Namibia's economy has expanded in the third quarter to 7.2%, compared to 5.4% in the corresponding period last year.

The growth is attributed to the mining and quarrying sector, which posted a phenomenal 51.7% growth in real added value.

This is revealed in the third quarter report of the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).

The highest revision of the third quarter was mining and quarrying, which recorded a robust growth of 20.3 percentage points, surpassing the 30.6% growth during the same period in 2022.

The Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform says only about half the population has access to proper toilet facilities.

Speaking during the President's media briefing earlier in the week, minister Carl Schlettwein said sanitation is a prerequisite for development.

Namibia is lagging behind in UN Social Development Goal 6 on sanitation.

Carl Schlettwein says no one will invest in an area where no sanitation is available.

It is back to the drawing board for the Witbooi Royal House, following a failed appeal to the Supreme Court by the sitting Kaptein Hendrik Ismael Witbooi.

The Supreme Court Justice Rita Makarau dismissed the appeal by the sitting Kaptein and concurred with the judgement of the High Court in the main. 

The three justices on the bench agreed that issues of traditional leadership succession should best be resolved by the concerned traditional communities, preferably not through acrimonious litigation in courts.

Trial-awaiting former ministers Bernard Esau and Sacky Shangala have expressed disappointment in Namibia's criminal justice system, claiming that all they did was execute their ministerial functions and not conspire to commit corruption, money laundering, and racketeering.

They told the Ombudsman, Basilius Dyakugha, who visited the Windhoek Correctional Facility to inspect the conditions of the cells and other facilities.

The two former ministers, together with their other accused, have now been in the holding cells for four years as trial-awaiting prisoners.

Inclusive education should not be seen as a specially constructed school to accommodate children with disabilities, but should be friendly in all aspects to all school-going children.

These are some of the ideas that came up during a Talk of the Nation discussion on disability inclusion on Monday evening.

Namibia has ratified different UN Conventions, such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab tabled the High Court Amendment Bill and the Magistrate's Court Amendment Bill in the National Assembly, which will give equal rights to litigants in house or immovable property repossession cases.

The amendment to the High Court, she said, aims to address inadequate protection given to homeowners and to give sufficient discretionary power.

The other bill is to increase the jurisdiction of the magistrate's court to impose restrictions on the sale of immovable property.

The 14 people arrested in a swoop operation on October 4 on charges of transnational internet fraud and trafficking in persons appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court this afternoon.

The case was postponed to February 15, 2024 for further investigations, and bail was refused to all.

Of those arrested, many of those deemed foreigners were indicated on the charge sheet as being Namibian citizens.

The accused were arrested at several properties across Winhoek in a late-night swoop on October 3.

The 78th session of the UN General Assembly started this week to, among other things, look at the challenges facing the world and also to recommit to the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN.

The 17 SDGs are an action plan for countries to end poverty and protect the planet against climate change so that all people can enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

News anchor Ndapewa Ambambi spoke to Namibia's former diplomat, Dr. Kaire Mbuende, to discuss where Namibia and the world are in terms of achieving the SDGs.