar Cabral warned that the hardest battle is against our own weaknesses. We heard him. And we wrote. This year, our writing did not seek approval. It demanded accountability. Political liberation is not automatic emancipation. It is not an excuse for mediocrity. The greatest danger in liberation struggles is not only external it is within us. In the weakness that trades principles for power. In memory weaponized as a political shield. In comfort chosen over the discipline required. Here, memory is not shelter. It…

19 Dec

Staying positive

Opinions

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Stay positive! A message from a good long-time friend. Actually a granny, mother, sister, niece, and cousin all rolled into one sounded Yours Truly out on a Sunday morning on the last Sunday of 2026 preceding Christmas. Was it just a Sunday morning remembrance salutation filled with the usual profoundness of love, or did it have a ring of reflection, and on what? The message could not but get me indeed reflecting deeply. Especially given the season of the times when we are not only readying for the typical season of capitalist decadence and opulence, hailed as Xmas,…

18 Dec

Transparency is the best medicine

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

The Ministry of Health and Social Services deserves recognition for the urgency and coordination it has shown in responding to the threat of poliovirus in the Kavango East and Kavango West regions. The rapid rollout of a preventative vaccination campaign targeting children under the age of 10, the mobilisation of international partners, and the strengthening of surveillance systems all reflect a ministry that understands the gravity of polio and the catastrophic consequences of complacency. The detection of poliovirus type 2 through environmental surveillance at Ndama sewage could easily have been dismissed or delayed. Instead, it triggered action. The involvement of…

18 Dec

NAMIBIA’S GREEN HYDROGEN DREAM MEETS HARD REALITY

Editorial, Opinions

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Namibia’s green hydrogen ambitions were once framed as a historic leap: a small Southern African nation powering Europe’s decarbonisation, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and positioning itself as a global climate-finance success story. International headlines hailed a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.” Today, the narrative is markedly different. Senior executives have exited the programme. Donor support has thinned. Anchor investors have stepped back. And the export-led hydrogen vision that once sat at the centre of Namibia’s economic and climate strategy is now being quietly recalibrated behind closed doors. This is not a…

17 Dec

When classrooms become crime scenes, policy silence is complicity

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

The resignation of a teacher from Wilhelm Nortier Primary School while in police custody is not just another tragic headline. It is an indictment of a system that continues to react to sexual abuse in schools rather than prevent it. Once again, Namibia is forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: our children are not as safe in our learning institutions as we claim they are. The Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture has condemned the alleged sexual assault and promised cooperation with law enforcement. These statements, while necessary, are painfully familiar. We have heard them before, after…

17 Dec

WHEN INEFFICIENCY BECOMES A CULTURE: NAMIBIA’S PUBLIC SECTOR

Featured, Opinions

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara) Weak accountability in Govt derails development Former finance minister Iipumbu Shiimi said accountability must be elevated to the highest level if the country is to meet its national goals. He added that weak coordination among government institutions has hampered the country's progress in several development areas. Speaking on his tenure as finance minister, as it was reported in one of the daily newspapers, Shiimi admitted that while Namibia has no shortage of well-crafted plans and strategies, implementation continues to fall short due to fragmented coordination. Reflecting on his experience, Shiimi argued…

16 Dec

Zambezi warning bells ring again: Act now or risk repeating a national tragedy

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

Namibia is once again standing at a familiar and deeply uncomfortable crossroads. The renewed calls for Zambezi secession, now resurfacing in Katima Mulilo, should chill every Namibian who remembers the painful lessons of our past. We have been here before. We ignored the warning signs then, dismissed legitimate grievances as fringe agitation, and laughed off the danger until it erupted into a national crisis. To do so again would be reckless in the extreme. Let us be clear from the outset: there is no credible evidence that the majority of Zambezi residents support secession. Analysts are correct in pointing out…

15 Dec

The village has died. Long live the village

Featured, Opinions

Not long ago, a friend and I found ourselves locked in a heated debate about our traditional villages, what many of us still affectionately call “back home". What began as a casual conversation quickly turned into a fundamental disagreement about the future of these places. His position was blunt: our villages are dying and not worth investing in. Mine was equally firm: if villages are dying, then it is precisely our generation, the one with education, mobility, and relative means, that must step in to ensure they do not disappear. That debate forced me to confront a broader national question:…

15 Dec

When unity becomes a performance, the centre no longer holds and the nation falls apart: The selective accountability dilemma

Featured, Opinions

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara) Namibia is widely praised for its stability, democratic institutions, and robust legal frameworks. Yet beneath this reputation, a troubling pattern has emerged: accountability is increasingly inconsistent, seemingly influenced more by political proximity than principle. From diplomatic postings to internal reshuffles, some officials face swift public censure, while others with comparable controversies are quietly elevated. This uneven application of rules raises concerns that Namibia may be drifting toward selective governance, a phenomenon observable in other African democracies under political strain. Let us unpack these contradictions, trace their origins, and examine what they…