Month: August 2023

Telecom Namibia employees on Wednesday held a peaceful demonstration demanding salary increases and alleging that there is corruption within the company.

Speaking on behalf of the employees, Sophia Egelser said the demonstration will continue for the next two days. She said the demonstration will only end once the Board Chairperson, Melkizedek Uupindi or Deputy Chairperson, Amanda Hauuanga receive the petition.

The employees demanded that they receive bonuses and salary increments and said the board of directors should avail themselves to the Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu) immediately.

The employees further alleged that board members are involved in corruption and said they wanted to see it come to an end.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Former Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Bernard Esau has denied allocating quotas to Namgomar Pesca Limitada, an Angolan company at the centre of the Fishrot fishing corruption saga.

Esau in his testimony at his formal bail application in the Windhoek High Court on Wednesday told Judge David Mungunda he was not in charge of allocating fishing quotas, saying the agreement to nominate Namgomar Pesca as the Angolan entity receiving the quotas came from the office his then Permanent Secretary, Ulitala Hiveluah.

Esau also denied having a hand in the Angola-Namibia bilateral fishing agreement, saying that it merely came to his office as a recommendation and he was only briefed by the Permanent Secretary(PS) after the agreement was already decided on.

“The Memorandum of Understanding was shared by the then PS with her counterpart in Angola and both parties came to an agreement in terms of objectives, scope, operations. I was only briefed by the PS that we have now come to an agreement. I am subjected to briefings by those who are responsible. They evaluate the allocation of quotas. I don’t have that authority as the minister. In fact, I asked my colleagues how quotas are allocated when I was in office,” Esau said.

He reiterated that the administration in the fisheries ministry and a special internal committee was solely responsible for the allocation of the quotas, while he as minister was to approve the allocation as recommended.

“Namgomar was recommended to me as the entity. It came from the PS, I don’t have the capacity as minister to do due diligence for entities. They even prepared letters for my signature and in terms of protocol, I had to send to my counterpart,” Esau testified.

Esau was arrested in November 2019 alongside former Justice Minister Sakeus Shanghala, former Fishcor Chief Executive Officer Mike Nghipunya, former Investec Asset Management Managing Director James Hatuikulipi, his cousin Tamson Hatuikulipi and Pius Mwatelulo, Otneel Shuudifonya, Ricardo Gustavo and Phillipus Mwapopi.

They face charges ranging from fraud and money laundering to racketeering and theft.

Esau is represented by Florian Beukes and State Advocate Ed Marondedze represents the State.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

South African Nama Development Association (SANDEVA) founding president, James Mapanka, has stated that for the South African government to effectively develop the Nama language and integrate it into schools, it must rely on Namibia’s expertise.

A group of about 16 people, including Mapanka, are in the ||Kharas Region for a week-long working visit organised under a twinning agreement between the ||Kharas Regional Council and the Northern Cape Provincial Government on economic development opportunities, safety and security and improving education and cultural tolerance, which was signed in September 1999.

In an interview with Nampa here on Wednesday, Mapanka said there is no need for South Africa to reinvent the wheel while it can benefit from the expertise and skills found in Namibia, which is also covered by the twinning agreement.

“We can learn a lot from our counterparts in Namibia, we are trying to show people that in the southern African region, we can integrate our programmes, we can learn from one another, and all we need is goodwill for the language and the culture,” he said.

He indicated that one of SANDEVA’s objectives is to create a training manual that will be employed in South Africa to provide Nama language training at an acceptable level.

“It is in our constitution for the language to be developed, but we aim to avoid delivering sub-standard language training. We want it to be on a standardised level, we do not want a situation where the Nama language is spoken on different levels in Namibia and South Africa. It should be uniform,” he added.

He further said once the group returns to South Africa, they must persuade the education department to introduce Nama language teaching in schools for Nama descendants and any other South Africans interested in learning the language.

“We are the activists of the language and tradition, we will go back and lobby those who are in power to see to it that the Nama language becomes part of the curriculum,” said Mapanka.

Edwina Adams, a qualified teacher from the Eastern Cape, told this news agency she aspires to be a Khoekhoegowab practitioner.

“Nama is a very interesting language, our language has been dying out where I am from. I am learning a lot from this trip, the Nama history and all. What stood out for me was that when we visited the schools those little children could speak, write and read the language fluently, It was amazing and I want to be part of that,” she said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Vice President Nangolo Mbumba on Wednesday launched the #WeAreEqual campaign, a continental action plan by Africa’s first ladies aimed at closing the gender gap in Africa.

#WeAreEqual is an initiative of the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), which has a membership of 45 first ladies across Africa. The initiative is aimed at advancing gender equity and closing the gender gap across the continent.

Speaking at the launch at State House, Mbumba said the campaign aims to advocate and improve the lives of women and girls in Namibia and across Africa by promoting gender equality. He said women and men possess the same inherent dignity and deserve the same rights as they have the same potential to contribute to society regardless of gender.

“With this campaign, we want to bring an essential truth that women and men are equal, no exception. Despite the fundamental truth, the reality faced by many girls and women across Africa tells a different story and Namibia is no exception,” he noted.

According to the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI), Namibia has been ranked as the most gender-equal country in Africa, and the eighth most gender-equal country in the world as of June 2023. No country has however achieved full gender parity yet.

Mbumba highlighted that the campaign will focus on areas where women and girls mostly experience inequality such as health, education and economic empowerment, amongst others.

Speaking at the same occasion, Namibia’s First Lady and President of OAFLAD, Monica Geingos said African first ladies are joining hands to shine a spotlight on the importance of closing gender gaps, how gender equality benefits everyone, and why it is essential for progress on all fronts of development.

“Inequality continuously manifests itself in every shape that challenges society and the result of inequality speaks for itself and we need to listen… #WeAreEqual speaks to the discrimination women and girls experience in everyday lives, and together we can break down the wall that is standing in their equal rights,” she noted.

Geingos further noted that the campaign equally aims to bring together stakeholders and partnerships with the mission to overcome harmful gender practices and build towards the African Union Agenda 2063 where both women and men conquer ‘The Africa We Want’.

The campaign was officially launched in Kinshasa, Congo by OAFLAD in June 2023 and Namibia is the first country to launch its national campaign.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency