Month: October 2023

WINDHOEK: President Hage Geingob on Monday extended a message of condolences to the people of Finland, following the passing of their former President Martti Ahtisaari.

He was aged 86.

Geingob, in his message, described Ahtisaari as a leading peacemaker who, through the United Nations, played a pivotal role in midwiving the birth of a new Namibia.

He said Ahtisaari was a friend of the Namibian liberation struggle, and his history is incomplete without Namibia, a country he was associated with in many roles that he occupied, first through his appointment as a senator to the Council of the United Nations Institute for Namibia (UNIN) in 1975, a position which later led to his appointment in 1978 by United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim as the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Namibia.

In 1989, he was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General to assume the difficult task as the leader of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) in Namibia, which was globally hailed as a model in dealing with complex transitions from conflict to peace, Geingob said.

“As a Fin, former President Ahtisaari understood fully our quest for freedom and justice. Therefore, in the roles of diplomat, negotiator, peacekeeper and blue helmet, former President Ahtisaari served the Namibian people who were seeking self-determination and justice with flying colours,” he said.

Geingob further said as an icon in the imagination of the Namibian people, Ahtisaari was inscribed as an honorary citizen of the Republic of Namibia, with streets and schools having been named after him in remembrance and in celebration of his exceptional deeds in the birth of a free Namibia.

“We are not only mourning the loss of former President Ahtisaari, a friend and one of us, but we are also reaffirming the rich legacy of peace and the outstanding international public service of a Nobel peace laureate with an indelible association with Namibia,” Geingob maintained.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

OTJIWARONGO: More than 3 000 Swapo Party members are expected to attend the party’s star rally planned for Otjiwarongo in the Otjozondjupa Region on Saturday.

Swapo regional coordinator in Otjozondjupa, Immanuel Namaseb in an interview with Nampa on Tuesday said Swapo Party Vice President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah will be the keynote speaker at the rally to be held at the DRC soccer field Saturday afternoon.

“The Swapo Party regional coordinators of the 14 regions, their regional executives, governors, central committee members, and the political bureau of the party and ministers have confirmed their attendance,” said Namaseb.

The rally is aimed at introducing Nandi-Ndaitwah, who will contest the 2024 Presidential and National Assembly elections, to the Otjozondjupa community, said Namaseb.

He added that the inhabitants of the region have also informed Namaseb that they are eager to hear the voice of their Swapo Party presidential candidate for the 2024 national elections.

“We are excited to announce to our supporters that we have managed to get her to visit Otjozondjupa over the weekend. Let us all come in big numbers from Tsumkwe, Grootfontein, Otavi, Okakarara, Otjiwarongo, Omatako and Okahandja so that we can hear from her and also talk to her since she is our party presidential candidate in next year elections,” he said.

The rally is planned for 10h00 on Saturday, starting with a street procession from the Swapo Party headquarters in town, to the DRC soccer field about five kilometres away where traditional music groups and the Ndilimani Cultural Troupe will entertain the public, said Namaseb.

This will be followed by a roundtable discussion on infrastructure development in the region Sunday morning at the Swanevelder Community Hall with Nandi-Ndaitwah and various regional heads.

Swapo Party Secretary-General, Sofia Shaningwa will also attend, said Namaseb.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

WINDHOEK: President Hage Geingob on Tuesday stated that Namibia is currently a ‘hotbed’ for hydrocarbon prospecting with a share of 13 per cent of all offshore rigs operating in Africa.

Geingob made this observation during the three-day occasion Africa Energy Week held under the theme ‘The African energy renaissance: prioritising energy poverty, people, planet, industrialisation and free markets’ from 16-18 October 2023 in South Africa.

A statement issued by the Presidency on Tuesday quoted the president as saying that the country has witnessed more than 36 wells being drilled and today, Namibia is on the cusp of birthing a globally significant hydrocarbon industry and that for the African energy renaissance to be meaningful, Africa should be permitted to explore and exploit its natural endowments for the prosperity of the continent.

Geingob said the continent is experiencing a renaissance in renewable and non-renewable energy sources, which will permit it to arrest the challenges of poverty, the protection of the planet and the industrialisation of Africa.

“However, there are certain things we must get right in order to ensure that we meet the targets we have set for ourselves as countries, including as a continent. Convening of policy-makers and captains of industry on this scale during Africa Energy Week here in Africa is a step in the right direction as it facilitates unique platforms to dissect, learn and unlearn, while also drawing from the experiences of our counterparts for the betterment of our countries and the continent,” he said.

It is an opportunity that is impossible to pass up, Geingob noted, adding that in 2022, Shell and TotalEnergies announced major oil discoveries off Namibian shores, that if diligently developed, could result in light crude oil reserves estimated at three billion barrels.

“As a part of the drive to decarbonise its European refineries, in October 2023 TotalEnergies issued a call for tenders for the supply of 500 000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen while in 2022, Shell announced its final investment decision to build Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant which is expected to produce up to 60 000 kilogrammes of renewable hydrogen per day and will be operational in 2025,” the Namibian Head of State said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

OMUTHIYA: Oshikoto Region Governor Penda Ya Ndakolo has welcomed the consultation on the Development of the National Governance (DNG) Report for Namibia by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

At the consultation that took place in Omuthiya on Tuesday, Ndakolo said the event is a clear indication that the government embraces its mandate with enthusiasm, focus and dedication.

