More news on Erindi's sale

Namibian Ministry of Lands and Resettlement has warned the owners of Erindi Game Reserve that the farm may not be sold until such time they complied with the land reform laws of the country.
The ministry’s warning comes after co-owner Gert Joubert gave the government an ultimatum to either buy the farm for the set price of N$1,3 billion or lose out to other potential foreign buyers.

Erindi, which means the place of water in Herero, is a 70 000 hectares estate situated 40km east of the town of Omaruru between the Erongo Mountain Nature Conservancy and the Omatako Mountains and has 12 000 heads of game.

It is one of the largest privately owned game reserves in the world, attracting hundreds of tourists every year.

The ministry says that Joubert cannot sell the land to other buyers, because the government legally has the right of first refusal on any farmland being sold in the country. Only if the government is not interested in buying the land can it be sold to other private buyers, including foreigners.

According to the ministry, the Land Reform Act 6 of 1995, section 17, states that the government shall have the right to purchase agricultural land whenever any owner intends to alienate himself from it.

However, Joubert who bought the farm in 1986 argued that the farm is not agricultural land but falls under the tourism sector, which according to him is not listed under the Land Reform Act 6 of 1995. Erindi comprises of farm plot number 58 and constantia number 60, and thus falls under the constituted field mentioned under the Land Reform Act.

“The ministry is interested in the land and its position is to acquire the land but it is waiting for the farm to be offered again,” said Matongela.

Joubert, who says government is the preferred candidate, expressed fear of not being able to get a fair price for the value of the land.

“I am afraid that the government won’t be fair in handling this matter. I do not trust that they will give the farm its deserved value,” said Joubert, adding that he cannot enter into a deal that he would not benefit from.

“I have tried to convene meetings with the ministry but all attempts were in vain. I am still waiting to meet the prime minister,” said Joubert, who is currently in South Africa.

Air Namibia increases employees' salaries

Air Namibia has averted a strike when it agreed to increase workers’ salaries by 6,4%, backdated to 1 April 2013.
A statement on the salaries’ and substantive agreement between Air Namibia and the Namibia Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Natau) given to the media on Wednesday indicated that the payment of the difference in percentages will be from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014.

“Payment in this regard will be effected with the March 2014 salaries. The additional increment agreed shall be calculated on total cost-to-company, and the cash component of the increment (excluding employment benefits) shall be applied to the basic salary component,” it explained.

The increment excluded employees who were on temporary/short-duration contracts, but were recently appointed on long-term contracts. They will, however, be eligible for the 2014 increments as and when those are agreed on.

This agreement shall finalise the negotiations for the 2013/14 financial year.

Last week, Natau called a strike at Air Namibia if management did not reconsider its position of a 6,4% total-cost-to-company increase, a request made for union members since March 2013.

The negotiations reached a deadlock on 18 November 2013, and workers were issued a certificate of unresolved dispute from the Office of the Labour Commissioner in that regard.

Natau had proposed a seven percent, as well as a nine per cent salary increment to Air Namibia management, to be implemented as from 1 April 2014.

The parties held a meeting on 13 February 2014, where management made a request to Natau to forego the 2013 negotiations and consider fresh 2014 salary negotiations.

Namibia - a case of gerontocracy?

Namibian political commentator has warned that the reluctance by the Swapo old guard to retire and pave way for young politicians might make Namibia a gerontocracy – a country run by old people.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) executive director Graham Hopwood made the remark after it emerged that most Swapo senior leaders had hinted a desire to stand again for nomination.

The oldest ruling party parliamentarians are Nickey Iyambo (77), Ben Amathila (75), Theo-Ben Gurirab (75), Peter Katjavivi (72), Hage Geingob (72), Nangolo Mbumba (72), Nahas Angula (70) and Minister of Information and Communication Technology Joel Kaapanda (68).

Besides Geingob and Mbumba, who are assured of nomination to the party list because of their positions as Swapo vice president and secretary general, other elders will have to scramble for positions.

The cake for Swapo men in leadership will be smaller this time since the party wants to fully implement the gender equality policy, which compels the party to have a 50/50 gender representation.

Hopwood said the best hope for creating space for younger politicians is to persuade some of the older politicians to retire because their continued stay has created a backlog in the natural progression in the party.

“This will not be easy as Geingob, himself 72, is hardly in a strong position to persuade his age mates to stand down,” he said. “If some do not bow out this time, Namibia is in danger of becoming a gerontocracy – a country run by old men and a few old women with only a scattering of young people involved.”

This he said, could lead to the political establishment becoming out of touch as Namibian demographics indicate that the youth dominate the population.

