HIV/AIDS is robbing subsistence farmers of the ability to grow enough food, according to a new survey conducted in northern Namibia. Out of 144 HIV-affected households in the Oshana, Oshikoto and Okavango Regions, 86 percent did not produce enough mahangu (pearl millet) and maize to meet their calorie requirements, said a report this week by the Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU).

An African Development Bank (ADB) loan to the tune of US $34 million has given Namibia's 'Green Scheme Project' a major boost. The ADB said the cash injection would provide a vital lifeline to the agricultural sector and assist in making the arid country "greener" through irrigation and crop development initiatives targeting the 70 percent of the country that relies on agriculture.

Namibia has commissioned a second uranium mine despite strong opposition from human rights and environmental groups who fear it could pose an ecological hazard. The Langer Heinrich Mine, 80 km east of the coastal town of Swakopmund in the protected Namib Naukluft Park, was officially opened last Thursday. The mine is wholly owned by Australian exploration and development company Paladin Resources, which got a government go-ahead last month after being awarded a 25-year mining licence by the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

The Namibian Economic Policy and Research Unit (Nepru) has warned that the newly-introduced tax on farmland could have an unforeseen and long-lasting impact on the property market. Nepru says in its quarterly economic review that the land tax has two primary aims: raising funds for land redistribution and discouraging foreign ownership and multiple ownership of farms. A closer look at the concept showed that the implementation of the tax could place farmers in a tight corner, prompting them to do away with less profitable farming operations.

Teachers countrywide are poised to hold nationwide demonstrations to protest against Government's failure to implement salary increases and benefits. "We want to register our maximum anger and disappointment and thus put pressure on the Government to implement the Revised Salary Structure for Teachers without any further delay," the Namibia National Teachers' Union (Nantu) said in a statement at the weekend.

It is very important that Namibia be seen to be tackling corruption, even in the absence of an Anti-Corruption Commission, which, according to Prime Minister Nahas Angula, is unlikely to see the light of day before the end of 2005 at least. The Prime Minister said in an interview this week that the Commission could not be constituted before appointees had been approved, and although we understand there is a shortlist, we cannot say whether the right candidate can or has been found, says this commentary.

"As the principal human rights monitoring and advocacy body in the country, Namibia’s National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has condemned the homophobic incitements and utterances by Deputy Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Theopolina Mushelenga over the weekend. Addressing a public Heroes’ Day commemoration rally at Omaalala village, some 700 kilometers northwest of Windhoek on Saturday, Ms. Mushelenga reportedly accused sexual minorities of having been responsible for, inter alia, the country’s HIV/AIDS pandemic."

The Namibian government is drafting its first national policy on HIV/AIDS and hopes to complete it by World AIDS Day on 1 December. At the behest of the government a draft policy was compiled by the AIDS law unit of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), an NGO, and discussed last week at a series of workshops with stakeholders from the legal, social and community sectors.

The Namibian government aims to introduce a new inheritance bill to protect the rights of widows and children, who are often dispossessed of land and homesteads. Traditional practice following the death of a husband in the rural northern areas of the country has seen women and children lose most of their assets, including livestock and household items, to their in-laws. Speaking at a two-day national conference on the land and property rights of women and children, which ended last Friday in the capital, Windhoek, Justice Minister Pendukeni Ithana said new legislation to prevent their victimisation was currently being drafted.

Namibia hosts the 17th All Africa Student Conference (AASC) from May 27 to 29 in Windhoek, the first time the organisation convenes in Africa in its 16 years of existence. The conference brings together students from Africa and the Diaspora, as well as individuals from organisations working in the interest of Africa and the Diaspora. It mainly aims at providing students of African descent with a forum to share and exchange ideas and information and to promote linkages between Africa and the Diaspora.

The remaining Angolan refugees at Osire refugee camp do not seem very keen to return to their home country after the war ended in 2002. Although many refugees have volunteered to be repatriated to Angola since the advent of peace, which came about with the death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, others are still too afraid to go back. Some refugees who had gone back on repatriation have since returned, claiming that their lives are in danger.

