Day: June 7, 2023

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Siyemo aims for Premier League success with Rundu Chiefs

The captain of the winning team in the 2023 Namibian Newspaper Cup, Hendrick Muhera Siyemo, has set his sights on playing Premier League football with Rundu Chiefs, as well as representing the Brave Warriors.

The 18-year-old central midfielder recently joined Rundu Chiefs, a team in the North East First Division. In an interview with Nampa on Tuesday, Siyemo expressed his satisfaction with playing for Rundu Chiefs, a football club with a rich history.

“Rundu Chiefs has produced most of the national team players from this region. I have set myself a three-year goal to play Premier League football with Rundu Chiefs and make it to the Brave Warriors,” he stated.

Siyemo mentioned that when he joined Rundu Chiefs in March, the team was struggling with relegation, but they have since moved from 11th to eighth place in the 13-team league. He pointed out that since joining the club, they have not lost a single game and have only conceded one goal in the six games he has played.

Erastus Someno, the sports officer for the Kavango East Region, informed this news agency that Siyemo is a talented player who rose from the third division football league in the Kavango East Region to captain the Kavango West Regional Under-20 team to victory in the Newspaper Cup held in Otjiwarongo.

“His talent was not recognised at the league level, but he showcased his abilities and potential during the Newspaper Cup. Siyemo is an impressive player. He possesses all the qualities of a midfielder. He can dribble, pass, shoot, and has a strong desire to score,’ Someno remarked.

He further added that if given an opportunity at national level, Siyemo would seize it.

He also highlighted Siyemo’s versatility, stating that he can perform effectively in the defensive, midfield, and attacking positions.

“He can play almost any midfield role at an elite level. That is what he did for Kavango West, and Rundu Chiefs when situations require him to do it, which shows his desire for higher heights. He is the new dancing shoes,” Someno said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

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Equalise meat economic opportunity for both north and south of redline: Schlettwein

Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein, said there is a need to equalise economic opportunities in the country’s meat industry, north and south of the Veterinary Cordon Fence (redline).

Speaking to Nampa at the inauguration ceremony of newly elected Meat Board of Namibia board members here on Wednesday, Schlettwein said Namibians should not allow a situation where the cordon fence erodes economic opportunities on either side of the fence.

He emphasised the fence does not hinder the government’s ability to find international markets for meat above the redline, noting currently meat from the northern communal areas is being sold to China and Africa.

Schlettwein noted the veterinary cordon fence is only an animal disease control prevention, especially in the event of a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak which has a high risk of killing animals and spreading to areas where there is no vaccinated animal population, South of the fence.

“The meat that we eat from northern communal areas is not infected or poisonous… it is not. It goes through a very stringent inspection process. The perception that meat from the North is lower quality meat is wrong and I do not know where it comes from. Currently, we are eating meat in Windhoek from Katima Mulilo abattoir,” he noted.

Schlettwein further explained that the current High Court case is an issue of Northern area cattle owners not being able to consume the meat South of the country, stressing that it is a domestic issue and does not hinder international market access for northern communal areas farmers.

In a case filed on 26 May 2021, Affirmative Repositioning activist, Job Amupanda, is seeking a court order to have the 1896 colonial demarcation removed, declared illegal and unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, Schlettwein in 2021 indicated that removing the fence could be catastrophic to the entire beef industry in the country, which is estimated to be valued at more than N.dollars 7 billion per year, in defence of animal health.

The new Meat Board of Namibia board of directors for a period of three years include Lucia Hamuteya (Chairperson); Paul Klein; Jessy Kamwi; Sartorius Von Bach; Rosalinda Katjivena; Julene Meyer; Annascy Mwanyangapo; Willen Kekwiyu; Patrick Liebernberg and Christopher Mberema.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

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Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative Should Be Supported, Widened: Ambassador Terekhin

Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative should be “supported and widened” as it is crucial to mitigate climate change, Russia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Evgeny Terekhin said.

The Green Legacy Initiative is a flagship program launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in June 2019 with a target of planting 20 billion seedlings within a period of four years.

However, by the last fourth year, some 25 billion seedlings including trees, fruit, and cattle feeds have been planted as part of the national Green Legacy Initiative across the nation.

