The Namibian authorities has introduced a brief ban on state funerals amid criticism over the rising prices of those burials.
Solely President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has the facility to exempt funerals from the moratorium, the federal government stated.
Minister of Info and Communication Know-how Emma Theofelus made the announcement following a Cupboard assembly earlier this week.
She stated the moratorium would final till April 2026, whereas a overview committee seems into the “standards and processes related to bestowing official funerals”.
Ms Theofelus informed the BBC {that a} committee consisting of “not more than seven members” could be established to guide the overview.
The federal government has not stated whether or not the choice was associated to mounting criticism of the growing prices of the quite a few state funerals as reported by native media.
The BBC has requested the presidency for remark.
The Windhoek Observer, a privately owned publication, stated requires the moratorium had been made way back to 2021 when the rising price of official burials got here beneath scrutiny, particularly on the top of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It quoted Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare, who earlier this yr revealed that official funerals had price the federal government 38.4m Namibian {dollars} ($2.2m; £1.6m) within the 2024/2025 monetary yr.
By comparability, solely 2.1m Namibian {dollars} was spent on 23 funerals in the course of the 2022/2023 monetary yr, in line with the information website.
The Observer stated the state had spent 30m Namibian {dollars} simply to move the physique of founding President Sam Nujoma across the nation forward of his state funeral in February this yr.
Nujoma, who died on the age of 95, led the lengthy battle for independence from South Africa after serving to discovered Namibia’s liberation motion, the South West Africa Individuals’s Organisation (Swapo), within the Nineteen Sixties.
After independence, Nujoma turned president in 1990 and led the nation till 2005.
Extra BBC tales on Namibia:
[Getty Images/BBC]
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