Opinions

Dr David Emvula Infertility is a medical disease, not a lifestyle choice. Classified by the World Health Organization under the ICD-10, alongside cancer, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS, it affects millions globally. Yet in Namibia, couples struggling with infertility are left to fend for themselves: public healthcare and private medical insurance exclude fertility treatment. This is not just unjust; it is discriminatory. Globally, one in six couples face infertility, and in Africa, it’s as high as one in four. For many, the inability to conceive carries devastating emotional, social, and psychological consequences. In a society where childbearing is central to cultural identity…

 Johannes Hesekiel Building projects often start with exciting visions of what life will be like once the project or renovation is completed.  Unfortunately, for many starry-eyed property investors and homeowners, the dream very quickly descends into a nightmare as costs escalate to much higher levels than indicated in the original quotation and completion times extend well beyond initial expectations. This is also a nightmare that you cannot escape from quickly.  Once committed to a building project, it is very hard to leave it. Even once the building project has been completed, there is still scope for the nightmare to continue. …

On the 16 September 2025, prime minister Elijah Tjitunga Ngurare announced through social media that “ministry of education, innovation, youth, sports, arts and culture and the ministry of health and social services entered a memorandum of understanding with the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) to facilitate TVET trainees repairing schools, clinics, construction of sanitation facilities, classrooms, etc. Other OMAs will follow suit.”  In 2024, the Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso) launched a programme called Fix My School, which also aimed at partnering with technical and vocational training trainees to improve the dilapidated state of schools, which is a reality they discovered…

It has been a dark and long week here in our beautiful Republic. From news of horrendous child murders in the growing battles for paternity to the ever-present gender-based violence cases, the question that has begged for response is whether it is time for Namibia to introduce mandatory paternity testing.  This has become a clarion call that is viewed as a redeeming act to prevent crimes often termed as passionate and also to safeguard men from the emotional trauma that comes with caring for children who are not theirs biologically.  In terms of benchmarking, it is important to highlight that…