National News – Windhoek Observer (2024)

Niël Terblanché The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has stressed the importance of timely voter registration for the upcoming Presidential and National Assembly Elections scheduled for the end of November. Peter Shaama, the Chief Electoral and Referenda Officer at the ECN, last week, announced that there will be no extension window beyond 1 August for voters to register while also urging all eligible Namibians to take immediate action. He indicated that since the commencement of the General Registration of Voters (GRV) on 3 June, a total of 676 390 Namibians have registered as voters. This includes registrations both within the…

Martin Endjala The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, is set to auction about 147 cattle on 17 July. This is according to a public notice by the ministry last week. The notice stated that this is a combined slaughter cattle and production event, along with a small livestock auction, specifically for the Omatjenne and Okomumbonde research settlements located in the Otjozondjupa region. The animals that will be sold include Slaughter Sanga Cross Oxen, 25 commercial Sanga cows, and heifers. There are 30 Slaughter Sanga Oxen and 3 Commercial Bonsmara Cows. 13 Slaughter Simmentaler Oxen, 4 Commercial Simbra Cows,…

Niël Terblanché Namibia's national railway operator, TransNamib, has accessed N$2.6 billion in funding from the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). This financial boost will be used to address the company's long-standing locomotive shortage and enhance its operational capacity. Chief Executive Officer, Desmond Van Jaarsveld, announced that the loan will be dedicated to increasing locomotive capacity, remanufacturing and acquiring new rolling stock, modernising the TransNamib workshop, and upgrading signaling equipment. “For years, we have been transparent about the challenges posed by our outdated equipment. This loan will not only enable us to increase…

Niël Terblanché The project to upgrade the road between Henties Bay and Uis to bitumen standard has been delayed due to a lack of funds. The Minister of Works and Transport, John Mutorwa, recently visited the site and noted that initial plans to have two contractors working simultaneously on the road from Henties Bay to Kamanjab were thwarted by funding constraints. Mutorwa reiterated the project's importance in diverting heavy truck traffic from the congested B2 Road to Walvis Bay harbour while at the same time enhancing Namibia's western transport corridor. He said the 96-kilometre road is part of a larger…

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The Namibian education system is disadvantageous to disabled children, vulnerable pupils, and girls. This is according to a report that was presented by Germain Tshinu during the Pan-African Parliament’s third ordinary session, which was held last week in Midrand, South Africa. He said that when a delegate from the Pan-African Parliament visited Namibia from 25 October to 10 November 2021, it was also discovered that, apart from the inadequate number of schools in rural areas, the existing schools are largely under-resourced with teachers. “It was gathered from interactive meetings that classrooms are generally overcrowded, with a ratio of…

Erasmus Shalihaxwe The European Union's (EU) Ambassador to Namibia, Ana Beatriz Martins, has announced that the economic bloc is working around the clock to ensure that Namibia is removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list. She announced this on Monday. According to her, Namibia has made progress ever since it was greylisted in February to ensure its removal from the list of non-compliant countries. “They called on us two months ago, and we are very happy that within months we have been able to bring Namibia into the EU-funded project called SK for African countries, where we…

Niël Terblanché The Ministry of Health and Social Services is working on ways to mitigate the challenges of supplying medicines and clinical supplies to public health facilities. The health minister, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, revealed this on Monday while providing an update on the ministry’s ongoing initiatives and the challenges faced over the past three years at the Government Information Centre. He said that these issues of shortage of medicine and clinical supplies stem from legal challenges to procurement processes, lengthy procedures, low procurement thresholds and poor supplier performance. “To mitigate these challenges, the Ministry has introduced several measures, including obtaining…

Niël Terblanché The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has firmly denied recent allegations circulating on social media regarding the purported sale of fishing quotas to the Angolan government. Annely Haiphene, the executive director of the fisheries ministry said in a statement that the baseless claims, initially made by social justice activist, Michael Amushelelo on a social media platform, have been dismissed as unfounded and misleading. Haiphene clarified that Namibia’s allocation of fishing quotas is strictly governed by the Marine Resources Act (Act 27 of 2000, as amended). She said that under this Act, specifically section 33, commercial fishing quotas…

Niël Terblanché The Fifth Session of the Namibia-Ghana Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation (PJCC), held in Swakopmund, reinforced the enduring commitment of both countries to foster collaboration across multiple sectors. According to a joint communiqué issued at the end of the session, discussions encompassed a broad spectrum of areas, including foreign service training, agriculture, mining, health, transport, energy, education, youth development, and regional and local government administration. One of the significant outcomes of the session was the expressed desire to elevate the PJCC to a bi-national commission, which would be co-chaired by the heads of state of both countries. This…

Martin Endjala The Health Professions Council of Namibia (HPCNA), has warned aspiring health professionals not to enrol in courses offered by the Divine Health Institute. The HPCNA stated that the institute's courses have not received approval. The HPCNA established the Divine Health Institute, which has been inviting candidates to enrol in several courses, including nursing, pharmacy, and emergency care. “The HPCNA hereby warns the public that none of the courses in nursing, pharmacy, or emergency care being offered by Divine Health Institute have been approved by the HPCNA,” read the public notice. According to the HPCNA, graduates from the institution…