Day: October 23, 2023

OTJIWARONGO: A woman died instantly on Monday after she was allegedly stabbed three times by her ex-boyfriend at Otjituuo.

The Namibian Police Force’s (NamPol) head of community affairs in the Otjozondjupa Region, Inspector Maureen Mbeha, in an interview with Nampa on Monday said members of the Otjituuo police were busy tracing the relatives of the deceased.

“She died on the spot where she was allegedly attacked by the suspect, who stabbed her three times with a knife; twice in the chest and once in the stomach,” said Mbeha.

The stabbing occurred around 02h30 at Ondjamo village in the Otjituuo area, she said.

Mbeha stated that the deceased was walking back home from her current boyfriend’s house when she was allegedly stabbed by her ex-boyfriend.

The suspect fled the scene after committing the crime and his whereabouts are unknown at this stage, she added.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Namibia and Zambia have agreed to share information and experiences on identity management and civil registration.

A delegation from the Zambia National Registration Authority is on a five-day study tour in Windhoek to learn about Namibia’s civil registration, vital statistics system, and identity management.

Speaking at an opening session of the tour here on Monday, Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security Executive Director Etienne Maritz said the two countries have set themselves up for the advancement of civil registration systems.

He said the visit from Zambia’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security fulfils one of the resolutions taken at the 24th Session of the Zambia-Namibia Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security earlier in April.

This resolution, Maritz said, was for the civil registration authorities in the two countries to conduct exchange visits, with Zambia initiating the first visit to strengthen registration systems.

“This visit is therefore not a stand-alone event. It is connected to the bigger picture, which is the advancement of civil registration on this great continent,” Maritz said.

For her part, Zambia’s Registrar-General Brenda Kabenda said she and her team came to learn about Namibia’s successes in the areas of civil registration and identity management.

Kabenda said it’s important that the two southern African neighbours share experiences as they share common borders and interests.

“I am convinced that during the interactions now and when the Namibian delegation visits Zambia, we will identify opportunities for improved services for our people, especially those who live along our common borders. The civil registration authority in Zambia is working on improving certification of births and deaths in the Western Province, which borders the Zambezi Region,” she said.

During the study tour, the Zambian delegation will visit different locations, including Katutura State Hospital, to learn about the birth and death registration process at the hospital-based civil registration office.

They will also learn about the notification of deaths and recording of causes of death at the Windhoek State Mortuary, as well as visit The Document Warehouse to learn about the scanning and storage of civil records.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

SWAKOPMUND: The Namibia Ports Authority (Namport) recorded an increased volume in non-containerised cargo of 7 691 781 tonnes in the 2022-2023 financial year, from 6 576 370 tonnes recorded in 2021-2022.

Namport Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andrew Kanime during a recent annual port users dinner expressed that the increase was complemented by increased export and import container volumes, as well as heightened activities in the petroleum products sector.

“We successfully expanded our footprint into hinterland markets as we started handling increased volumes from Botswana and Zambia. In addition, the favourable market conditions and prices for various minerals and commodities including coal, fish, meat, poultry, marble, equipment and machinery, contributed significantly to ramping up of production by producers and ultimately, to the overall performance of our ports,” he noted.

The CEO added that the increased volumes were further supported by the stabilising vessel calls and container availability which generally allowed for the improved evacuation of goods to destination markets.

He further noted that the positive momentum which Namport achieved throughout the year reflects its commitment to navigating complex and challenging global dynamics, adding that the importance of maritime logistics in global trade and development became even more evident, given the challenges posed by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict.

“Our strategic expansion into new regional hinterland markets yielded positive results, while increased demand for raw materials and finished goods, following two years of pandemic-induced economic turbulence, created new avenues for growth.”

Kanime however expressed that while the port posted a positive operational performance, ship repair operations at Namport’s subsidiary Namdock continued to operate in a challenging environment and while revenue has increased markedly, operating profit reduced significantly on the back of increased operational costs.

