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By Sonja Smith | 14 January 2022 WALVIS Bay murder suspect Azaan Madisia has confessed her role in the death of Shannon 'Darlikie' Wasserfall, in a four-page letter written in her jail cell. The letter in The Namibian's possession raises as many questions as it answers.In it, Madisia claims that her one-time friend was killed during an argument following a drinking spree.But she does not explain how or why she moved the body and buried it in a shallow grave in the desert near Dunes Mall at Walvis Bay. She never mentions her brother Steven Mulundu, who is also charged in the murder.Police say he helped her dispose of the body, which was discovered in pieces six months after the murder.Both have pleaded innocent in court, and in the letter Madisia paints the killing as an accident that happened in a...

By Shinovene Immanuel and Sonja Smith | 05 November 2021 THE government's solar and wind energy programme, valued at more than N$10 billion, largely benefits politically connected companies owned by presidential families and relatives of prominent Namibians who were allegedly squeezed into the power project. They include president Hage Geingob's daughter, former president Sam Nujoma's daughter, and the daughter of the late Ondonga King Elifas Kauluma.One of the companies is owned by former Cabinet minister Helmut Angula, his nephew, and ex-minister of defence and veterans affairs Peter Vilho's wife.The brother of the late former vice president Nickey Iyambo, the son of former deputy minister of works and transport John Shaetonhodi, and former deputy minister Paul Smit were also listed as directors of some of the companies.This programme, known as the Namibia Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (Refit) kicked off in 2015 through...

By Sonja Smith | 10 September 2021 “NO one wants to look old, and those people who say they like their wrinkles are just lying. I mean, who wants to be old and wrinkled before their time?” This is the response of a 37-year-old former model who books herself into a plastic surgeon’s office for an injection every third month to make her face look “smooth and young”. She pays N$3 000 per session to be injected with botulinum toxin (botox) to prevent her facial muscles from contracting, causing wrinkles. “Having two babies, I do not have the time to spend hours on caring for my skin.” The woman initially agreed to be named, but later changed her mind as she fears being stigmatised. Her story is not unusual.

By Sonja Smith | 27 August 2021 A SAN community living on a farm sold by prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and her husband in 2020 says the premier has left the farmhouse to “rats and snakes”. The prime minister was an absent landlord from the land she eventually made around N$8,9 million from, the community says. They say Kuugongelwa-Amadhila also failed to deliver the documentation for their land-resettlement requests to the president. “They took the cattle, horses and donkeys,” a community leader told The Namibian two months ago. The group of people lives at farm Duwib, 100 km west of Grootfontein in the Otjozondjupa region along a dusty road close to Tsintsabis. This land, which measures around 7 700 ha, accommodates around 1 300 people. The San had been living on the land for more than a century. The land is part of two farms that have been the subject of media reports and fierce debates in...

By Sonja Smith | 20 August 2021 THE state-owned Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) has allegedly failed to institute strong action against businessman Onesmus 'Tona' Amadhila despite him being in arrears on loans worth N$180 million. Amadhila is married to prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. Sources say his loans are allegedly considered among the top non-performing loans of the DBN, but he seems to be given more time to settle his debts. DBN chief executive officer Martin Inkumbi tried to pour cold water on the allegations of special treatment, saying the bank has been lenient with a number of its debtors. The Namibian has, however, established that the bank has dragged several companies and individuals to court over lower amounts than Amadhila's loans. For instance, last month, the DBN sued a company for failing to pay N$550 000. Amadhila is no ordinary client. The DBN directly reports to the finance minister, a portfolio Kuugongelwa-Amadhila occupied until March 2015. Documents...

By Sonja Smith | 6 August 2021 LAST year Aino Kalukambe from Okaku village in the Oshana region marked 30 years of service as a nurse and was looking forward to retirement and spending more time with her family in northern Namibia. Kalukambe, who worked at Oshakati Intermediate Hospital, planned to renovate her family house and travel. But everything ground to a halt in March 2020 as Covid-19 started trickling into Namibia. She responded to a call from the government to assist at hospitals that were beginning to be overwhelmed by coronavirus patients. Kalukambe was happy to go back to what she loved: helping people. But her decision exposed her to the deadly virus. She died in June this year after contracting Covid-19. A report from the Ministry of Health and Social Services and the World Health Organisation dated 2 August states that 13 healthcare workers have died of Covid-19 in Namibia so far. It also reported...

By Tileni Mongudhi, Sonja Smith and Shinovene Immanuel | 30 July 2021 ANTI-CORRUPTION Commission (ACC) director general Paulus Noa pleaded to be reappointed for five more years, claiming his departure could affect ongoing high-profile corruption cases. Experts and politicians, however, rubbished this claim. Noa motivated his plea in a letter seen by The Namibian and sent to, among others, president Hage Geingob as the appointing authority and the National Assembly (NA) earlier this month. “I trust I remain the preferred choice for reappointment,” he wrote, listing his achievements. Noa appears to have gotten his way. This week, prime minister Saara-Kuugongelwa Amadhila tabled Noa’s reappointment in parliament. After being approved, Noa will clock up 20 years in charge of the ACC by 2026. Noa lobbied to be reappointed on the grounds that he felt he could prove vital to the successful prosecution of ongoing cases. “Due to my involvement in leading, supervising and issuing of summons served on suspects...

By Sonja Smith | 7 May 2021 WINDHOEK, Katima Mulilo, Walvis Bay and Rundu rank highest as the towns where men have been falsely accused of being fathers in the past four years. This is according to statistics the Office of the Judiciary released last month. Many men’s worst nightmare is raising a child and finding out it is not theirs. This happened to Phillipus Amunyela twice. Amunyela (33) raised two children for seven years before discovering he was not their biological father. The public relations officer spoke to The Namibian about the heartbreak of raising two children who were not his. He says it all started in 2011 when he found himself in a long-distance relationship. In May that year his girlfriend claimed she was pregnant. Five months later she told him she had to see a doctor due to an emergency. The foetus’ umbilical cord was allegedly damaged, and could no longer supply it with nutrition and...

By Sonja Smith and Shinovene Immanuel | 15 April 2021 A GROUP of Swapo connected youth and sport individuals are among the main beneficiaries of N$11,2 million paid from a fishing consortium co-owned by the state-owned National Youth Council and “Struggle Kids”. These details are contained in an investigation into finances of a youth entity called Uukumwe Youth Empowerment Consortium. The entity was established in September 2010 to participate and invest in the fishing industry. The National Youth Council (NYC) is one of the largest shareholders in Uukumwe Youth Empowerment Consortium. NYC owns a majority shareholding of 40% in that consortium through its business arm called Bridgehead (Pty) Ltd. In turn, Uukumwe holds 20% shares in another youth joint venture called Yukor Fishing, an entity that made more than N$125 million from fishing quotas dished out by corruption accused former fisheries minister Bernhard Esau from 2012 to 2018. Yukor Fishing is a youth business mainly...

By Sonja Smith | 12 February 2021 KAROLINA Elifas (32) has spent close to N$424 000 on 10 medical procedures to try and have children of her own, but biology continues to block her dreams. When Elifas got married in 2013, it was the beginning of a new journey, one that she thought would also fulfil her dream of having two children. Just over seven years later, she is still struggling to have children. Her dilemma is a burden shared by many women. In Namibia, an estimated 15% of couples have fertility problems. A year after getting married, Elifas, who is employed as a director at a government department, started an assisted conception process, known as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to help her conceive. It involves taking a mature egg from a woman’s ovary and mixing it with sperm in a laboratory before implanting it into the womb. “I have spent N$424 000 to date. I want to...