Ethiopia has been preparing to plant 6.3 billion seedlings during this rainy season as part of the national green legacy initiatives, it is learnt.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Ambassador Terekhin said the Green Legacy Initiative is a “really wonderful step.”

“I have repeated on many occasions, green legacy initiative which was put forward by the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is a really wonderful step. It is to be supported by any one; I mean… be it separate citizen or some country because without saving our environment, there will be no life space left for the next generations,” he elaborated.

Therefore, the steps undertaken within the framework of green legacy initiative have a global minimum because we have aimed at saving space for future human kind, according to the ambassador.

The Ambassador said “it was great pleasure and honor for me, to also participate in certain events dedicated to the green legacy initiative and to plant some trees here in Entoto Park and in our embassy as well.”

To this end, this green legacy initiative is really good to be followed, he said, adding “it should be supported and widened.”

Moreover, the ambassador elaborated that the problem of climate change is a problem of global meaning and scope that needs cooperation to overcome the challenges.

“The climate change impacts on the day to day life of people’s own problems of security and so on. The problem of climate change is a problem of global meaning and scope and only by united efforts; we can overcome these challenges, which we are coming across now,” he underscored.

Recall Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Outstanding African Leadership Award by the American Academy of Achievement and the Global Hope Coalition in Washington DC, in recognition of his Green Legacy initiative, in December, 2022.

The Green Legacy Initiative has reinforced Ethiopia to building a green and climate resilient nation, rehabilitating degraded land across the country.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

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Nation Striving to Sustainably Conserve Wildlife, Maximize Economic Benefits: Wildlife Conservation Authority

Ethiopia has been undertaking activities that sustainably conserve wildlife and maximize economic benefits, according to the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority.

Authority Director-General, Kumera Wakjira told ENA that the country is carrying out the activities in compliance with the global framework.

Illegal wildlife trafficking is one of the challenges Ethiopia has been facing in its efforts to ensure effective wildlife conservation, he noted, adding that the authority is working to solve the problem through public and stakeholder participation and engagement.

“We have been trying to address the issue of livelihood, local community and stakeholders engagements, and enhancing sectorial and multi-sectorial engagement and approach, working closely with the local authorities, elders and influential community members.”

The country also faces absence of an integrated land use system that is affecting conservation of wildlife.

“Land is an issue and there are always clashes of interest, especially with wildlife management and conservation. We have protected areas set aside for wildlife protection, and then there is also an interest on the opposite side demanding those lands.”

The land demand includes, among others, settlement, cultivation, investment, and livestock, the director-general stated.

“We do hope that Ethiopia will have a properly defined land use system which leads all sectors toward integrated land use system and land management sooner than later because everything is on land and land is a critical factor for everybody. So one of the challenges in terms of running effective conservation is lack of land use system.”

According to Kumera, the authority is also applying strict control on illegal wildlife trafficking, in collaboration with the concerned stakeholders.

“We do have illegal wildlife trafficking problem. So, as per the challenges and then the problems, we have designed strategies in all aspects, bringing up integration and stakeholder engagement, especially community participation and addressing the livelihood issues of the local people, especially those neighboring the protected areas.”

The director-general further revealed that the authority is working with local stakeholders and neighboring countries to reverse illegal wildlife trade and trafficking.

“Illegal wildlife trade and trafficking is also a global problem, and to address this challenge we are just enhancing interagency cooperation. So, we closely work with law enforcement bodies, police, army, justice, court, customs, and airport; and then we are also trying to collaborate with neighboring countries through cross-border cooperation. We are closely working with Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan, and South Sudan.”

Kumera underscored that there are a lot of efforts to reverse illegal wildlife trade and trafficking, but the challenge is underlying and very complex.

On the other hand, the authority is also maximizing the economic benefits of sustainable conservation and international trade by complying with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Ethiopia, which has been prized by the CITES secretariat for effective implementation, has animal and plant species listed by the CITES appendices and it is exporting animals, including birds, mammals amphibians, and reptiles, according to the director general.

“We have species listed by the appendices of CITES from Ethiopia. So we carry out trades on these flora and fauna with respect to the regulation, procedures, and the provisions of the convention. From each class, we have species permitted for international trade from birds, or mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.”

The authority has also been active in exporting animals through trophy hunting, it was learned. Ethiopia has more than 50 animals for trophy hunting.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

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