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The paper explores the historical evolution of employee voice in Namibia from an employment relations (ER) perspective and in the context of institutional factors such as labour legislation, trade union strategies, company policies and governmental regulations. The first part of the paper provides a brief outline of ER conceptions of voice that are manifest in the recent resurgence of interest in the topic. The next part traces the historical evolution of labour regulation and employee voice in Namibia. It is shown that, in the absence of collective voice and statutory protections, informal voice and occupational solidarity were the primary means of defence available to black workers against oppressive conditions. In the final part, an outline of some key features of employee voice in contemporary Namibia is provided. The analysis shows that systems of employee voice are fundamentally a manifestation of the balance of powers at a particular time and place. It is therefore crucial to link voice preferences and behaviours in the workplace to specific preconditions and to highlight the limiting factors that serve to constrain choice.

One of the major challenges facing the higher education system in Namibia is to develop an equitable system where access to higher education goes alongside equity without negatively affecting quality and one that is regionally and ethnically representative. The process of developing such a system cannot be described as a once off achievement. Namibia’s historical past combined with the country’s ethnic make-up as well as its socio-economic standing makes access with equity a complex problem. Several sources show that this challenge is not typical to Namibia alone. Although strides have been made in terms of opening up the higher education sector to marginalised communities and to previously disadvantaged people, the higher education system of Namibia is not yet accessible to all. This chapter presents the development of higher education in Namibia, its achievements and challenges. It argues that the way access and participation manifests itself in Namibia’s higher education is elitist, and that massiffication at graduate and postgraduate level is yet to occur. Finally, the chapter drawing on rich literature suggests policy options for Namibia.

This community based initiative seeks to increase communities’ adaptive capacity through the development of resilient farming practices and improved natural resource management in the face of climate change. Integrating the basic aspects on climate information, the project toolkit had two main objectives; firstly it increases community awareness about climate change risks to farmers and natural resource users, and secondly it aims to build momentum at community levels for innovative adaptation tools as applicable to their environments. These toolkits are applicable to the rural communities, peri‐urban and communities across Namibia.

Participatory rural appraisal methods were used to solicit inputs from the local people during the toolkits development process. Resource mapping, root analysis of climate impacts, and gender mainstreaming were key to this project. A total of 30 community consultations were held in 12 constituencies in all the regions. About 200 people per region were consulted. Their selection was based on their day‐to‐day engagement with community members – these included community activists, farmers, local NGOs as well as governmental civil servants and resource users.

The main outcomes of the project were the compilation of the climate change toolkits, as well as outreach materials such as a video for training of trainers events on climate change adaptation, posters, and radio talks in the different regions. The toolkits are in the process of being implemented, and there are positive reports from the regions where they have been distributed.

This paper is a synopsis of the experiences from Namibia's climate change adaptation toolkits and offers insights relevant to many other African countries, and how these can be improved to make climate change adaptation work especially in the rural areas.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Namibian liberation struggle, 1966‐1990, as an information war rather than a military conflict, so as to explore the dimensions of information activity under conditions of conflict. This builds on the idea, expressed by participants in earlier struggles of this kind, that the contest for “hearts and minds” is more significant than the armed confrontation that accompanies it.

A model that incorporates information and communication activity by both contestants, at their command centres, in the field and in the media, was elaborated in a previous paper using data from a number of conflicts, mainly in Southern and Central Africa. The present paper focuses on the Namibian struggle so as to examine the capacity of the model to assist in explaining the outcomes of the conflict. Using published sources, printed archive material and oral testimony, the range of information inputs, the incidence of suppression of information and information outputs are set out in the pattern provided by the model. This shows how both sides used covert intelligence gathering, secret communication, propaganda and disinformation accompanied by censorship and the suppression of critical comment by force to further their political/military aims.

Whilst South Africa and its Namibian military structures were generally successful in armed confrontation with the forces of the chief liberation organisation (SWAPO), they were not able to bring the conflict to a successful military conclusion. This was because SWAPO's attention to the diplomatic war, based on strong and consistent information flows, convinced the United Nations and other allies to press for a negotiated solution. Once this was agreed, the success of the liberation movement's news and education campaigns in attaching the people to the cause of liberation was revealed by SWAPO's overwhelming success in free elections in 1989.

It is important to establish that the war in Namibia was much more a clash of information‐related activities directed at hearts and minds than it was of guns and bombs. When this is demonstrated, we can perhaps learn from the fact that the contestant most effectively committed to waging war by peaceful means was victorious.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the recognition of record management profession in the Namibian Public Service. The objectives of the study are to determine appreciation of the importance of records record management; establish policies that support records management; find out the promotion of the records management function in the public service; establish training and job opportunities available for the record management professionals; and come up with recommendations on how the recognition of the record management profession could be enhanced in the public service of Namibia.

This case study used qualitative data collection methods, namely, focus group discussions and interviews. The two ministries and records keeping staff who took part in the focus group discussions were conveniently selected, whereas the two government offices where one key informant each was interviewed were purposively selected.