He added that the National Governance report is a self-assessment tool for promoting good governance as well as recommendations.

“This report is a sustainable way to measure qualitatively and quantitatively the performance of the most important aspects of democratic and political governance,” he said.

APRM National Governing Council member, Rosetta Nawases said their mandate is to strengthen democracy among member states, reinforcing best practices and achievements, rectify deficiencies in governance and socio-economic development processes, and encourage transformational leadership on the African continent, all through self-assessment and constructive dialogue.

“To date, implementation of the recommendations of the targeted review report on youth unemployment is ongoing in some areas, with the first progress report on the status of implementation expected in 2024,” said Nawases.

She added that the first-generation country review report covering the four APRM thematic areas: democracy and political governance, corporate governance, socio-economic development, economic governance and management was undertaken immediately after the completion of the targeted youth review.

“After consultation with the relevant stakeholders in the Oshikoto Region which include the public and private sector and civil society organisations, the National Programme of Action for the country review report was developed and submitted for consideration to the Cabinet and is expected to be launched in October 2023,” Nawases said.

She said it is worth noting that the APRM National Plan of Action is done in alignment with the country’s pre-eminent national policies by mainstreaming such through the various sectoral corporate plans of the government’s organisations, ministries, and agencies.

“The regional consultation seeks to provide credible, reliable and up-to-date data on the performance governance indicators and ensure periodic and continuous assessment of selected governance areas to detect areas requiring improvement,” Nawases said.

She added that the objective is to imbue a sense of ownership of the country’s governance and to assist the government to formulate informed policies and accurately guiding governance reforms, among others.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

WINDHOEK: An application by one of the Fishrot suspects, former Investec Asset Management managing director, James Hatuikulipi, challenging a restraint order by the Prosecutor General, Martha Imalwa, was dismissed with costs in the High Court on Tuesday.

Judges Herman Oosthuizen and Collins Parker made the dismissal order and subsequently removed the matter from the court roll.

Hatuikulipi constitutionally challenged provisions of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA).

Imalwa in November 2020 successfully applied for the order, freezing the bank accounts and properties of the suspects in the high ranking corruption scandal. According to Hatuikulipi, the restraint order violated his rights to be presumed innocent until found guilty. The presiding judges however found that since the restraint order proceeding were civil and not criminal in nature, the right to presumption of innocence in accordance with the Constitution did not apply. They found that Hatuikulipi’s rights were not violated as the restraint order is an interim order aimed at preserving the assets pending the conclusion of the criminal trial.

Prominent figures, including former justice minister Sakeus Shanghala and former fisheries minister, Bernardt Esau are also implicated in the saga.

Other suspects include former Fishcor Chief Executive Officer, Mike Nghipunya, former Investec Asset Management employee, Ricardo Gustavo, Pius Mwatelula, Phillipus Mwapopi, Otneel Shuudifonya, Nigel van Wyk, Tamson Hatuikulipi and Maren de Klerk.

The trial was initially set down for 02 October 2023, but was postponed due to a number of factors, including the unavailability of funds to pay legal costs. As such, various legal aid applications are pending.

The two former ministers have since approached the Office of the Attorney General, requesting that the office allocates funds to pay for their prepared lawyers.

This, they argue, is because they were in the employment of the State at the time of their arrests.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

WINDHOEK: The City of Windhoek (CoW) has electrified approximately 3 515 households in the informal settlements around Windhoek over a period of five years to the tune of N.dollars 45 million.

This was said by CoW Mayor Joseph Uapingene during the official inauguration of the informal areas electrification project in Havana extensions 6 and 7 in the Samora Machel Constituency on Tuesday.

Uapingene said the houses were electrified during the previous five-year electrification plan of 2017-2022, which lapsed during the 2022/2023 financial year, with a combined capital investment of N.dollars 45 million funded by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and Namibia Power Corporation (NamPower).

He explained that in Havana extensions 6 and 7 phase two, 105 households were electrified out of a total of 162 houses at N.dollars 4.2 million availed by the ministry. Fifty-seven houses will be completed once the appointment of an auxiliary unit rate electrical contractor is finalised by end October 2023.

“Municipal services belong to every Windhoek resident… CoW remains committed to providing basic services to our residents to ensure that all our residents enjoy quality of life and basic services, which are the foundation for further development,” he noted.

Uapingene further explained that the City council has recently approved the revised five-year electrification plan to guide the implementation of the electrification project of 4 000 households for the next five years (2023 to 2028), noting that to reach the targets CoW requires N.dollars 15 to N.dollars 20 million per year.

One of the beneficiaries, Dinineni Shanduka who has been residing in Havana since 2007, expressed gratitude for the provision of electricity, saying livelihood without electricity has been difficult.

“We have been suffering here a lot because without electricity you can’t do much. We are thankful because now we can even charge our phones, we can now use fridges, our houses have lights and as women, we can now freely walk in the streets at night,” she said.

A total of 50 street lights were also installed in the area.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency