Pohamba buys two mercs ahead of inauguration
PRESIDENT Hifikepunye Pohamba has ordered two state-of-the-art S600L Mercedes Benz costing taxpayers about N$10 million – equivalent to the annual salaries for 20 specialist doctors or Anti-retroviral drugs for 26,000 people per month, Informanté has unearthed.
One dollar short, one day late…
Struggling to make ends meet as a teacher at a primary school, Magdalene finds her US$135 salary barely enough to cover fees for her three children, rent, food and transport, without mentioning the extended family.
How American Antiwar and Solidarity Movements in 60s Impeded an Effective Invasion of Cuba
Cuba is one of the countries that actively contributed to Namibia’s independence from apartheid South Africa. Apart from providing the much needed ideological and logistical support to Namibia during the west African country’s arduous struggle for independence, Cuba sent an estimated 371,000 troops to fight alongside South West African People’s Organisation combatants in Angola over a period of 15 years and provided refuge to Namibians displaced by the war. When the crimson curtain closed on that brutal conflict, Namibia managed to free itself from the shackles of coloninal dominance. Cuba is many things to many people and is seen differently in different parts of the world. Here is one such perspective from Bill Simpich, an antiwar activist in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Russia-Namibia sign diamond, uranium deals
Among other deals, Russia and Namibia today made bilateral committments in the diamond and uranium mining industries. Pic Tawanda Kanhema
Standard Bank loses millions in traveller’s cheques scam
STANDARD BANK Namibia has lost more than N$1.2million in fake traveller’s cheque payouts unwittingly made to a cartel of Nigerian and Namibian fraudsters by the bank’s foreign exchange departments in Windhoek, Informanté has established. Documents in Informanté’s possession show that between 9 July 2008 and 18 August 2008, Standard Bank Namibia lost N$1,167,115 after the foreign exchange departments at its Ausspanplatz, Gustav Voigts, Walvis Bay and Windhoek branches cashed thousands of counterfeit traveller’s cheques brought in by the fraudsters.
Namibia: After the war, Its pay day!
Children of the fallen heroes of Namibia’s struggle for independence spent two months camping outside the Ministry of Veterans Affairs building in the capital Windhoek. They have demanded jobs and education as compensation for the role played by their fathers and mothers during the protracted armed struggle against the South African apartheid government. The Swapo-led [...]
DRC: A new war on the way?
Rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda this week announced plans to “liberate” the whole of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This time, the DRC is without the generous (and taxing) military support of SADC countries. Here’s an excerpt from an interview Tawanda Kanhema had with the DRC ambassador to Zimbabwe, His Excellency Mr Mawampanga Mwana Nanga in September 2007.
Landmines: A Lifetime Menace
However, Mt Darwin, which was being cleared by private de-mining concern, Koch Mine Safe, still has uncleared areas. Koch destroyed more than 162,416 antipersonnel mines in Mukumbura, but its contract excluded gorges and all mines more than 20 centimeters deep.
The Siege of Manono, A Zimbabwean Sacrifice
It was November 23 1998, only three months after President Laurent Kabila’s one time allies had waged a full scale war to topple his new government, and they were threatening to overrun government forces and take over Kinshasa.
Bravery in the Congo, A Zimbabwean Fighter Pilot Recounts
FIGHTING a war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of miles away from their homeland and sharing trenches with unpredictable allies who crossed the floor in the heat of the storm, Zimbabwean soldiers went through an experience that exposed them to the dynamics of modern warfare.
Oil to impact global energy, food prices
SPECULATION over the exhaustion of oil supplies, also referred to as ‘Peak Oil’, has raised concerns over the sustainability of the oil dominated energy sector and affiliated farming and manufacturing industries as oil production figures indicate that global oil production is past its peak.
Namibia in negotiations for first 8MW geothermal plant
Negotiations for the establishment of Namibia’s first 8MWe geothermal energy plant between Windhoek and Rehoboth are gaining steam. Namib Geopower (Pty) Ltd (NGP) and power utility NamPower are preparing to sign a Memorandum of Understanding and Power Purchasing Agreement that will facilitate the construction of the first plant. Fourth generation Geothermal energy is generated through [...]