Uncategorised

Couch Cat – Sun glasses with masks is a cool look …until we have the vaccine, masks are de rigueur

Jackie Wilson Asheeke We have to endure the mask thing for a bit longer. So let us make the best of it. Talk of a vaccine release is encouraging. But for all practical purposes, Namibia won’t see those shots for probably six months. And, we will never be able to afford a shot for every person. Currently, these vaccines being waved around require ice cold, Antarctic level freezers to be used (mobile units with 24/7/365 electricity is a MUST for storage, shipment and delivery). Currently, this country is not prepared to manage a vaccine that has such strict, severe, mandatory…
Read More

The Time Traveler: Vote for change

Hugh Ellis This Wednesday, 25th November, Namibians will vote for regional councils and local governments across the country. I would not be so presumptuous as to tell you who to vote for. However, I will say this: vote for someone who you think will change the status quo. Namibia can’t afford any more ‘business as usual’. We need leaders who challenge the rule of women by men at home, and the continued dominance of a few extremely wealthy (white) Namibians (and their few black friends) in business. We need city, township, and village leaders whose first thought is ‘what will…
Read More

Namibia must update its divorce laws

Jackie Wilson Asheeke I can state from experience that Namibia’s divorce laws are ridiculous in the 21st century. The Land of the Brave is too cowardly to take this issue on with alacrity. We must stop talking about changing divorce laws and do it. Right now, Namibia follows an apartheid era, religious-inspired law that is questionably legal in a secular state. It is absolutely unethical when considering the spirit of our constitution. Those responsible for forcing citizens to be subjected to this law must get off their butts and update these laws. Divorce is a fact of life whether people…
Read More

Voting is a duty in a democracy

Voting is an expression of your position on issues that affect Namibia. Those who register and vote, care about Namibia. Those who are registered and do not vote, are people who have stated that they don’t care whether they live free or not. They have stayed at home on Election Day and abdicated their right to complain about anything. Many people have their points of view about heavy issues that affect the country. You can hear them chattering away about their laundry list of what is going wrong. When they have the chance to stand up and make a difference…
Read More
BDF protestors demand Nandi-Ndaitwah’s axing

BDF protestors demand Nandi-Ndaitwah’s axing

Andrew Kathindi Protestors against the killing of four Namibian fishermen by the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) have handed a petition with a list of demands to the Office of the President. Among the demands is the call for the removal of current Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, calling her a failure. “She has failed to successfully pursue diplomatic efforts in redressing the security and safety concerns of the residents of the Zambezi Region by way of engaging her counterpart in that country. We are of the belief that she has let us down – hence the continuing…
Read More
U.S. Ambassador launches Academy for Women Entrepreneurs Program

U.S. Ambassador launches Academy for Women Entrepreneurs Program

Staff Writer U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson officially launched the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) program in Namibia. The program was established in 2019 and provides women with the tools needed to create and grow their own businesses, raise capital, and effectively network with other successful business owners. The first cohort for 2020 will consist of 28 participants from Windhoek who will receive the training virtually, due to the COVID pandemic. In 2021, the AWE program will deliver additional training courses to cohorts in Walvis Bay, Ongwediva, and Keetmanshoop. The U.S. Embassy hopes to grow the program to train more than…
Read More
Rent prices slip back into negative territory

Rent prices slip back into negative territory

Staff Writer The FNB Residential Rental Index shows that the 12-month moving average growth in rent prices took a dip of -1.3 percent at the end of September 2020., bringing the national weighted average rent to N$7 091 at the end of September 2020 compared to N$7 164 recorded over the same period in 2019. “The sudden return of the rental index growth into negative territory affirms the pass-through effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the rental market. This is unsurprising given the notable job losses and reduced income for the most part of the workforce as the country implemented COVID-19…
Read More

Empty rhetoric cannot address regional, local dire conditions

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro Is there any single political party, association or for that matter any independent candidate that is deserving of my vote in four days’ time when we go to the polls for the Regional and Local Authorities on Wednesday? Yours Truly Ideologically cannot help but think loudly. Just four days before the elections not convinced that anyone may be so deserving. Not only the vote of Yours Truly Ideologically but certainly it would not be strange that this may be the sentiment of many a Namibian voter. Perplexed at the lack of choices from the various entities bidding to…
Read More
Debmarine Namibia’s diamond vessel takes shape

Debmarine Namibia’s diamond vessel takes shape

Debmarine Namibia’s latest additional recovery vessel has started to take a perfect shape after the installation of the helideck a week ago in Damen Mangalia Shipyard, Romania. Helideck with the diameter of 22.8m with a total weight 49.2 tonnes will be the largest in the Debmarine Namibia fleet and designed to accommodate helicopters of different specifications such as AW101, Sikorsky S92, and Sikorsky S-61 (MTOW 15600kg). The new vessel according the diamond company will be fitted with deck integrated latest technology fire-fighting system, deck helicopter navigation lighting with circle and ‘H’ marking on top as per CAP 437 - standards…
Read More

LEGALIZE IT – With immediate effect

It is ridiculous for Namibia to insist upon putting its head in the sand regarding the legalization of cannabis. Why are we pretending the world has not changed on this issue since 1970 or ‘80. Older decision-makers want to believe that the majority of the population thinks as conservatively as they do. They think that the judgemental social ideas that ruled society when they were young are the same in Namibia in 2020. They are wrong. Their conservative thinking is retrogressive. It is not representative of the thinking and ideas of the majority of the population affected by the decision…
Read More