New Era Publication Corporation (NEPC) presents you with the first edition of Kundana, the first weekly newspaper entirely written in one of Namibia’s indigenous languages – Oshiwambo – in the Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama dialects. Kundana is here to educate, inform and entertain.
Kundana is founded on the premise the African or rather Namibian story is too complex to be narrated only in English, German and Afrikaans.
It should also be told from an African perspective using an African language medium in this case Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama.
Kundana will be the first fully-fledged indigenous language, national newspaper that will contribute towards preserving our rich and diverse cultural heritage for future posterity.
It intends to level the playing field, as there has been a systematic marginalisation of our African languages.
It is the first and depending on your response as a reader, and the entire public, the first of possibly numerous newspapers in other Namibian indigenous languages that NEPC intends to publish.
Kundana is a truly community newspaper for all those who can read Oshiwambo, and dare we say those who simply wish to enrich their Oshiwambo proficiency. This edition is the start of the pilot phase and we are most certain that the public would embrace and take ownership by writing opinions and making other contributions.
If anything to go by, the initial response during the planning stage was encouraging. Now it is time to test the waters.
Kundana will be reporting on pertinent issues across the country that do not always make it in the mainstream newspapers, and inform readers about the developments in the entire country.
It is time that the indigenous people of Namibia have a newspaper that speaks and reports exclusively on issues happening in their regions in the language they understand best. Not many Namibians have been privileged enough to acquire the proficient skills of reading the English language. In that case, why not give them news in a language they speak, a language of their own?
This is surely something that New Era Publication Corporation intends to explore further going forward. It is a pledge that we wish to make, that from now on, we will try as hard as we can to bring out news in various indigenous languages. This pledge will however depend on the response from the readers, if the readers do really want to read in their own vernaculars.
We encourage all readers to make Kundana your newspaper. Tell us the kind of stories you wish to read, inform us of the significant events you want covered, send us social pictures, advise us on the entire content, please take ownership as Kundana is your newspaper.
Kundana is the first newspaper that presents businesspeople with the unique avenue to reach the Oshiwambo speaking audience with products and services meant for that untapped lucrative market.
A newspaper cannot survive without equal support from the business community through adverts. In fact adverts are the lifeblood of any newspaper, they are akin to what water is to fish because when you take a fish out of the water it is natural that fish will simply die.
Like we said in the beginning, Kundana is here to stay and will entertain, educate and inform our readers.