SchoolNet Namibia http://www.schoolnet.na is taking a bold new step to entice teachers and students into the world of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). SchoolNet has teamed up with Direq International http://www.direq.org, Strika Entertainment http://strika.com and The Namibian Youth Paper http://www.namibian.com.na to produce and distribute Hai Ti!, a comic strip that spreads the word about the ways that computers, FOSS and the internet can transform learners' and teachers' lives.

The voluntary repatriation of refugees from Botswana to Namibia's Caprivi region has encouraged others to follow suit, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) told IRIN. UNHCR spokeswoman Melita Sunjic said the repatriation of eight adults and four children last Friday was the first since 2002. Since then more than 60 people in Dukwi refugee camp in northeastern Botswana have signed up to make the 450 km journey to Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi region.

The imminent closure of one of the largest foreign-owned textile companies in Namibia is expected to deal a serious blow to the country's fledgling textile industry. The Namibia Food and Allied Workers' Union (NAFAU) announced on Monday that it had received confirmation of the permanent closure on 30 April of the Rhino Garments factory, a subsidiary of the Malaysian company, Ramatex Textiles. Ramatex invested US $150 million in Namibia's textile sector and started operations in 2002, in the hope that it could take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act, which granted various developing countries preferential access to US markets. However, this advantage ended on 1 January 2005, when the US was compelled by World Trade Organisation rules to scrap quotas for selected countries, which had penalised major producers such as China and India.

The Breaking the Wall of Silence Movement (BWS) was established by former detainees, relatives and concerned Namibians in February 1996, after previous sporadic attempts made by groups and individuals failed to yield a consistent impact in addressing the plight of the ex-detainees after Namibia's independence in 1990. The BWS was formed to resume, pursue and drive to its final resolution, the unanswered gross human rights violations committed by the SWAPO Liberation Movement against its own innocent cadres in especially Lubango, Angola and Zambia, while in exile (1960 - 1989). Click on the link below to read about BWS and some of the statements they have made about events and issues in Namibia.

Namibia's President Hifikepunye Pohamba identified corruption, and economic and rural development as priorities when announcing his cabinet and the creation of a new ministry of safety and security shortly after his inauguration on Monday. Promising to continue the legacy of founding president Sam Nujoma, 69-year-old Pohamba declared a "zero tolerance for waste and corruption" in the public sector.

The postholder should have a degree in education or equivalent in a relevant discipline and a minimum of three years experience at community level. S/he also needs to have at least five years experience in teaching and/or training and the ability to support implementation and monitoring of an educational programme. S/he needs to be able to relate to young people, as well as to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders, including the San at grassroots, government ministries and non-governmental levels. Cultural sensitivity and orientation to the needs of the San people is also required.

The recount of votes cast in Namibia's national elections, held in November last year, has confirmed the ruling party's landslide victory. The results of the recount were announced on Wednesday night. The process began on Sunday after two Namibian opposition parties won a court ruling last week ordering the recount.

Namibia aims to transform its education system with a five-year Nam $23.4 billion (US $4 billion) plan. A recent World Bank report on Namibia's education system, 'Namibia Human Capital and Knowledge Development for Economic Growth and Equity', found that it was not meeting the needs of the country's economy and was "ineffective".

'In "search of questions", Namibia's new generation of poets asks its own questions. Acknowledging the achievements of independence and liberation, poetry today claims the right to question the direction in which post-apartheid society moves. Though indebted to the political ideals and visions of the liberation struggle, it has to take account of the fact that times have definitely changed, and society has changed. Yesterday's questions may not all have been answered yet. But of relevance to today's generations are not yesterday's answers but today's questions. As Keamogetsi Molapong's poem puts it, which serves as motto to this anthology: "Questions, asked in past tenses...answers, which have no meaning to many of us...Why should I care for the answer, why?".'