By Patience Nyangove
WINDHOEK, Nov 5 2010 (IPS)

Namibia’s national power utility says plans are moving ahead to construct a series of hydro-electric power stations along the Lower Orange River.

A series of small power stations are planned for the Orange River, over the long-term providing a cheap, renewable energy source. Credit: P. Gallert/Wikicommons

The Lower Orange Hydroelectrical Power Scheme will include up to nine run-of-the-river generating stations on a stretch of the river with the potential to generate between 90 and 120 megawatts of power. Shilamba said Nampower expects to generate 45 megawatts from the first two installations.

“We are going to develop the power generating project in two phases, with the first two sites to be developed by 2013,” he said.

Reporting on the utility’s call for tenders, online publication Engineering News said the scheme calls for water to be diverted through 70 kilometres of underground tunnels and five km of canals to drive turbines and produce electricity.

Shilamba said Namibia presently needs up to 477 MW of power at peak periods. Presently half of the country’s power is imported from its neighbours.

“We need additional power which will benefit Namibia, because our country’s economy continues to grow with new mines being opened that require lots of electricity hence we have to add to our capacity,” he told IPS.

The Nampower MD also told IPS that although the Orange River project would be capital intensive, it would be worth it in the long run.

“The Orange River [project] is a huge investment and within 20-30 years it should start paying off. It’s better to invest in a power station because in the long run the expenses are minimal. Currently we are spending millions and millions annually importing electricity.

“In Ruacana [a large hydro station on the Kunene River in the north of the country], we are only now paying for maintenance, repair and water royalties which are not expensive at all.”

Lenka Thamae, the executive secretary of the Orange-Senqu Commission, told IPS that NamPower’s project was not expected to have any negative effects on the river. The other countries that share the transboundary river, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa, have all been consulted over the planned development.

Thamae said that changes in upstream use of the water should not threaten the generating potential in the new generating stations.

“A lot of water and flow depends on the release from dams upstream. Usually when we have projects downstream that include power generation, we ensure that upstream agencies work closely with institutions downstream. The presence of dams up stream actually provides more water than when nothing is there because these dams collect [and store] water. This regulated system is much better,” he said.

“There can only be problems if the water is used for irrigation but this is not the case, most rivers upstream are used for power generation.”

Regarding possible changes in water availability due to global warming, Thamae said ORASECOM has engaged specialists to study the likely scenarios.

“We want to find out how climate change will affect the river, which areas will get more or less rainfall before we advise our member countries. We are really concerned because the river is used for industry, with water being scarce sometimes.”

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By Patience Nyangove
WINDHOEK, Jul 11 2010 (IPS)

Throughout the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, organisers have insisted that the legacy of the event goes far beyond the sporting spectacle. In the dusty streets of a Windhoek township, Deon Namiseb believes this is true.

Katutura is one of 20 sites where a Football for Hope Centre is being constructed. The Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA), in conjunction with Special Olympics Namibia and the streetfootballworld network are establishing a facility where people with disabilities can play football alongside their non-disabled counterparts, helping to overcome widespread discrimination.

“My main aim is that the community be involved,” says Namiseb, standing proud and serious in his worn-out golf shirt, red shorts and tennis shoes. “They should come and enjoy themselves and be part of what we are doing here and we share knowledge in whatever aspect of life.”

Namiseb was born with an intellectual disability and an under-developed right hand. For all of his 32 years of life, he has been shunned by most in his community.

Despite this, he briefly coached a female football team in Okahandja, a small town some 70 kilometres outside Windhoek. He says the Centre will offer him the first opportunity to play football alongside able-bodied people, across lines of prejudice that have shaped his life.

“It’s difficult to grow up your whole life being made aware left, right and centre that you are different from the majority of people,” he says. “Some people don’t even want to come near you as if you have leprosy or  some other infectious disease.

“I might be disabled but I am not any different from anyone and I am hoping that through this initiative the able-bodied youth soccer players we will play alongside will be our ambassadors to society and tell them that disability does not make anyone lesser human,” Namiseb told IPS at the Centre’s bricklaying ceremony.

“We are the same and we are capable of doing what any other person can do.”

The Football for Hope Centre in Katutura will provide facilities to more than 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities as well as other members of the community. In addition to sport, the Centre will help athletes acquire basic computer literacy skills and provide education on reproductive and sexual health.

“Because we are disabled one way or the other does not mean our bodies behave differently from other human beings,” Namiseb says.

“We have the same needs. The fact that we will be taught more about our bodies is wonderful. I know for a fact that most disabled women are sexually abused and if they are made aware of what sexual  abuse is, it will help them to protect themselves against it.

“I will try to use my one strong hand for the computer lessons,” he says, a big smile on his face, “it does not matter that I might not get a job to use these skills but the knowledge is valuable.”

Able-bodied Joe Shipala also hopes to be part of the initiative. He says he only came to realise the unfair discrimination against people with disabilities when his mother was involved in a car accident and had to have her legs amputated.

“It was an eye-opener and seeing  my mother being discriminated hurts so much. Our father even divorced her after the accident because he did not want a wheelchair-bound wife. But I can’t disown my mother because of disability; she did not choose to be that way and I don’t see her any different.”

He says he wants to be part of this initiative to show society that disability does not mean inability.

Shipala also says if admitted to the programme, he will stand to benefit from the computer training which he will use when he finishes his diploma in commerce.

The national director of Special Olympics Namibia, Stay-C Namases, feels sport is very important for those with intellectual disabilities, because it can bring them together on an equal footing with people who usually shun them.

“Sport is very vital to those who are disabled because it helps to integrate them into mainstream society. People don’t want to interact with them, they discriminate [against] them. [Sport] is a tangible initiative that can bring the disabled and the non-disabled to one place were they come play, have fun and interact together,” Namases told IPS.