“At the moment, it looks like young people will miss out as the SPYL (Swapo Party Youth League) is currently marginalised within the party’s power structures. Therefore, the leading figures in the youth league are not bound to be on the party list,” Hopwood said.

The party’s oldest member of Parliament, the Minister of Veterans’ Affairs, Nickey Iyambo, who turns 78 this year, did not rule himself out of the electoral college race.

“My stand in the party is decided by the people. It’s up to the people to decide. I am a servant of the people,” said Iyambo, a medical doctor by profession, who was the first minister of health in an independent Namibia in 1990.

Swapo backbencher Amathila, who turns 78 this year, said he has not yet decided whether to stand or not. “In fact, I did not think about it.”

Amathila was appointed the country’s first trade minister in 1990 and, later took over the information portfolio in 1993. He retired from the National Assembly (NA) in 2007, but made himself available for a parliament once again in 2009.

Speaker of the National Assembly Theo-Ben Gurirab is the third oldest politician in the NA. At 75, Gurirab said he will stand because he still has so much to offer nationally and internationally.

He dismissed, as rubbish, claims that the country might be turned into a state governed by old people saying elections at the electoral college will be determined by individual qualities such as what a person brings to the party.

The Usakos-born politician has also served as Prime Minister from 2002 to 2005 and as foreign minister from 1990 to 2002.

Swapo’s chief whip Peter Katjavivi, who turns 73 in May, could not confirm nor deny that he is seeking to stand. He said: “I don’t think there is a particular deadline for someone to say whether he will stand or not.”

Katjavivi was the founding vice-chancellor of the University of Namibia until he was given a diplomatic posting in 2003. He has also served as the National Planning Commission director general.

Defence Minister Nahas Angula, who is the ruling party’s seventh oldest member of parliament, has in the past publicly vowed to end his tenure as a parliamentarian. He was quoted in the weekly newspaper Confidante saying that he is quitting after 40 years in politics.

Angula, who turns 71 this August, seems to have made a U-turn on serving the ruling party in parliament. “I will cross that bridge when I get there.”

He said there are many factors to consider, and one of them is the implementation of the 50/50 gender representation.

Angula is one of the most popular politicians in the party who topped the Politburo members’ list in 2012 after having been a member since 1985. He was the first minister of education before he became the PM in 2005 until 2012.

A second group edging towards the 70s included works minister Erkki Nghimtina (65), defence deputy minister Petrus Ilonga (66), youth minister Jerry Ekandjo (66), health minister Richard Kamwi (63), regional and local government minister Charles Namoloh (64), and deputy minister of home affairs and immigration Elia Kaiyamo (63).

Those turning 63 next year are foreign affairs minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, justice minister Utoni Nujoma, safety and security minister Immanuel Ngatjizeko, Swapo backbencher Moses Amweelo, gender equality minister Rosalia Nghidinwa and home affairs minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana.

Deputy PM Marco Hausiku turns 61 this year while NA deputy speaker Loide Kasingo turned 60.

Swapo secretary general Nangolo Mbumba, like Gurirab, rejected the notion that the country would be run by old politicians, saying it does not matter if there are elders as they are elected by the people.

He said the party also has young MPs, compared to the first Cabinet: “We have people who have a good record, irrespective of their ages,” Mbumba said.

He, however, said it was up to each MP to decide if they are going to quit now or risk losing out at the electoral college since it will be competition for everyone.

According to Hopwood, the upcoming electoral college could be problematic for Swapo because too many people will be competing for too few places. There are 72 parliamentary seats available but from previous Swapo performances, a candidate needed to be in the top 50 to be fairly sure of a parliamentary seat.

Hopwood said Swapo could find itself in a Catch-22 situation - with none of the groups being entirely happy with the outcome of the electoral college.

“Some aspiring MPs are sure to lose out. However, Swapo has a broad patronage network which it can use to find positions for such people e.g as special advisors, regional governors, and diplomats,” he added.

