The moratorium announced at funerals against the background of monetary crises

The Namibian government has announced a temporary ban on state burials against the background of criticism over the cost of these burial costs.

The government stated that only the Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s president has the opportunity to release the burial from the moratorium.

Emo Thefel’s Minister of Information and Communication Technology issued a statement after a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers earlier this week.

She said the moratorium would last until April 2026, while the review committee views “criteria and processes related to the restoration of official burials.”

Ms. Theofelus told the BBC that the committee consisting of “no more than seven members” will be created for consideration.

The government did not say whether the decision was due to the increase in criticism of increasing the cost of numerous state burials reported by local media.

The BBC asked the presidency about the comments.

Windhoek observer, a private publication, stated that calls for the moratorium were made in 2021, when the increase in the cost of official burials was subjected to careful check, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It quoted Prime Minister Ilya Ngurare, who earlier this year showed that official burials cost the government $ 38.4 million ($ 2.2 million; 1.6 million pounds) 2024/2025.

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

The observer stated that the state spent $ 30 million only for the transportation of the President Sam Nujam’s founding body across the country on the eve of its state funeral in February.

Noujama, who died at the age of 95, led a long struggle for independence from South Africa after assistance, in the 1960s found the release of Namibia, the National Organization of South Western Africa (Swapo).

After independence, Noujam became president in 1990 and headed the country until 2005.