Schools in developing countries are beginning to get computers and access to the Internet. They are using them in teaching and administration; learners can also use them to become computer and Internet literate. This report evaluates the activities of SchoolNet Namibia and argues that programmes like this should aim to provide affordable access using open platforms, pay attention to longer term cost of ownership issues, leverage change through partnerships, work closely with governments, involve school principals and teachers, and seek to ensure that necessary capacities are developed in schools themselves.

"As a human rights organisation, the National Society for Human Rights fully supports in principle, expropriation of private property, including land, in the public interest. NSHR also strongly opposes all unfair dismissals or unfair labour practices and unlawful evictions committed by both private and public entities. Nevertheless, by the same principle, NSHR also questions the motive and reason the Government has given for the sudden and expedient move to expropriate certain white-owned commercial farms in this country."

A Namibian High Court will decide on Thursday whether the state can challenge the release of 13 men accused of treason for their alleged role in secessionist violence. The 13 were part of a group of 120 arrested for taking part in an attack by the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA) on Katimo Mulilo, the largest town in the northeastern Caprivi region, which left 13 people dead in 1999. The 13, including John Samboma, the alleged commander of the CLA, were released last Monday following an order by Judge Elton Hoff at the High Court in Grootfontein, 500 km from the Namibian capital, Windhoek. Hoff ruled that his court did not have the jurisdiction to try them because the circumstances under which they had been held were "irregular".

Government has announced plans to expropriate commercial farms, in an effort to speed up land reform. Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab, making the announcement on NBC radio and television, said farmers who lost their farms would be justly compensated as provided for in the Namibian Constitution. Gurirab said delays in implementing land reform, brought about by the "cumbersome" willing-seller, willing-buyer process left expropriation as the only other way Government would meet the "high public demand for agricultural land".

The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has deplored "additional gross instances" of the ongoing erosion of the rule of law in the country, as evident from the renewed attacks on the judiciary by high-ranking Government and ruling party leaders. The NSHR said firebrand SWAPO National Assembly MP Petrus Iilonga questioned the loyalty and patriotism of the country’s judiciary. Among other things, Iilonga accused judges of defending criminality and hatred for the ruling SWAPO party.

The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) says it is regrettable that Namibia has so far missed out on the key aspects relating to the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) of the African Union (AU). Namibia has not yet acceded to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) nor was it represented in any capacity at the First Meeting of States Parties to the APRM held in the Rwandese capital, Kigali, on February 13-14 2004.

Namibia's land reform programme has not addressed the crucial issue of security of tenure for farmworkers. Secretary-general of the National Farmworkers Union (NFU), Alfred Angula, said the drafters of the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act missed an opportunity to enshrine security of tenure for farmworkers.

The back cover of Re-examining Liberation in Namibia: Political Culture Since Independence, edited by Henning Melber, asks the question of what Namibian children can expect from their future in ‘the land of the brave’ (as the national anthem proclaims)? This question frames the taking stock of emerging trends in the country’s political culture since independence in 1990 as the contributors critically explore the achievements and shortcomings that have been part of liberation in Namibia.

Dealing with a wide array of subjects relevant to recent history in Namibia, the collection weaves together a rich tapestry of diverse subjects. It succeeds in pulling together a picture of the sometimes schizophrenic liberation movement SWAPO, which led resistance to colonial rule from 1960, in terms of its worthy values and ambitions compared to the reality of a liberation movement in power.

The themes of this collection illuminate not only the challenges facing present-day Namibia but also resonate throughout the Southern African region. Issues related to land and indigenous people crop up frequently, as does that of truth and reconciliation, memory and forgetting.

Perhaps the contrast between liberation in action and the present day reality is best captured in the fascinating deconstruction of President Sam Nujoma’s personality in an essay by Christopher Saunders entitled ‘Liberation and Democracy: A critical reading of Sam Nujoma’s Autobiography’. This paints a picture of a heroic and committed Sam Nujoma as he travelled through the airports of the world gathering support for his just cause as a young man with little experience of politics. But this contrasts with Nujoma’s highly selective and sometimes inaccurate version of events in relation to the liberation struggle, so that Saunders concludes that “Nujoma’s work is more a work of propaganda than of history”. “It conforms that the liberation struggle was fought for national liberation, and that this meant, for Nujoma and others, the accession of Swapo to power.”

The attempt by Swapo and Nujoma to remember the past in a certain way, to construct it and stamp it on the nation’s consciousness, is also raised in an excellent essay by John Saul and Colin Leys entitled ‘Truth, Reconciliation, Amnesia: The “ex-detainees” fight for Justice’. Here the issue of missing Swapo activists allegedly killed at the hands of their own organisation is carefully examined in the context of the liberation movement’s inclination to bury historical record with the excuse that opening up old wounds would be harmful to national reconciliation efforts. This is contrasted strongly with efforts by those in Namibian society who believe that actively remembering the past will open up the path to a more meaningful reconciliation.