Swords crossed over ritual stone

Legal battle lines over the ritual stone are drawn between Ombalantu Traditional Authority (OTA) headed by Chief Oswin Mukulu and the royal family led by the King-designate Abisai Shilomhoka Heita. 
“We are not happy that the stone is with Mukulu since he has no right whatsoever to keep such property. The stone belongs to us, the royal family, both legally, traditionally and historically,” Heita told Informanté.
According to Heita, the royal family  has already approached their lawyers, who are currently drafting summons against OTA and Chief Mukulu to legally compel them to hand over the stone to the royal family.
Heita said since the return of the stone, he has met Mukulu once at the OTA offices but they had only a brief chat about the stone. Mukulu allegedly requested him (Heita) to find an appropriate opportunity for them to discuss the matter formally. “We are surprised by the conciliatory attitude of Mukulu, because he is the one who approached me when we met by accident at Outapi. It was something unthinkable in the past for him to talk to me. But despite all this, we are still going ahead with our legal efforts, since we know what would be the outcome of any discussion with him,” Heita noted. Mukulu said he is keeping the stone on behalf of the OTA and will soon arrange a welcoming party of the stone to be held at Outapi.
The stone in question, which was used for initiation of men and sharpening of weapons, was taken from Namibia by a Finnish missionary in 1931 and was only handed over to President Hifikepunye Pohamba  last year. President Pohamba handed it over to Chief Mukulu recently to keep it on behalf of Ombalantu Traditional Authority.

Costly replacement for Reiterdenkmal in Windhoek

Poor planning in the design and construction of the genocide statue that will be replacing the Reiterdenkmal, currently accommodated in the courtyard of the Alte Feste museum, will cost the taxpayer millions.
This statue, planned for unveiling on Independence Day this year, might not be ready if longer hours are not put into the construction process of the statue, on which government has already spent over N$8 million. This does not include the design changes to the statue.
According to a well-placed source at the Mansudae Oversee Project (MOP), government currently cannot decide on the genocide statue’s final design features, despite construction of the foundation and the dome already at an advanced stage.
MOP has overseen the billion dollar construction of other government projects such as State House, Heroes Acre, the Memorial Museum and other remembrance shrines throughout the country.
This has prompted the Ministry of Youth, National Service and Culture to request government to reconsider proposed changes to the overall design of the statue. 
Government had proposed that a number of alterations be made to the statue, such as the depiction of children breaking a chain, which can only be done if the dome is no longer part of the design features.
The ministry is of the opinion that such a move will diminish the monuments size and render it disproportionate, while proposing that the dome be kept and the group of children replaced by a giant sculpture of a single adult male and female breaking the chains, which symbolise Namibia’s independence from colonial oppression, and in remembrance of those that perished during the war of national resistance.
It further argued that, while it is important to reflect the children on the statue, the ministry prefers that the 1904-07 genocide are more appropriate, hence the depiction of the two fighters breaking the chains of oppression.
In addition, the ministry is against the removal of the dome, being of the opinion it symbolises the shelter where the prisoners were incarcerated to die of hunger and agony, and the dome also represents the historical dwellings of the Namibian people.
A statue of the Founding President, Dr Sam Nujoma, in front of the Indepedence Memorial Museum will also be unveiled on Independence Day.

Namiban national prayer day

In one of the most historic events since independence on 21 March 1990, church bells throughout Namibia will ring simultaneously, liquor outlets are requested to close, and President Hifikepunye Pohamba will lead the nation in prayers against violence.
In his special address to the nation last month, the president said that too much pain and suffering has been caused by the barbaric killing of Namibian women by their male counterparts, and that 6 March be declared a National Day of Prayer.
Following the president’s call, Cabinet directed that all political leaders, students, civil servants, workers, youth, peasants, traditional leaders, religious leaders, business leaders, civic organisations, community leaders and Namibians from all walks of life should participate in this national event.

On government’s request, at exactly 13h00, all church bells in the country will be rung at the same time for approximately ten minutes, followed by a call to prayer at all religious institutions, including Islamic mosques, Jewish synagogues and Bahai’ temples to curb the recent widespread onslaught of gender based violence in Namibia.
Government further requested the closure of all liquor outlets in the country for business, during observation of prayers today, so as to be in cohesion with the call to put an end to gender-based violence. Alcohol abuse has been highlighted as one of the major contributors towards the causes of gender-based violence.
Although the official programme begins at noon today at the Sam Nujoma stadium in the capital, President Pohamba is expected to deliver his keynote address shortly before 14h00. His message will also be delivered by assigned officials in all 14 regions.
In addition to the president’s address, several other speakers from Namibia’s various religious denominations will also deliver prayers revolving around numerous themes.
Sheikh Abdullah Haron of the Islamic Centre will pray on gender-based violence, followed by Sandra Tjitendero, who will give a prayer revolving around peace. Rabbi Zvi Gorelick will give a prayer on family values, while Pastor Zelda van der Colf will give a prayer on leaders. All businesses are urged to release their employees to attend this National Day of Prayer between 12h00 and 14h00 at designated venues in their respective regions.

