President Hage Geingob has extended condolences to the family of the late Deputy Kaptein of |Hai |Khaua Traditional Authority, Stephanus Goliath.

Goliath died on Friday, aged 78.

President Geingob described the passing of the late Chief Goliath as a big loss to the |Hai-|Khaua Traditional Authority and the Namibian nation.

He said Goliath, who is also the former Governor of ||Kharas Region, contributed immensely to the liberation struggle for independence.

Acting Divisional Magistrate Stanley Tembwe from the Keetmanshoop Regional Court has sentenced Aroab Sebastiaan Abrahams to 10 years imprisonment for raping a minor girl.

Abrahams is said to have lured a six-year-old girl to the veld, where he raped her.

He committed the offense at the age of 15 in Aroab Village in the ||Kharas Region.

Sentencing Abrahams, Tembwe remarked that rape falls in the category that warrants a custodial sentence.

The !Gawachab Conservancy in ||Kharas Region has signed a 30-year land lease agreement with Ikhaya Somandla Family Enterprise to pave the way for the development of a billion-dollar renewable energy project.

||Kharas Governor Aletha Frederick witnessed the agreement signing at Keetmanshoop. 

The ǃNamiǂNûs Constituency Councillor, Suzan Ndjaleka, is imploring young people to embrace a culture of self-development amid the high youth unemployment rate.

Ndjaleka was speaking at the graduation ceremony of trainees on solar maintenance at Luderitz.

A non-profit organization, Young Africa (YA), facilitated the training, which was funded by the German Development Agency (GIZ).

YA offers innovative and high-impact solutions to youth unemployment through training.

The inhabitants of the ||Kharas Region have welcomed the draft of the Data Protection Bill, saying it's long overdue.

They spoke on the sidelines of a regional consultative meeting on the draft bill, conducted by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology at Keetmanshoop.

The Swapo Party Regional Coordinator in the ||Kharas Region, Matheus Mumbala, called on the party supporters to start campaigning and canvassing support ahead of the by-election in the Keetmanshoop Rural Constituency.

The by-election was necessitated by the expulsion of Gerrit Witbooi from the Landless People's Movement.

Mumbala, who made the remarks during the opening of the ||Kharas Regional Executive Committee meeting of the party at Keetmanshoop, urged party members to mobilize Keetmanshoop residents to go and register for the by-elections.

Local and Regional Authorities in the Hardap and ||Kharas regions kick-started efforts to put in place their own power systems in partnership with independent power producers. 

Political Office bearers of the two regions gathered at Keetmanshoop to explore ways how to set up their own power systems. 

The ||Kharas Regional Council Chairperson Joseph Isaack explains that the authorities through their own power systems want to create employment and make access to electricity cheaper. 

A TransNamib train that was carrying 22 wagons of manganese was derailed this morning about 50 kilometers outside Luderitz in the ||Kharas Region.

TransNamib spokesperson Abigail Raubenheimer confirmed the derailment in a statement.

She said three employees of the parastatal who were on board sustained injuries and were taken for medical treatment.

Raubenheimer said TransNamib activated its emergency response plan and temporarily suspended train service operations on the affected railway line.

The Namibia Grape Company at Aussenkehr in the ||Kharas Region has exported more than 2 million boxes of grapes to the European market over the last season.

The company's MD, Gideon Nuunyango, revealed this during the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources oversight visit to the project.

According to Nuunyango, the company packed 2,2 million grapes during last year's harvest, with each box weighing 4.5 kilograms, exceeding the targeted total of 1,8 million cartons.

Workers of the Orange River Irrigation Project (ORIP) at Aussenkehr in the ||Kharas Region say they have been left uncertain about their jobs following the government's recent decision to dissolve Agricultural Business Development Agency. 

ORIP is one of the country's eleven green scheme projects managed by state-owned Agribusdev. 

The ORIP workers voiced their concerns about possibly losing their job security during an oversight visit by a Parliamentary Standing Committee. 

An unproductive green scheme was given as the reason for Agribusdev's dissolution.