Opinions – Page 16 – Windhoek Observer

07 Aug

How genomic research and medicine can advance African public health

Opinions

Prof Lamech M. Mwapagha Africa faces a heavy disease burden of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Although the continent has generally succeeded over the last 20 years in decreasing the levels of a number of communicable diseases (e.g. cholera and polio), there are some (e.g. malaria and HIV/AIDS) whose prevalence remains quite high. This disease burden has been aggravated with the emergence of drug-resistant strains of various pathogens. Non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (e.g. heart attack and stroke), cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases are also on the rise in Africa, with the number of deaths from these projected…

07 Aug

When one job isn’t enough

Opinions

Ashante Manetti There was a time when having one job was enough. You’d go to work, earn your salary, and manage your responsibilities as best as you could. But for many Namibians today, that model simply doesn’t cut it anymore. The numbers say it plainly: nearly a third of working Namibians are juggling more than one income stream. Some have side hustles after hours. Others run small businesses alongside their nine-to-five. A growing number are freelance, rent out rooms, sell goods online, or tap into gig work just to make ends meet. This trend, often referred to as “poly-jobbing”, isn’t…

07 Aug

Charles the Freedom Fighter, Marxist Revolutionary

Opinions

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro WHO? Of all people, who is likely to give this son of the African soil and internationalist’s rich revolutionary and intellectual credentials the credit it deserves? Yours Truly Ideologically could not but muse and at the same time lament upon the sad news of the passing on of Comrade Charles Kauraisa. As many of his contemporaries, and indeed true comrades-in-arms, have long gone. Jariretundu Kozonguizi, Che Ngaringombe, Moses Katjiuongua, Otniel Ndjoze, Rapata Tjivikua, Ambros Hijatjinguka Kandjii, and Tjatjitua Murangi, to mention but a few of them. Certainly the Angeline Kozonguizis, Rebecca Katjiuonguas, and Ida Virua Pakarae-Kandjous may still…

07 Aug

Namibia’s 51% Mining Ownership Gambit: A Strategic Win or a Populist Trap?

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

The Namibian government’s recent announcement that it will take up a 51% stake in all mining operations came at an interesting time, right in the middle of the Mining Expo, where international investors were visiting the country. The timing was clearly intentional, aimed at signaling a new era of resource nationalism. For many Namibians, the declaration sounded like a long-overdue corrective to decades of foreign dominance in the sector. The applause was loud, and understandably so. Who would not support the idea of Namibians finally owning the wealth beneath their soil? But beneath the rhetoric lies a more complicated reality.…

06 Aug

Protecting Your Data in the Digital Age

Observer Money, Opinions

Johannes Abraham Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the financial industry, making banking more efficient and accessible. However, fraudsters are also leveraging AI to create sophisticated scams that target individuals and businesses. At Letshego Holdings, we are committed to ensuring your financial security and helping you stay informed about emerging threats. Understanding AI-driven fraud and taking proactive measures can help protect your finances and personal information. How AI Fraud Affects You Fraudsters are using AI to impersonate trusted financial institutions, to deceive customers into sharing sensitive information. One of the most concerning scams is AI-powered phishing, where scammers send highly convincing…

06 Aug

Paved Roads, Unpaved Lives

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

There’s something to be said about Namibia’s roads. Anyone who has driven across our vast, open country knows the feeling, smooth tar under your wheels, horizons stretching endlessly, and barely a pothole in sight. In fact, our roads are ranked among the very best on the African continent. That’s no small feat for a nation as sparsely populated as ours. With a population of only about three million people, we have close to 49,000 kilometers of roads crisscrossing this wide land. Of those, around 6,600 kilometers are fully paved to international standards. For perspective, that’s roughly 16 meters of road…

05 Aug

The slow death of our towns: Namibia’s local authorities in crisis

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

As Namibia heads toward the local authority elections this November, one cannot help but look around our towns and villages and ask: What has become of us? The decay is not only physical but moral, institutional, and systemic. Our local authorities, which should be the engines of development and custodians of urban dignity, have instead become symbols of mismanagement, neglect, and corruption. What we are witnessing is not just decline; it is the slow, painful death of our towns, one municipality at a time. From Dreams of Housing to Settlements of Despair Drive into almost any Namibian town today, and the first…

04 Aug

Namibia, wake up: The reparations fight is your fight too

Editorial, Featured, Opinions

Much is being said about the reparation talks between Namibia and Germany. To the casual observer, it might seem as though the process has come a long way. After all, Germany has admitted wrongdoing and even recognized the atrocities committed against the Nama and Ovaherero people as genocide. Some consider this progress. But let’s be honest, it is not. It is a carefully worded statement, a hollow concession designed to appease rather than truly atone.What happened in Namibia between 1904 and 1908 was genocide, by every moral and legal definition. Tens of thousands of Nama and Ovaherero were slaughtered, driven…

04 Aug

Socio-economic growth war with public and private ownership

Opinions

Efraim Shimbali Namibia and Africa at large, has suffered a huge socio-economic dilution. To understand this dilution, one ought to dig deep to the roots of Africa’s historic community pre-colonialism. Communities of empires with a single head of governance and control. A background of social inclusion and economic ownership of togetherness as well as exchange of possessions without being bias. Gone are the days of investment through sharing. Days of kings or queens receiving economic assistance from the community, and when bad days approach, the palace rescues. Many will recall how Africans went to war with kings and queens only…

04 Aug

NAMIBIA’S RECLASSIFICATION AS A MIRROR, NOT A STIGMA

Opinions

Tio Nakasole Every year, the World Bank Group classifies the world’s economies into four income groups: low, low-middle, upper-middle, and high. These classifications get updated each year on 1 July, based on the previous year’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, expressed in U.S. dollars using the Atlas method. Based on the generous numerical definition of the World Bank's 2024 gross national income (GNI) per capita, economies are divided differently among income groups. Using the World Bank Atlas method, income calculated per annum is low income, $1,145 or less; lower middle income, $1,146 to $4,515; upper middle income, $4,516 to…