Moratorium, declared funerals against the background of a monetary crisis

The Namibi government has announced a temporary ban on state funerals amid criticism of the increasing costs of these funerals.

Only President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has the power to release funerals from the moratorium, the government said.

The Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Emma Theofel made a message after a cabinet meeting earlier this week.

She said the moratorium would continue until April 2026, while the Review Committee examines “the criteria and processes related to the service of official funerals.”

D -Ja Theofelus told the BBC that a committee consisting of “no more than seven members” will be created to lead the examination.

The government did not say whether the decision was related to an increase in criticism of the increasing costs of numerous state funerals reported by local media.

The BBC has requested the Presidency for comment.

Windhoek’s observer, a private publication, said the calls for the moratorium were made in 2021, when increasing costs for official funerals were under control, especially in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He quoted Prime Minister Ilia Ngurare, who earlier this year revealed that official funerals were worth the government of $ 38.4 million dollars ($ 2.2 million; $ 1.6 million) in the financial year 2024/2025.

For comparison, only $ 2.1 million dollars were spent on 23 burials during the financial year 2022/2023, according to the news site.

The observer stated that the state had spent 30 Mmibi dollars just to transport the body to the founder of President Sam Nuhoma around the country before his funeral of the state in February this year.

Nujoma, who died at the age of 95, led a long struggle for South Africa independence after helping to open the liberation movement of Namibia, the Southwestern Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) in the 60s.

After independence, Nuhoma became president in 1990 and led the country until 2005.