Namibia Embassy Berlin -

Fellow Namibians,

As the long shadows of the dusk fall on the Year 2021 and the twilight approaches, we prepare to draw the curtain on a testing twelve months and look forward in anticipation to a new beginning, which brings promise and hope.

The Year 2021, will undoubtedly go down as a year of many trials and tribulations. A year which tested the limits of our patience, our resolve and our faith. Indeed, this was a year of resilience, in which we withstood a multitude of
challenges, most notably the assault on our way of life by the invisible enemy, Covid-19.

The havoc inflicted by this merciless pandemic of the 21st Century has been unlike anything we have experienced since our independence in 1990. Covid-19 is indiscriminate; it knows no borders, no nationality, no race, no tribe, no gender, no age and no social class. It has reached out and affected all of humanity. However, in the middle of untold despair, the war against this virus has also united people across the globe.

Although 2021 is a year many will not remember with fondness, it is a year which reminded us about what it means to be human and the most fundamental qualities (...) Please click here to continue reading the President's New Year Message.

Fellow Countrymen and Women,

Over a week ago, on 24 November 2021, diligent scientists and talented medical professionals from our neighbouring sister country, South Africa identified a new Covid-19 variant. Befittingly, we owe these men and women a debt of gratitude for their research excellence in identifying this new variant, which has since been code-named Omicron and listed as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization.

Unfortunately, instead of applauding this outstanding achievement by African scientists, certain countries and regions of the world have responded with knee-jerk measures in the form of counterproductive travel bans against our region. The global fight against Covid-19 demands multilateral collaboration, coordination and consultations between nations, and not divisions between regions and citizens. It is in that vein that I call for an end to unnecessary travel bans, which undermine economic recovery; and are not rooted in scientific rigour.

We should come together as ONE world and ONE global village to defeat the common enemy Covid-19.

Kindly click here to read more....

Dr. Hage Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia, addresses the general debate of the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (New York, 21-27 September 2021).

Kindly click on the above photo to listen to the President's speech.

14 September 2021

COVID-19 continues to be a grave public health threat to our country. Despite some reprieve, we cannot afford to let our collective and individual guards down. However, the last 31 days have offered our country and communities some respite. The country has now recorded a cumulative number of one-hundred-and-twenty-six-thousand-threehundred-and-forty-one (126,341) confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Of these, 96 percent have recovered and 2,7 percent of cases lost their lives. During the period under review, the death rate declined by 85 percent, nationally. However, the case fatality ratio in Omaheke region remains high at 6.3 percent, which is two times the national case fatality rate.

These numbers represent lives of mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, children, spiritual,traditional, business, public and community leaders and members. Our country has lost some of its best brains, productive citizens and nation-builders. We have also lost and continue to lose a generation of elders, who possess cultural and indigenous knowledge and wisdom. A vacuum has been left by COVID-19 which we must all now endeavour to fill.

The positivity ratio has declined from 24 percent to 10 percent. The regions which recorded the highest reduction in new infections are Kavango East by 91 percent, Zambezi by 87 percent, Khomas by 82 percent and Erongo region with a 78 percent drop in new cases, respectively. This notable descent on the Incidence Curve must remain everyone’s priority and responsibility. We must all work together in order to suppress further transmission of the virus in our country.

Kindly click here to continue reading....