Namibian skulls are back tomorrow

Minister Jerry Ekandjo and a high-level official government delegation is expected to arrive in Namibia tomorrow, after completing a trip to Germany to retrieve fifty-five skulls and two skeletons of local origin removed to that country during colonial times.
Last week, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Mbeuta Ua-Ndjarakana said that the ten-person delegation would arrive tomorrow, bringing the human remains first to Parliament Gardens in the capital where they will lay in state.
Citizens have been asked to go to the gardens from early in the morning until lunch for singing songs and performing praise poems.
An official ceremony will start after the public viewing of the remains from 12h00.
Public ceremonies and rituals will take place until 18h00 that afternoon, while President Hifikepunye Pohamba is also expected to speak.
This will be the second batch of human remains returned to Namibia following the return of twenty skulls early last year. Previous reports suggest that as many as 400 skulls and human remains were removed from the country during Germany’s colonial occupation of the country.
However, according to Ua-Ndjarakana, the remains are scattered and the process of searching and verifying is arduous. “It’s a hunt,” he said.
The human remains returning to home soil tomorrow include those of Ovaherero, Oshiwambo, San, and Damara/Nama descent.

Road engineering and human error contribute to accidents on Namibian roads

Road engineering - along with human error - is one of the major contributing factors to death and mayhem on the country’s roads.
This was confirmed by Automobile Association (AA) of Namibia’s manager Hileni Davids, who was speaking at joint function held by the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) Fund, the National Road Safety Council and Nampol, during which crash statistics for the festive season were shared with the media.
The wrap up for the festive season road safety campaign, which commenced on November 22 and ended on January 15, indicated that 438 crashes were recorded during the 2013 festive season, which is 22% less than for the same period in 2012.
A total of 111 people died as a result of road crashes during the 2013 festive season, compared to 94 people in 2012.
David explained that when one looks at accidents, they consist of three elements: the road, the road user (driver or pedestrian) and a vehicle.
“We cannot only blame the driver. The road must have contributed to the accident. Three elements are involved and we should not only blame it on the one,” said Davids.
She said she had carried in-depth investigations into six crashes that occurred during December 2013. The crashes claimed 24 lives and 39 people were injured.
She said she could not investigate the vehicles, as they were removed from the scene.
David said from these crashes, she observed that the road surface had been uneven.
There were no shoulders, a lack of road signs, faded road markings, no safety or recovery zones, dangerous slopes and ditches, as well as trees.
She added that some roads did not even have a place to stop in case of an emergency.
“Our roads must be better designed. Our roads are good, but not safe. They must be forgiving when a person makes a mistake. The road must help to sustain people to live.”
She made special reference in this regard to the Okahandja-Karibib road, saying it is a good road and has safety zone that can help when a vehicle rolls.
She suggested that as part of the road safety system, speed must be reduced.
“Our speed must be reduced. We can’t have people driving at 120 km/h,” Davids added.
MVA Fund Senior Research and Data Officer Albertina Mbango presented statistics on the types of festive season crashes.
These included cars rolling and crashes involving pedestrians and head-on collisions.
Mbango said the crashes were more frequent over weekends, especially on Saturdays being. She said most of crashes occur during the evening.
Her presentation revealed that sedans, pick-ups and trucks were mostly involved in the accidents.
She said 82 males 29 females were killed in the festive season crashes.
The regions with the highest road fatalities are Otjozondjupa, Omusati, Khomas and Erongo.
Mbango recommended that traffic and crash investigation officials should be provided with first aid training, since they are they are first to arrive at the scene.
She said awareness should be created about travelling in bakkies and trucks and that a targeted road safety programme be developed for males and the youth.

