Malaysian-run textile factory Ramatex is once again being accused of unfair labour practices - this time by several hundred of its Asian workers. Filipino workers feel so strongly about their working conditions that they have sent an appeal to their government through its South African embassy. A petition signed by nearly 700 employees cites poor wages, cramped living conditions and health concerns as their most pressing grievances.

Only about seven per cent of Grade 6 pupils in Namibia's schools are literate, according to a newly released United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) report on girls' education and development in Namibia. The goal of providing education for all in Namibia has not yet been achieved, the report states. Despite sizeable investment by Government and its partners, Unicef found the quality of Namibian education to be low.

The Botswana government has denied claims by a Namibian human rights NGO that a group of Caprivian "refugees" were "abducted" from Botswana to face high treason charges in Namibia. Presidential press secretary Jeff Ramsay told IRIN on Tuesday that the group of eight Caprivians were "de facto illegal aliens" and had been lawfully deported to Namibia on 13 December.

The emerging trends in Namibia’s political culture offer reason for concern. The different chapters in this stock- taking volume suggest in different ways that the long struggle for national liberation and human rights has not been followed by a process towards genuine democracy and tolerance.

The Washington DC-registered Herero People's Reparations Corporation has moved to US courts asking for $4 billion from the German government and several commercial corporations, among them the Deutsche Bank, SAF Marine (Woermann Lin) and Terex Corporation. They are accused of cold-bloodedly employing explicitly-sanctioned extermination, destruction of tribal culture, social organisation, medical experimentation and slavery in order to advance their common financial interests. The commercial corporations and the German colonial government formed a brutal alliance that exterminated 65,000 Hereros between 1904 and 1907.

Plans to provide anti-AIDS drugs to HIV-positive Namibians are slowly taking shape, but the pace of implementing the government's treatment programme is still cause for concern, activists told IRIN on Wednesday. "Things are happening, but not at the pace we want; treatment is being rolled out, but it is still not country-wide," said Conny Samaria, advocacy manager for Lironga Eparu, an NGO assisting people living with HIV/AIDS.

President Sam Nujoma personally intervened earlier this year to halt an investigation into the Roads Authority, The Namibian has learnt. Well-placed Government officials said Nujoma had orally reprimanded then Minister of Finance Nangolo Mbumba, and followed that up with a letter, ordering him to discontinue a comprehensive audit of the Roads Authority's books by auditors the Road Fund Administration (RFA) had appointed.

Namibia has been listed among the countries where the HIV-Aids pandemic shows no signs of weakening - with an upsurge of new infections recorded over the past year. Health and Social Services Minister, Dr Libertina Amathila, says that about 23 per cent of the Namibian population is believed to be living with HIV-AIDS.

The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, a US-based non-governmental organisation working to promote and protect human rights around the world, says it is "extremely concerned" by reports of recent threats against and the vilification of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), in Namibia. "In particular, we are disturbed to learn of public statements made by officials in your government attacking the NSHR and targeting its Executive Director, Mr. Phil ya Nangoloh. Such verbal attacks are in stark contradiction of your obligations under international human rights law and contained in instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to respect and ensure respect for basic rights in Namibia," the organisation said in a letter.

Journalist Paulus Sackarias and driver Simon Haimbodi, both employed by the Afrikaans daily newspaper Republikein, were threatened and arrested at the weekend in a confrontation that resulted in the confiscation of their company vehicle by Special Field Force (SFF) members.

Namibia could soon be forced to borrow from the World Bank if it adopts a plan to overhaul the education system, which has been gobbling up huge chunks of funds with relatively little to show for the expenditure. A decision to borrow from the World Bank would put paid to the country's refusal to become a debtor to the Washington-based institution and its sister body, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which President Sam Nujoma has described as imperialist agents.

A legacy of the apartheid era in Namibia is that in many areas, traditional mechanisms for land and resource allocation have broken down. With rapid population growth, there is a need for sustainable resource management to avoid environmental degradation and economic decline. How successful is the Namibian government's policy of devolving authority over natural resources?

Namibian farm workers will try to invade 15 commercial farms across the country next week after the government ignored their demands for land reform, the head of the Namibia Farmworkers Union (NAFWU) said on Tuesday.

As the treason trial of 122 defendants, at least 70 of whom Amnesty International considers to be prisoners of conscience, resumed in Namibia on 27 October, the organisation is urging the Namibian authorities to ensure that the trials proceed in line with international standards of fairness. The defendants were arrested and accused of high treason, murder and other offences in connection with the secessionist Caprivi uprising of August 1999.

It cost the Namibian government N$120 million in public funds to set up the infrastructure needed to chase foreign direct investment from an international company. Given this expense, the financial support that the company received was the equivalent of its salaries to its 7000 workers for almost three years. This is according to a study from the Labour Resource and Research Institute (LaRRI), which casts doubts on the benefits of foreign direct investment. Low wages, poor working conditions, everyday work accidents and verbal abuse were all par for the course at textile company Ramatex's plant in Windhoek. Rametex produces for Nike, Adidas, Puma, Otto Versand, Target, Wal-Mart and Sears Woolworth. "The experiences in Namibia are in line with international trends of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) spreading their operations globally in search for increased profits. The fact that Ramatex managed to play out three Southern African countries against each other shows how TNCs utilise their bargaining position to gain increasing concessions from host countries, which are desperate to attract investors."

Yet again this week the columns of local newspapers have reported more incidences of theft and misappropriation of monies. But the increasing frequency of these occurrences unfortunately only seems to inspire silent resignation in many people.

Even if the HIV-Aids pandemic is brought under control over the next few years, orphan numbers will continue to grow for at least two more decades, says Unicef.

The Namibia Development Trust is to start work on the delimitation of two conservancies in the Karas Region this week. Conservancies are aimed at allowing communities in communal areas to preserve and benefit from the fauna and flora in their areas.

Ruling party parliamentarians have been accused of following in the paths of Kenya and Zimbabwe, by apportioning land to Government leaders. "You're helping people who are in a better category to help themselves rather than helping the poor," parliament heard.

This volume takes stock of emerging trends in Namibia's political culture since Independence and highlights the question of political liberation and tolerance - or lack thereof. The book examines in an introductory chapter the consolidation of political power and control by the former liberation movement, SWAPO. The chapters include case studies on the SWAPO ideology prior to Independence, a comparison of constitutional developments in Namibia and Zimbabwe, an overview on minority rights and policies concerning indigenous people and a case study on cultural policy with regard to music. Analyses also cover the issue of the SWAPO "ex-detainees", a critical reading of the Namibian President's biography and an exploration of the institutionalised public memory. The book ends with an essay challenging the limited tolerance currently existing in post-colonial Namibia.