Day: June 12, 2023

The Ministry of Health and Social Services has procured four trucks valued at N.dollars 10 million to assist with the delivery of medical supplies nationwide.

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Kalumbi Shangula, said at a press conference held during the National Pharmaceutical Services Forum in Otjiwarongo on Monday, that the trucks are for the Central Medical Stores (CMS) and will improve the transportation and distribution of pharmaceuticals and clinical supplies across the country.

“The CMS is a division within the ministry that plans, stores, and distributes pharmaceuticals and clinical supplies for use in all public health facilities in Namibia. The distribution network directly provides pharmaceutical and clinical supplies to about 40 health facilities on a six-weekly cycle,” he said.

Before the procurement of the four trucks, the fleet of distribution vehicles at CMS consisted of only five government-owned trucks with high odometer readings which were prone to frequent breakdowns, often leading to delays in the delivery cycle.

The minister during the same event also commissioned 420 wheelchairs, saying the commissioning comes against the backdrop of the commemoration of the National Day of Persons with Disability in Namibia over the weekend. He however emphasised that these will not fully cover the need for wheelchairs in Namibia.

“There are waiting lists for wheelchairs, comprising more than 590 children and more than 1 200 adults. This is a poignant reminder of the work that lies ahead,” he said.

Shangula called upon all community leaders and health workers to inform the relevant offices of any person with disabilities who needs support with mobility.

Otjozondjupa Region Governor James Uerikua also said they have been receiving assistance from various stakeholders that have donated wheelchairs to the region.

“We distributed these wheelchairs through the constituency councillors and health directorate. If you’re in need of a wheelchair, please knock on our doors,” he said.

The National Pharmaceutical Services Forum is taking place from 12 to 16 June and brings together directors, regional officers and practitioners in the pharmaceutical field to discuss ways the health ministry can improve service delivery as far as the availability of safe, efficacious, and high-quality medicines and clinical supplies are concerned.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

NamPower has announced its discontinuation of the disconnection plan for defaulting customers until August, as the government implements interventional measures to assist the power utility to collect the money owed to them.

In a media release issued by NamPower on Monday, the company said the government has set in motion a programme, until the end of August, that will implement needed measures to assist them in collecting the money owed to them from their customers.

It will therefore cease with the disconnection of electricity to defaulting customers.

The disconnection of electricity to defaulting customers was part of NamPower’s debt collection plan, aimed at settling large debts from some of their customers.

The disconnection plan included scheduled electrical disconnections at designated areas that had unsettled debts.

NamPower added that this decision was made last week during a consultative meeting between the NamPower Board of Directors and Management and the Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises.

Meanwhile, NamPower is still encouraging defaulting customers to settle their debt.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

The National Art Gallery of Namibia on Monday hosted a workshop on ethics in community-based research in partnership with the Museums Association of Namibia (MAN) and the National Museum of Namibia.

The workshop comprised an overview of the Artistic Research and Communal Knowledge initiative, as well as working with materials from colonial contexts for the purposes of artistic, film, and community research.

The goal of the workshop was to reconnect 23 artefacts from various Namibian communities in the collection of the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin with their communities of origin, academics, artists, and the general public in Namibia.

Ndapewoshali Ashipala, Acting Director of MAN and project co-lead, said the project is based on collaborative provenance research undertaken in Berlin with Namibian experts, and it will pave the way for future returns of artefacts to Namibia from museums in Germany and Europe.

She said the collaboration project ‘Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures’ aims to harness the healing and creative potential of Namibian colonial collections housed at Berlin’s Ethnologisches Museum (EM) and Windhoek’s National Museum of Namibia. It re-connects the collections with one another and with their communities of origin, as well as with researchers, artists, and the general public, Ashipala exclained.

It also contributes to the establishment of a new museum, the Museum of Namibian Fashion, and assesses and improves Namibia’s capacity and infrastructure for receiving artefacts from museums in Germany and Europe that will be repatriated to Namibia in the future.

“At the heart of all collaborative research with regards to African collections in European museums, is the need for the research to be steered by the communities from which the collections originate. MAN has overseen this project with the guidance of the Advisory Board which is composed of stakeholders from the heritage, arts and culture sectors and academia,” she said.

