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Tag: Namibia

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Covid-19: Namibia’s capital Windhoek on two-week lockdown

Elwin Mandowa, , , , , ,

– – Namibia’s government has announced a two-week lockdown of the capital Windhoek to fight the spike in Coronavirus pandemic. The city has recorded more than half of the Covid infections in the entire country. On Tuesday evening President Hage Geingob announced tighter measures to limit the spread of virus after recent spike in infections and deaths. In a televised address, the president said the Covid situation had taken “a turn for the worst” in the past four weeks, with record daily infections and deaths. Geingob said several leaders including…

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Africa Namibia Southern Africa World 

Germany to pay Namibia €1.1bn in reparations for colonial genocide

Elwin Mandowa, , , , , , , ,

Germany has accepted to pay Namibia €1.1bn as reparation for genocide committed during its colonial-era occupation of the African country. The reparation will be in a form of financial support for Namibia’s development through a programme. Per the deal of the reparation there will be funding paid over 30 years through spending on infrastructure, healthcare and training programmes benefiting the impacted communities. On Friday Foreign Minister Heiko Maas officially acknowledged that the colonial-era killings constituted genocide. “In light of Germany’s historical and moral responsibility, we will ask Namibia and the…

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Air Namibia ceases operations as it files for liquidation

Elwin Mandowa, , , , , ,

– – Namibia’s national carrier Air Namibia has suspended all operations, leaving hundreds of workers without jobs. The airline is cancelling all of its flights and grounding its aircraft with immediate effect. In a statement Air Namibia asked all affected customers to cancel reservations and request refunds. The state owned newspaper the New Era reported that more than 600 employees are being sent home by the airline. It had been a cabinet decision to file for voluntary liquidation, the paper said. – – Employees will receive a basic salary for the next 12 months but…

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Africa Business Featured Namibia Southern Africa World 

Namibia auctions 170 elephants due to drought

Elwin Mandowa, , , , , , ,

– – The Namibian government has announced the auctioning of elephants due to drought and human-widelife conflict. An advertisement in the state owned Era newspaper said about 170 high value elephants will be auctioned off. “Due to drought and an increase in elephant numbers, coupled with human-elephant conflict incidents, a need has been identified to reduce these populations,” according to the advertisement. The advert from the country’s environment ministry invited tenders with specific requirements, including meeting international standards and a permit for exporting the animals. Interested parties have up to January 29 to…

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Africa Featured Namibia Southern Africa World 

Namibians demonstrate against gender-based violence

Elwin Mandowa, , , , , , , , , ,

– – Hundreds of Namibians on Thursday hit the streets of the country’s capital Windhoek to demonstrate against recent cases of gender-based violence. They have demanded investigations and prosecution of persons who perpetuated the violence. It follows the discovery of the body of a woman in a shallow grave in Walvis Bay, south-west of the country. Hundreds of citizens have taken to the Windhoek streets this morning demanding an end to violence against women and children as well as calls for justice for Shannon Wasserfall whose suspected remains were discovered…

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Namibia: Incumbent President Geingob wins re-election

Village Reporter, , , ,

Namibia’s incumbent President Hage Geingob has been declared winner of last month’s presidential election. The electoral commission of Namibia said on Saturday that Geingob retained power, winning the election with 56.3% of the vote. His closest rival, a fellow SWAPO party member Panduleni Itula who ran as independent came second with 29.4%. In third place was the leader of the official opposition party, McHenry Venaani who secured 5.3% of the votes. Despite his victory there was a drop in his support base. Geingob secured 87% of votes in the 2014…

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Africa Featured Namibia Southern Africa World 

Namibia: Commonwealth says poll was ‘peaceful and orderly’

Village Reporter, , , ,

Namibia’s election on 27 November was carried out in a largely peaceful and orderly manner, according to an interim statement issued by the Commonwealth observers who were deployed to the country. The group noted that the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly Elections – the sixth multiparty elections since Namibia‘s independence – were the most competitive in the country’s electoral history. Issuing the Group’s preliminary statement in Windhoek, the Chair of the Observer Group, former Attorney General of Zambia Musa Mwenye, said: “We observed that the processing of voters remains slow,…

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Africa Featured Namibia Southern Africa World 

Namibians vote in crucial presidential and parliamentary polls

Village Reporter, , , , ,

Namibians went to the polls on Wednesday to vote for a new president and parliamentarians in elections considered crucial and anticipated to be tight. The ruling Swapo party has been in power since independence from South Africa in 1990 and is expected to prolong that hold on power. Incumbent President Hage Geingob who is the country’s third leader since independence is seeking a second and final term in office. He is facing opposition from Namibia’s first female presidential candidate, Esther Muinjangue as well as Panduleni Itula, who is a member…

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Africa Namibia Southern Africa World 

Esther Muinjangue: Namibia’s first female candidate for president

Village Reporter, , , ,

On Wednesday Namibians will be heading to the polls and Esther Muinjangue will be the country’s first female presidential candidate in the election. She will be leading her National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) party into the election hoping the 2.45 million citizens will give her a chance to lead the country. In an interview with AFP she said she feels a “wind of change” blowing in her country. “You hear a lot of people complaining about the (ruling) SWAPO-led government,” she said adding that “There was apathy among the youth.”…

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Gambian President Yahya Jammeh Africa OP-ED Opinions 

Africa is saying NO to international criminal court (ICC)

Global Author, , , , , ,

African leaders have long voiced concerns about the fairness of the international criminal courtas to has always been seen to target Africans. This issue is now gaining significant traction after the Gambia became the third country on the continent to announce its withdrawal from the Hague-based tribunal. The move follows similar announcements from Burundi and South Africa, who informed the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, of their decision to quit the court last week, making them the first countries to begin the year-long exit process in the court’s 18-year history.

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