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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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MPs want coordinated action  … as African Migratory Locusts threaten food security

MPs want coordinated action … as African Migratory Locusts threaten food security

Moses Magadza WINDHOEK- Members of Parliament from the SADC Region are calling for a concerted regional effort to prevent African Migratory Locusts (AML) exacerbating an already dire food security situation, amid reports that the destructive pests have become “smarter”. The locusts are already wreaking havoc in several SADC countries that include Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Angola, stoking fears of famine in a region in which nearly 44.5 million people are already food insecure. Dr Lewis Hove, the Resilience Team Leader at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Sub Regional Office for Southern Africa last week told the lawmakers that…
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Ministry dismisses COVID-19 second wave fears ..as country sees spike in cases

Ministry dismisses COVID-19 second wave fears ..as country sees spike in cases

Andrew Kahindi The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) has dismissed concerns about a second wave of COVID-19 in Namibia. This is in the wake of a rising number of cases in the past week with 200 new cases recorded since last Friday, 13 November. A second wave of COVID-19 has swept across Europe where most countries beginning to see a spike in numbers again. In France, a second lockdown was announced after daily COVID-19-related deaths reached their highest levels since April. Germany recorded 23,542 cases last Friday, a record high according to media while Portugal is currently experiencing…
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Fishcor fires Nghipunya

Fishcor fires Nghipunya

Staff Writer The National Fishing Corporation (Fishcor) has announced the termination of the employment of Mike Nghipunya as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the corporation with immediate effect. “The Temporary Board of Directors has concluded an objective approach of the employer-employee relationship and on the assessment of the continuation or termination of Mr Mike Nghipunya employment as the suspended CEO. Specifically with reference to his inability to tender his services to ensure institutional continuity, stability and sustainability of the corporation and its subsidiaries in terms of the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) Act 1991 and the Public Enterprise Governance…
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Namandje takes on Nust over VC appointment

Namandje takes on Nust over VC appointment

Clifton Movirongo Lawyer Sisa Namandje has confirmed to the Windhoek Observer on Monday 16 November that an urgent application to High Court is being prepared. This is over Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) Council’s decision to overlook Professor Frednard Gideon for the post of Vice-Chancellor (VC) even though he outperformed Dr Erold Naomab. This comes after the Nust Council announced last Friday that Naomab is the new Nust VC for the next five years, effective January 2021. Namandje who will represent Gideon under his law firm, Sisa Namandje & Company, says the decision by Nust Council was invalid,…
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Higher Education Minister is above the fray

Higher Education Minister is above the fray

Brian Doeseb This is a response to the media flurry and online comments about Higher Education Minister Itah Kandji-Murangi and unconfirmed speculations and assumptions regarding NUST in relation to the Honourable Minister. Please note these clarifications and contextual comments. Namibians from all walks of life and from all the regions of this nation, pride themselves in having successfully emerged from the yoke of apartheid, injustice and social divisions, into a peaceful and stable nation. Ours is a country governed by the rule of law. Anything that goes against our constitution, established laws, institutional systems, processes and procedures, must be subjected…
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USA elections springboard for the people globally to march on

Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro The just ended Presidential elections in the United States of America (USA) may have been either of particular and/or indifferent interest to Namibia, and Africa, for different reasons depending which country and her citizens. Be it government actors or/and the people, especially class actors, like working class and business sectors. It must have been of particular interest to Namibian state governors given the cordial relationship Namibia seems to have been enjoying since independence. Essentially, whether the Namibian state actors would wish to admit or not, a neo-colonial cordial through which the umbilical cord between especially Namibian state actors,…
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