More skull and skeleton news from Namibia

The Namibian delegation, which is currently in Germany to return some more genocide skulls, is causing major division among the affected tribes.
The remains, which were taken to Germany during the bitter colonial era, are expected to arrive in Namibia tomorrow.
Ovaherero Paramount Chief Kuaima Riruako, joined by former Swapo parliamentarian Ida Hoffman, have advised their followers to boycott the activities surrounding the return of the 35 human skulls and two full skeletons.
Hoffman is the chairperson of the Nama Genocide Technical Committee.
They said government has excluded them from an exercise in which they have a vested interest, and in which the affected communities had lost land, livestock and more than 90 000 lives from 1904 to 1908.
On behalf of the affected tribes, traditional leaders, the chairperson of the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu Genocide Foundation (OGF), Utjiua Muinjangue said:
“The whole issue of genocide and reparations is about our own people, who were brutalised. It is about us, the direct descendants of these people and it can therefore not be about us, without us.”
She added that the Namibian government opted to exclude them, due to pressure by the German authorities.
“We hereby like to advise all of our followers not to have anything to do at all with the arrival of or whatever subsequent ceremonies (are conducted) for the returning skulls and remains.”
Muinjangue questioned how they can only be invited to decorate the local events, when they were excluded from the planning and actual fetching of the skulls.
Another section of the affected communities, led by acting Chief Gerson Katjirua of the Ovaherero/Ovambanderu Council for Dialogue on the 1904 Genocide (OCD-1904), also expressed unhappiness about not being properly consulted, but said that this is not reason enough to “snub what is yours”.
The OCD-1904’s chairperson Ueriuka Tjikuua said in a statement that Katjirua will be joined by Manasse Zeraeua – a claimant to the chieftainship of the Zeraeua Traditional Authority.
“After consulting our people broadly, we decided to accept the offer of Deputy Prime Minister Marco Hausiku [to accompany him in welcoming the skulls to Namibia],” said Tjikuua.
In October 2011, 20 skulls were repatriated from Germany, although it is suggested that originally about 300 skulls were in the custody of German researchers.
The skulls were part of the anatomical collection of Berlin’s university hospital, the Charité, and their return to Namibia has cast the spotlight on a dark chapter of Germany’s past. Namibia has been trying to get the remains repatriated since 2008, when a television documentary revealed their existence in the hospital’s vaults.
They fell victim to what historians have described as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Namibia: skulls, skulls and more skulls

Nama, Ovambanderu and Ovaherero traditional leaders who were not invited to travel to Germany to receive the second consignment of returned skulls have urged their followers to snub the arrival of the 35 skulls and two skeletons and the subsequent ceremonies that are to follow tomorrow.

Last year a delegation of 65 people comprising of Nama, Ovambanderu and Ovaherero went to Germany at a cost of N$1.7 million but this time the delegation was reduced to 10.

In a strong-worded statement read by Utjiua Muinyangue, the leaders questioned why they should be invited to “decorate” the local event when they were excluded in the planning to fetch the human remains of Namibians slain in the genocide.

“The remains of our people have been spoiled by our own government and we cannot advise otherwise than to tell all our followers not to participate in ceremonies that do not respect our deceased, let alone ourselves as traditional leaders who should have an ex-officio right to be part of such remains,” they lashed out.

They claimed the sentiments expressed were a united expression of their displeasure and anger at the “disrespectful manner” in which they were treated by the Namibian government.

They further expressed their dismay with the government, saying that the latter has taken the route of working in the interest of the German government against the interest of those who were massacred by their thousands through the German extermination orders.

“The whole issue of genocide and reparation is about our own people who were brutalised; it is about us, the direct descendants of these people and it can therefore not be about us and not be with us,” the statement read.

The group said “we might end up committing historical genocide if we refuse to acknowledge the fact that genocide was committed only to the Ovaherero, Nama and Ovambanderu people and not the Namibian people as a whole as argued by our government”.

The statement added: “We cannot see how everybody or the Namibian people as a whole could have been victims of genocide unless one does not know what genocide is and especially as defined in international conventions.”  German colonial soldiers did not wage war against other tribes in some parts of Namibia in 1904-1908, the group said.

The leaders said that it was a pity that Cabinet could not see the trick the German government was playing by relegating the repatriation of the skulls to an issue between the Charite Hospital and the Namibian National Heritage Council in order to distance itself from the return of the human remains.

“But we see it and we say that our position that the imperial colonial German government committed genocide against our people is not premised on the skulls  because even if there were no skulls at all, other atrocities are in abundance for us to make a case,” said Muinyangue in the statement.

She said that the German government was embarrassed by the previously huge delegation, which nobody in the rest of the world, including Germany, could fail to see, giving rise to questions about the presence of such a delegation.

Meanwhile, the Ovaherero/Ovambanderu Council for the Dialogue on the 1904 Genocide (OCD-1904) appealed to their followers to join them in receiving the 35 skulls and two skeletons despite the controversy.

The OCD-1904 said that after consultation with its people, they broadly decided to accept the offer of participating in the ceremony after an invitation by Deputy Prime Minister Marco Hausiku “in the spirit of national unity and reconciliation and out of respect for our fallen heroes/heroines whose skulls and skeletons are due to touch the soil of the land of their birth.”

“ As responsible leaders, we thought it wise and proper to welcome and pay our last respects to the first fallen heroes and heroines of the very first struggle against the colonisation of our beautiful country Namibia – the land of the brave,” said the genocide group.

They added that the fact that government failed to involve them to collect the remains and perform the necessary rituals befitting them is not reason enough to snub “what is rightfully ours”.

“The unfortunate mistake from our government’s side not to inform us timeously should as well not prevent us from performing the limited rituals upon the arrival of our forefathers/mothers,” read their statement.