Julia Binter, provenance researcher and co-head of the project at the Zentralarchiv/Ethnologisches Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin on her part said that the joint research process with the different partners from Namibia gave her team the opportunity to listen and learn.

“The research questions we initially developed at the Ethnologisches Museum arose from our belief that we have a responsibility to understand the colonial contexts in which the artefacts were acquired. We also wanted to analyse whether artefacts are directly related to contexts of colonial violence,” she said.

The Gerda Henkel Stiftung is funding the initiative.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

The Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund of Namibia has recorded nine suspected fraudulent claims valued at N.dollars 3.6 million over the past five years.

A media statement issued Monday by the MVA said of the nine cases the actual loss amounts to N.dollars 874 406, of which the majority are related to medical treatment of persons who would otherwise not qualify as beneficiaries.

It said four cases have been reported to the Namibian Police Force while five are yet to be reported, following preliminary internal investigations.

The statement further indicated the fund was able to save N.dollars 2.7 million through its internal fraud detection mechanisms and recovered N.dollars 48 000.

“Historically, fraudsters were specifically attracted to the cash grants, especially the injury grant as well as payments towards loss of income and loss of support, however, due to the fund’s resolve to treat people in the shortest possible time, we have seen a surge in medical related fraud due to facts that have been tampered with from the scene of the crash,” it noted.

It said the fraudulent cases include making false statements regarding injuries and the nature of the crash to get more access to medical treatment and more payout as well as concealing accidents’ facts to avoid limitation to certain benefits and falsification of income statements.

The statement further noted that over the years, MVA Fund has invested in detection mechanisms through various risk mitigating strategies including capacity building, as well as the claims management system that assists in this regard, and have seen a significant reduction in fraudulent activities after payment.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Mr Kobina Yeboah Okyere, National Director, Compassion International Ghana (CIGH), has urged the citizenry to monitor trees planted to mark the 2023 Green Ghana Day and make it a norm. He said the afforestation goals, sustainability and higher survival rate would be achieved when the populace made the monitoring a routine. 'If such monitoring becomes an integral part of the Green Ghana Day initiative, then we can achieve the afforestation goals.' Mr Yeboah Okyere said this on the Green Ghana Day at Afienya District Police durbar, which was attended by Nene Tetteh Afutu III, Chief of Afienya; Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Nana Ofori, District Police Commander of Afienya; Rev Raymond Afutu Nartey, Emmanuel Methodist, Afienya; and Chief Imam of Afienya, Imam Amadu Rufai Alhassan. The event was used to inspect trees planted by the Organisation and to plant new ones. A news brief from the Organisation said its mission was to plant a tree for 97,000 individuals who had enrolled currently in its programme. The Green Ghana Day initiative was introduced in 2021 with a target of planting about five million trees by President Nana Akufo-Addo to combat deforestation and address climate change, which had destroyed Ghana's forest cover. This year's target is to plant 10 million trees. Mr Yeboah Okyere said as part of the nationwide afforestation programme, Compassion International Ghana (CIGH) and its partners joined forces in 2022 and distributed over 18,000 seedlings for planting on Green Ghana Day. 'A year later, CIGH took the opportunity to reflect on the impact of these seedlings and unveiled a comprehensive monitoring tool, revealing the survival of 8,030 trees out of the 16,670 seedlings planted,' he said. He said with the survival number of 8,030 trees, it was clear that effective monitoring should become the norm to ensure the initiative's success in enhancing afforestation coverage and combating climate. Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Nana Ofori, the Afienya District Police Commander, commended the Organisation and its church partners for the foresight to monitor planted trees. He encouraged participants at the durbar to adopt the monitoring mechanism to ensure accountability in future tree planting exercises. The dignitaries at the durbar planted trees to mark the Day and pledged to actively monitor their growth. Compassion International Ghana is a Christ-centered organisation dedicated to transformative child advocacy and holistic child development, encompassing physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, and spiritual aspects. Its focus lies particularly on 'releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name'. Through its church partners and global sponsors, CIGH aims to break the cycle of hardship by equipping children with the skills and resources necessary to improve their social standing and benefit their communities.

Source: Ghana News Agency