How is the past remembered and who has the right to remember it? Who has control over the nation’s consciousness? What is national interest and in whose interest does it operate? How do we go about understanding the sometimes contradictory and authoritarian nature of liberation movements? How do these liberation movements understand democracy? These are just some of the questions that Re-examining Liberation in Namibia touches on, and together with many others, the collection provides a critical understanding of Namibian politics and its current day state of health.
(ISBN 91-7106-516-4)

Reviewed by Patrick Burnett, Fahamu

Government has announced that it is drawing up an interim policy on the dumping of workers. Cabinet announced last week that it had resolved that while Government was rightly and legally emphasising orderly land reform and resettlement programmes, it should, as a matter of urgency and absolute necessity, introduce a Temporary Intervention Policy of Eviction - pending long-term solutions to the problem. The policy would be aimed at farm labourers and their dependents and would take into account their length of service on the farm.

While many Angolan refugees in Namibia are said to be eager to return to their country of origin, some based outside the border town of Rundu are not entirely convinced that this would be in their best interests. They fled the civil war which ravaged Angola for 27 years and are now reluctant to swop a relatively stable life for the uncertainties of repatriation to Angola.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has moved to end the more than a year-long wait for travel documents by a refugee and his Namibian wife after the couple last week informed the Government Attorney that they intended to sue the Minister of Home Affairs, Jerry Ekandjo, and the Commissioner for Refugees, Elizabeth Negumbo, because of poor service, incompetence and what they termed "bureaucratic brutality".

Government has expressed concern about the extent of corruption in Namibia's regional and local authorities, which it says represents "a serious departure from administrative ethical norms". Speaking at the induction workshop for newly appointed regional officers, Deputy Minister of Regional and Local Government and Housing Gerhard Totemeyer said that recent months had thrown up ample evidence of corruption by officials not adhering to moral standards.

The last two years were characterised by uncertainties and delays, which have thrown a number of challenges in the way of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) in the execution of its onerous mandate of conducting elections in a free, fair and credible manner. In an apparent attempt to save cost and counter voter apathy, the ruling party and the government in particular initially proposed the simultaneous holding of the local and regional elections. A constitutional amendment bill was therefore introduced in the National Assembly in June 2003 to shorten the term of office of the Regional Councillors from the initial six years. The house of review, which is constituted by representatives of all the 13 Regional Councils, was however unanimously removed to "withhold" its support for the bill. This lack of agreement cast a shadow of uncertainty not only on the scheduling of Regional Councils Elections, but on the Local Authorities elections, as well.

When Namibian internet users access Google, they are automatically redirected to www.google.com.na. The new site gives users the option of using an Afrikaans version of the Google site.

Some rural communities whose traditional authorities are not recognised fear that the new Land Reform Act may give rise to disputes. The new Communal Land Reform Act requires that people with existing land in communal areas apply for their land to be registered to acquire a land registration certificate from the communal land boards within three years, or risk the land being allocated to others.

You will have at least 3 years' work experience in organisational development in NGOs or CBOs and proven experience in training/facilitation methodologies and direct training ability experience. You should have a degree or qualification in the area of Organisation and/or Management Development or in any other relevant discipline. You should have a working knowledge of the field of HIV & AIDS as a development and human rights issue and the ability to work and to analyse the work of small organisations and identify their training needs. Proven experience in and the ability to train people in Strategic Planning, Fundraising, and Monitoring & Evaluation is essential.

You will have at least 3 years' direct work experience of planning and implementing HIV & AIDS activities with young people and communities and experience of training young people and adults both in a formal and non-formal setting. You should have a relevant qualification in youth and community development work or similar. Proven experience with participatory rural appraisal methodologies such as stepping-stones or other participatory techniques, experience of liaison with a range of different organisations, and experience of/understanding of the role of advocacy in promoting change on issues relating to HIV & AIDS are essential.

A police summary of reported violent crimes committed against women and children over the December period last year shows that a total of 27 women were raped countrywide, with an equal number of rapes of minors reported in the same period. The police indicated that primarily ex-boyfriends and a "few strangers" raped women. Relatives, on the other hand, were the main perpetrators in the rape cases involving children.

This practical workshop will, for the first time, bring together Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) developers from across Africa. During the five-day event, participants and facilitators will share technical skills and experiences, discuss key challenges in realizing F/OSS projects, and develop concrete strategies for strengthening the nascent community of F/OSS technologists working in African contexts.

Germany has expressed its "regret" for the killing of thousands of Namibia's ethnic Hereros during the colonial era. Between 35,000 and 105,000 people were killed after the Hereros rebelled against German rule in 1904. But Germany's ambassador to Namibia ruled out paying compensation, as the Hereros have demanded in a law suit.