Namiseb, who lives with his mother says he is grateful to FIFA and the Special Olympics for making the resources for the Centre available.

“After all the discrimination we have gone through it’s touching to know that someone  remembers, someone cares about us. Although we can’t pay back with money I hope that our smiles are enough to show them how grateful we are.”

The Football for Hope initiative foresees the establishment of 20 centres across Africa. In addition to the Katutura Centre, facilities in South Africa, Ghana, Mali Rwanda and Kenya have already opened or are near completion.

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By Patience Nyangove
WINDHOEK, Oct 7 2009 (IPS)

Ten years ago, a move to legalise abortion in Namibia failed. The number of unwanted pregnancies remains high, with many people unwilling or unable to use contraception. Despite the risks, illegal abortions remain common.

Misoprostol – a drug used to control ulcers, more usually known by the brand name Cytotec – has become a favoured method for inducing abortion.

The drug costs around $14 U.S. dollars per tablet from a pharmacist and is readily available on the streets of Windhoek. Medical doctors who conduct abortions illegally using the drug charge between 140 and 200 U.S. dollars.

Twenty-two year-old Monisha (not her real name), a student at University of Namibia, decided to have an abortion because her boyfriend is a married man and hence could not marry her.

"My parents would have killed me if they had found out that I was made pregnant by a married man, who can't marry me," she says. "I am also not ready to be a mother, I am still a student."

She was two months into the pregnancy when, with the help of a friend, she bought five Cytotec pills from a drug peddler in Windhoek's Khomasdal suburb.

Monisha says she was charged $113 for the pills, and instructed by the drug peddler to insert three of the tablets into her vagina and swallow two. He told her that if developed any complications during the abortion, she should not seek treatment at health institution but rather come back to him for help.

Fortunately Monisha's pregnancy was successfully terminated without any complications. "It was like a bad period. Off course I felt some pain but I took some pain killers," she says.

Cytotec is classified as a controlled drug and by law should only be sold to people with a medical doctor’s prescription, however errant pharmacists are selling it to anyone who asks for it.

Merja (not her real name either) a pharmacist in Independence Avenue in Windhoek says she only sells Cytotec pills to people referred to her by friends.

"You can't just sell to anyone because you don't know who is a police officer or not. It's quite a risky business but what can we do? We need the extra money and at the same time we are providing a service to our fellow desperate women need.

"It's not like we are killing babies, I only sell Cytotec tablets to those whose pregnancy is less than three months to minimise the risk of fatal complications," she says.

According to Merja she buys a packet of Cytotec tablets containing 56 pills for the equivalent of U.S. $50 and sells each tablet for $14, making a cool profit of 740 U.S. dollars per packet.

Merja says most of her clients are students from the university and the Polytechnic of Namibia.

Monisha's termination went smoothly but large numbers of women end up with a host of complications that include haemorrhaging when due to a torn cervix or punctured uterus says a medical doctor at Katutura State Hospital. (Doctors in the public health service are not permitted to speak to the press, so he spoke to IPS anonymously.)

The doctor says one of the most common complications that they deal with at the hospital include infections that develop when foetal parts are left inside the uterus.

"A pelvic infection may lead to persistent fever over several days and extended hospitalisation. It can also cause scarring of the pelvic organs," he says. The doctor says in severe cases some women have died because of back street abortions after excessive bleeding.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi said illegal abortions remain a serious health problem in Namibia with abortion-related deaths much more common among young women.

"It was also found that about one third of the deaths were due to septic and illegally-induced abortion most likely unsafely performed somewhere.

"Fifty-nine percent of the women dying of abortion related complications were under the age of 25. This is consistent with other reports that increasingly young people resort to unsafe abortion or even commit suicide because of unwanted pregnancy," Kamwi says.

Sam Ntelamo, director of the Namibia Planned Parenthood Association says baby dumping and infanticide is now an issue of concern in Namibia, although without comprehensive data, it is impossible to estimate the true extent of unsafe abortion as many cases are believed to go unreported.

"Even police statistics and anecdotal information suggest that the problem is a significant one," Ntelamo said. "We quite often hear of bodies of newborn babies retrieved at water works sites around Windhoek and outside. These are shocking revelations"

Ntelamo blames the surge in the number of abortion cases to a great number of youth failing to access reproductive health services.

In 1999, the Namibian government tried to legalise abortion, however it claims it was forced to abandon the law after the public opposed it. Government at the time said wide-ranging consultations with communities that included churches; radio phone-ins and letters indicated 99 percent of Namibians did not want abortion to be legalised.

Anti-abortion sentiment remains high. One Namibian interviewed by IPS feels that if government legalises abortion, this will fuel immorality.

"Abortion must never be legalised in Namibia, women will just wily nilly commit murder. Innocent babies will be killed, if our mothers had been given that opportunity to choose whether we should have lived or died then a lot of us would not be here. It's also so un-African," says Ndawana Hausiku.

Under Namibian law a woman can only have an abortion in cases of incest, rape or when the pregnancy is deemed a health risk to the life of the mother.

The director of Sister Namibia, a non-governmental organisation that deals with women's rights, Liz Frank told IPS that Namibia urgently needed to reform its law on abortion.

"That draft bill which was declined by the public a few years ago needs to be dusted off and retabled. There is need to embark on a campaign to educate the public on the advantages of legalising abortion in the country," she said.

"Currently the health ministry is spending huge amounts of money in cleaning up botched abortions, while so many women are dying or having life threatening injuries after undergoing backstreet abortions. Women should have access to safe abortion."

Presently only four African countries permit abortion on demand during the first trimester, South Africa, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Tunisia.

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