This study revealed that the records management profession was not well recognised in the public service of Namibia. The hiring of staff with low educational qualifications and the hiring of records keeping staff with some Diploma qualifications into the same positions as those without qualifications were all evidence of this. In addition to these was the failure to re-grade the records keeping staff through the establishment of a records management cadre.

The study recommends the creation of record management units in all offices, ministries and agencies headed by qualified record managers supported by qualified records management staff, finalisation and implementation of the records management policy, as well as the creation of a records management cadre.

The findings of the study on which this paper is based could inform policy for decision makers, and for the records management keeping staff, a strategy for advocating for recognition of their profession was planned.

The practicality of anti-corruption efforts has been debated in development circles since the 1990s (World Bank, 1998). Moving beyond monetary metrics, this paper seeks to contribute to the discussion by assessing whether the cost of anti-corruption measures is proportionate to international concerns about corruption. This study aims to focus on the Namibian “Fishrot” files, an ongoing scandal that involves bribery, tax evasion and cross-border exploitation for access to the country’s fishing grounds. The Fishrot files implicate parties in both Namibia and Iceland, and the case provides insight into why the costs of financial crime and anti-corruption may be unduly borne by the global East. Especially because corruption stands to disrupt political and economic stability in developing countries, an understanding of these costs is essential for preventing further barriers to development.

This study focuses on the case of the Namibian “Fishrot” files to compare the cost of financial crime with the price of fighting it. It incorporates cost-benefit considerations on anti-corruption from political, economic and environmental perspectives.

This paper suggests that an imbalance in the response to corruption in the global East and West stands to damage development progress in countries like Namibia. It encourages a more holistic approach to anti-corruption efforts, one that acknowledges the heightened cost and burden of such efforts in developing countries.

This study provides a broadened perspective for assessing the effectiveness of anti-corruption initiatives, particularly for cases that involve cross-border financial crime between developing and developed countries.

The study is a survey covering the Ohangwena, Khomas and Otjozondjupa regions highlighting developments in the teaching of information literacy in Namibian schools through the subject Basic Information Science (BIS). This paper aims to provide an update on previous related studies which have been conducted in Namibia led by Nengomasha et al. (2012), Namibia Library Council (NLIC) Report (2007) and Smith et al.’s Baseline Study (2008).

The main objective of this study is to find reasons for non-compliance in the effective teaching of BIS in Namibian schools focus sing on the three regions. The data collection methods were questionnaires and focus group discussions.

A major finding from the study is that 80 per cent school principals are supporting the teaching of the subject BIS in the Ohangwena region, while 20 per cent are non-compliant in the teaching of BIS. The compliance levels in the Otjozondjupa region is that 75 per cent school principals support the teaching of BIS whilst 25 per cent school principals are non-compliant. In total, 60 teachers were randomly sampled in the Otjozondjupa region, while 75 school principals out of a population of 157 were also randomly sampled in the Ohangwena region. In the Khomas (100) region, 52 school principals were randomly sampled out of a population of a 108. The study recommends that it is critical for school principals in Namibia to fully support the development of young learners to be critical thinkers for lifelong learning challenges through the teaching of information literacy.

This study is original.

As the demand for efficiency and quality in the health-care industry has increased over the past few years, adoption of Lean principles and tools in the medical laboratory industry has become increasingly crucial. The purpose of this study is to explore the level of adoption, barriers and enablers of Lean principles and tools in the Namibian medical laboratory industry.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to examine the level of usage, barriers and enablers, impact of Lean tools and to suggest appropriate strategies for adopting Lean in the Namibian medical laboratory services.

Research findings reveal that Lean tools are moderately implemented in most laboratories. Standard operating procedures, root cause analysis, overall equipment effectiveness and visual management are the important Lean tools used in the industry. Results of the survey also show that Lean tools had a positive impact on operational performance, employee motivation, turnaround time and cost reduction. Furthermore, top management involvement, adequate training and proper planning emerged as important enablers, while lack of support from the management, financial constraint and staff resistant to change are major barriers to the adoption of Lean principles in the Namibian medical laboratory industry.

The paper has inherent limitations of survey research, which the authors will overcome by using case studies with medical laboratories.

The findings of the authors’ work will help in widening the application of Lean principles in more medical laboratories in Namibia and in other parts of the world.

The paper is based on numerous health-care studies on Lean. This is one of the few papers investigating the adoption of Lean principles, specifically in medical laboratories, from an emerging economy such as Namibia.

This study explores some of the key push and pull factors to consider in talent development and retention of competent employees by businesses operating in Namibia.

The participants in this study comprised of randomly selected white-collar employees in Namibia. The study adopted a qualitative research approach, utilizing online focus groups to gain insights related to white-collar labor turnover and retention. Thematic content analysis was employed during the data reduction process.

The findings revealed specific push and pull factors for consideration in developing talent retention strategies in contemporary business organizations.

Most of the extant literature on white-collar retention and labor turnover is based on Western contexts. The findings of this study contribute to the available literature by providing a perspective from the developing world, specifically, Namibia.