“Throughout the year, we have nonetheless continued investing in our terminals, cargo-handling equipment, people and supporting systems to improve our positioning among the top African ports in support of our vision to be the best-performing seaports in Africa,” he said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

OMARURU: Over 100 members of the Omaruru Homeless People’s Association gathered near the Welwitschia settlement in Omaruru on Saturday to occupy land which they claim belongs to them.

The group’s chairperson, Nambee Upendura Domingo, told Nampa in an interview that the members can no longer live in their parents’ houses, as there is enough land in town that can be allocated to them so they built their structures.

According to Domingo, they have waited for too long for the municipality and council to make land available to them.

“We are not grabbing land, we are merely occupying ancestral land that belongs to us. Our move to occupy land was necessitated by the delay from our municipality and council for not availing land while we continue living in our parents’ houses with our kids and husbands,” she said.

Domingo accused the municipality and councillors of corruption, saying they have outsiders who have been allocated land in Omaruru, while locals are left out.

“We have identified enough land in Omaruru and have registered over 800 people raised in the town, but they still do not have land, despite paying the municipality N.dollars 25 for over five years for the allocation of land,” said Domingo, who added that locals are confused about why they keep paying the municipality when nothing is happening.

The group’s spokesperson, Lukas Nyumbu, also told this agency that the challenge they are currently facing is the lack of honesty from their leadership in Omaruru.

“We were asked in 2016 to apply for land in Omaruru, which we did, but have not received any feedback. Omaruru has a high number of unemployed youth, and some of them have now turned 40 years old and are still accommodated in their parents’ houses,” Nyumbu said.

Nyumbu claimed that there is a lot of nepotism when it comes to the municipal council, saying only those close to them benefit, and they would like to see this council removed.

The Omaruru Homeless People’s Association stated that all they need is land now, and services can come later.

Community members plan to hand in a petition to the council on Wednesday.

Efforts to contact both the Chief Executive Officer of Omaruru, Valentinus Sindongo, and Mayor Vincent Kahua were unsuccessful, as calls went unanswered.

Recently, Erongo Governor Neville Andre Itope intervened in a similar situation at Arandis, where residents with similar grievances also threatened to illegally occupy land.

Itope expressed dissatisfaction with the poor service delivery in the town, noting that leaders fail to communicate and consult with residents properly. He urged leaders in general to end this and to start engaging with residents more effectively.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Berthold Karumendu, the organiser of the Erongo Powersave Omaruru Street Mile, aims to introduce a fully automatic timing (FAT) system for the race.

However, the Sport Officer for the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service, who is based in Erongo Region and working in Omaruru, has stated that additional funds will be required to make this dream a reality.

FAT is a type of race timing where the clock is automatically activated by the starting device, and the finish time is either automatically recorded or timed by analysis of a photo finish.

In an interview with Nampa on Saturday, Karumendu said his goal is to have electronic systems for the event, but the machines are expensive.

“We would like to see international athletes competing in the event in the future, but this can only be achieved when more logistics are improved, and electronic timing replaces the current manual system,” Karumendu said.

He also plans to divide the junior category into two age groups. He intends to separate athletes between the 18 and 19-year-old category from athletes 17 years of age and under.

The 10th Edition of the Erongo Powersave Street Mile Run which took place over the weekend was a huge success, with 1 402 participants from all over Namibia competing for top honours over 1.6 kilometres.

“I am happy with the number of young talents who participated in the event. The quality of the race has improved over the past 10 years and the event featured elite Namibian athletes who recently competed in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, such as Alina Armas in the women’s race and Reinhardt Thomas in the men’s race,” Karumendu said.

He noted that much of the event’s the success is owed to the sponsors. He expressed his gratitude to the companies, namely Shield Namibia/Erongo Powersave Wholesale, FNB Omaruru, Coca Cola Namibia Bottling Company, the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service for transporting athletes to Omaruru, the Omaruru Municipality, Omaruru Spar, the Namibian Police in Omaruru/Traffic Department and the Omaruru District Hospital, who have been supporting the race since 2013.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency