Honouring the legacy of Nyangove
ON 1 October, the Confidente news team learned the sad news of the death of our colleague and sister, Patience Nyangove in a Windhoek Hospital, where she had been hospitalised for three weeks. Patience first joined Confidente during the time of its inception in 2011 and had been a leading figure on the editorial team, serving both as news editor and senior investigative journalist over the years.
Throughout 2019 Confidente lifted the lid on many dark corners of public life and broke exclusive stories that brought our readers closer to the truth. This year, instead of following tradition by reviewing highlights of reports that broke the internet, we decided to honour Nyangove’s outstanding legacy of fearless journalism by sharing some highlights of stories she worked on until the very last.
Nyangove was deeply committed to truth and social justice and will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. May her soul continue to rest in eternal peace.
Rukoro to rival Meatco
By Hilary Mare and Patience Nyangove
OVAHERERO Traditional Authority Chief Advocate Vekuii Rukoro is making good on threats he made nearly two years ago that Meatco would have to slaughter dogs for survival.
Naive NWR Board costs parastatal N$12m
By Patience Nyangove
NAMIBIA’S tourism resorts parastatal – Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) – is expected to lose revenue exceeding N$12 million after its board of directors unilaterally cancelled a joint venture agreement with Sun Karros Lifestyle.
Influential govt figures eye N$1.5b contract
By Patience Nyangove
MANOEVERS by influential government officials to bypass set procurement procedures and use August 26 Holdings as a post office to distribute a N$1.5 billion renovation tender to their cronies have arisen.
Education Ministry, CPBN clash over N$3b food tender
By Patience Nyangove
THE Central Procurement Board of Namibia is allegedly refusing to advertise a N$3 billion five-year schools food and catering tender for the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, which resulted in the ministry renewing the contracts of mostly South African-linked catering companies for the fifth time without going to tender.
Civil servants demand N$3,5b wage rise
By Patience Nyangove
CIVIL servants are demanding a 12 percent salary increase that is set to push the public annual wage bill to a staggering N$33.5 billion or 51 percent of the current national budget of N$66.5 billion.
Fishing firms bank N$405 million ‘without paying tax’
By Patience Nyangove
DESPITE pocketing N$405 million over five years from a joint venture with an Icelandic fishing partner, three local fishing companies, Sinco, Epango and Yukor, have reportedly not paid taxes on these earnings, Confidente has learnt.
PG declines to prosecute in N$660m GIPF fraud
By Patience Nyangove and Marianne Nghidengwa
SEVENTEEN of the 21 accused persons targeted in the fraud investigation into the disappearance of around N$660 million that was invested by the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) may escape prosecution as the Prosecutor General’s Office has reportedly declined to prosecute them for lack of evidence.
Tenderpreneurs cripple health sector
…as hospitals run out of essential medicine
By Marianne Nghidengwa and Patience Nyangove
LOCAL FIRMS that were awarded pharmaceutical contracts amounting to nearly N$1 billion by the Ministry of Health and Social Services last year have brought the country’s public health system to a near-shutdown after they consistently failed to supply more than 60 percent of drugs needed by public health institutions countrywide.
Tribal tensions rise in Kavango
By Patience Nyangove and Marianne Nghidengwa
HUNDREDS of struggling farmers are being charged bucket-loads of money to secure access to grazing land controlled by the chief of Uukwangali Traditional Authority, Eugene Siwombe Kudumo, with some farmers said to be in arrears of between N$23,000 and N$100,000.
Global alert on faked Namibian passports
… Govt unearths massive passport and ID fraud
By Patience Nyangove
THE Ministry of Home Affairs has unearthed a syndicate of foreign nationals and locals selling Namibian passports to foreigners from as far as Rwanda for as little as N$5,000.
O-regions top rape crime
…as 259 are raped in 3 months
By Patience Nyangove and Marianne Nghidengwa
NEARLY 260 females, including infants, toddlers, teenage girls and the elderly – were reportedly raped over a 90-day period across the country, translating to an average of three females sexually violated every day, according to official statistics. The four O regions: Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshana and Oshikoto together with Khomas topped the list of regions most notorious for incidents of rape.
Angolans burden health delivery system
By Marianne Nghidengwa and Patience Nyangove
NAMIBIA’S crumbling health system is treating thousands of Angolan nationals at little or no cost, a situation that local doctors say is now affecting the provision of quality healthcare to local communities.