Opinions – Windhoek Observer

25 Feb

Beyond the paycheque: The unseen crisis in Namibia’s security sector

Opinions

Faizel Patterson The recent implementation of a new national minimum wage for the security industry is, without question, a welcome and necessary step towards social justice for some of our nation’s most essential workers. Both employers and employees agree that better pay is a shared goal. However, the public discourse surrounding its implementation has been dangerously simplistic, ignoring a complex economic reality that, if mishandled, could trigger the very crisis it seeks to prevent: mass unemployment. Approving a wage increase is easy. To implement it sustainably is hard. The inconvenient truth is that for any service-based company, from security to…

25 Feb

Women as economic architects

Opinions

Fransina Kahungu Secretary; Swapo Party Women’s Council for too long, the language of women’s empowerment has been framed around assistance, access and inclusion. We speak of women as beneficiaries of land reform, beneficiaries of grants, beneficiaries of procurement quotas, and beneficiaries of training. While these interventions have been necessary and meaningful, they cannot be the ceiling of our ambition. In March 2025, Her Excellency Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was sworn in as the first female president of the Republic of Namibia. Her leadership symbolised progress, unity and national pride. A stark reminder that women are not in leadership positions for pity,…

24 Feb

Does the presumed JD deadlock really matter?

Opinions

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Beginning in March, on the second of March to be exact, hybrid discussions shall be taking place in the German capital of Berlin, to be hosted by the German Parliament, the Bundestag’s parliamentary group of the Green Party, Die Grüne. According to the purpose of the discussions, to which a fellow descendant, Jephta Nguherimo, shall be amongst the participants, it is for the party to gain further insight into the state of the negotiations on the genocide of the Ovaherero, Ovambanderu and Nama. “We want to discuss how the reconciliation between Germany and Namibia can finally begin, and…

24 Feb

Response to the article titled: All presidents’ mansions: Constitutional obligation and public accountability

Opinions

PAUL T. SHIPALE (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Reflecting on the benefits of former presidents, especially President Nangolo Mbumba Before engaging the proposed subject matter, it is important to pause and reflect on two significant public remembrance events held last week. A military funeral was accorded to former minister Erkki Ndineinge Nghidipohamba ya Nghimtina, who was laid to rest at the Eenhana Memorial Shrine on Saturday, 21 February 2026. We equally acknowledge the unveiling of the memorial tombstone for the victims of the 19 February 1988 Oshakati Barclays Bank bomb blast, now known as First National Bank (FNB),…

20 Feb

A golden buffer or gilded gamble? Bank of Namibia’s strategic bet on local gold

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

The decision by the Bank of Namibia to begin purchasing gold from local producers marks one of the most consequential shifts in the country’s reserve management strategy since independence. By targeting gold to make up approximately 3% of Namibia’s net foreign exchange reserves, the central bank has signalled a deliberate and strategic recalibration of how it intends to shield the economy from global turbulence. At face value, the move appears prudent. Central banks worldwide have been reassessing their exposure to foreign currencies in an era marked by geopolitical tensions, persistent inflationary pressures and volatile capital flows. Gold, historically regarded as…

20 Feb

“No more plundering” call meaningless without ideological belief, conviction!

Opinions

We are no longer interested in exporting raw materials, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema recently told the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Hinting that Africa has “now awakened and is no longer interested in exporting raw materials but yearn for discussions that lead to adding value to its economies”. Adamant and boasting that the continent is now speaking one language and wants everyone including ordinary citizens to feel the benefit of its mineral endowment. “We don’t want to talk and keep attending conferences and yet the man in the street can’t feel the benefit of the mineral endowment that we…

20 Feb

Designing Namibia’s oil future: Power, accountability and the constitutional middle ground

Opinions

Paul T. Shipale (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) Namibia stands on the brink of a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Billions of dollars could flow from oil and gas resources, but who controls that wealth, and how it is managed, will determine whether this opportunity becomes a blessing or a curse for generations to come. This week, the National Assembly debated the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Amendment Bill, a law that proposes shifting authority over the oil and gas sector from the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy to the Presidency. Supporters argue that centralising power ensures faster decisions, coordinated leadership,…

20 Feb

YOUNG OBSERVER | #UNMUTED

Featured, Opinions

Nations are not built in moments of celebration. They are built in the long stretches of ordinary time that follow. Flags are raised, constitutions are signed, and history marks these events as turning points. Yet the true test of freedom begins after the applause fades, when a people must decide what to do with the future that has been placed in their hands. Namibia now lives firmly within that quieter chapter of its story. More than three decades have passed since independence transformed the political destiny of the country. A generation has grown up knowing freedom not as a dream…

19 Feb

The door or the sword: Why Africa will no longer ask permission to exist

Opinions

Paul T. Shipale (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar) There is a Swahili saying that cuts to the heart of our modern predicament: "Wakala huona tu kile anacho uwezo wa utambuzi wa kuona." Translated, it means an agent only sees what they have the cognition to see. For decades, the world has looked at Africa and seen only what its limited cognition allowed: a continent of problems, not solutions; of resources, not resourcefulness; of people to be saved, not partners to be respected. That blindness ends now. When the spotlights dimmed on the 39th African Union Summit, something fundamental…

16 Feb

Why Swapo and Namibia need President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah now

Featured, Opinions

Let me address the elephant in the room directly. There is a deafening silence surrounding a matter that is critical to both Swapo and Namibia. Conversations about succession ahead of the 2027 Swapo Congress (C2027) are intensifying, yet they are rarely confronted with the seriousness they deserve. Positioning has begun, camps are quietly consolidating, and speculative debates are increasingly shaping political discourse. As Charles de Gaulle reminds us, sometimes “politics is too important to be left in the hands of politicians.” In moments of strategic consequence, silence becomes complicity. The country and the party cannot afford petty squabbles disguised as…