GOBABIS – The Nama Youth of Namibia rejected the Genocide Remembrance Day meeting held in Keetmanshoop in the //Kharas region last week. The meetings, spearheaded by Vice President Lucia Witbooi, form part of her engagement with traditional leaders from the affected communities on the commemoration of the day, in the Omaheke, Otjozondjupa, Hardap, //Kharas, Erongo,...
Finance minister Ericah Shafudah has poured cold water on proposals to increase the old age pension to N$5000 per month. She cited fiscal constraints and the need for sustainable spending. Speaking in the National Assembly last Wednesday, Shafudah responded to National Democratic Party (NDP) leader Martin Lukato. Lukato in his maiden parliamentary address last week...
Rudolf Gaiseb Fishing quotas could benefit former fishermen by providing employment and shares in fishing companies, Swanu leader Evilastus Kaaronda said last week. He made this submission in the National Assembly while enquiring whether the government can ensure that fishermen leverage the quotas and obtain shares in fishing companies. This is so that even after...
Lahja Nashuuta The Landless People’s Movement (LPM) has firmly rejected the proposed national budget currently under review in the National Assembly, with party member Eneas Shivolo Emvula declaring it disconnected from the realities faced by ordinary Namibians. Speaking during the debate last week, he said, “On behalf of my political party, I cannot, in good...
Lahja Nashuuta Finance minister Erica Shafudah says the government will reduce the non-mining corporate tax rate to enhance the country’s economic competitiveness, attract investments and stimulate growth. Responding to questions raised in the National Assembly last week during the budget debate, Shafudah acknowledged concern over the decline in Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) revenue for...
KIGALI – Rwanda last month severed relations with Belgium following criticism of its actions in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – a move that is already having unexpected consequences. Rwanda’s support for the M23 armed group, which has seized large areas of the mineral-rich eastern DRC, has attracted international condemnation and sanctions. In March,...
KAMPALA – Uganda’s opposition said yesterday that security forces had “sealed off” its headquarters in the capital, Kampala, to stop the party launching a protest campaign ahead of national polls next year. Security forces have in recent years frequently targeted the opposition party of the National Unity Platform (NUP), led by musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine. The...
THE HAGUE – A top Palestinian official told the International Court of Justice yesterday that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza as a “weapon of war”, at the start of a week of hearings at the UN’s top court. Israel is not participating at the ICJ, but hit back immediately, dismissing the...
SANAA – Huthi rebel-controlled media in Yemen said yesterday that US strikes hit a migrant detention centre in the movement’s stronghold of Saada, killing at least 68 people. The US military has hammered the Iran-backed Huthis with near-daily strikes since 15 March in an operation dubbed “Rough Rider”, seeking to end the threat they pose...
TEHRAN – Iran accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday of trying to dictate US policy in negotiations, after he called for the complete dismantling of Tehran’s nuclear programme, and for the inclusion of its ballistic missile capabilities in any deal. “What is striking… is how brazenly Netanyahu is now dictating what president Trump can...