News stories by Servaas van den Bosch, page 7

'Man RDP!' sighs Martha Hamukoto, sitting on the steps of a Windhoek office block. She is lamenting the breakaway faction, the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP). The party formed after a split with the ruling party almost two years ago and will be contesting the elections for the first time this year.

Gender activists foresee a drop in female parliamentarians after Namibia’s general and presidential elections on November 27 and 28. It’s a trend that jeopardises the region’s goal of 50 percent female representation in politics by 2015.

They are called the 'born frees', the children of Namibia’s Independence, and they will vote for the first time this month. Struggle credentials mean zip to them, and they have a serious beef with politicians.

The global climate change caravan has arrived in Barcelona for a last round of talks before the Copenhagen summit. What's at stake for Africa?

Southern African countries have buried the hatchet in an effort to preserve the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), one of the few building blocks of regional integration. Its chiefs vehemently denied reports that Pretoria wants to pull out of the customs union.

Growing demand for products like timber and biofuels is putting pressure on shrinking rainforests.

'African farmers will play a major part in the solution of climate change mitigation,' predicts Dennis Garrity, head of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

'Our profit so far is 5,000 Namibian dollars, divided by twenty people,' reports Anna Nauses. Silence descends on the office of the Prosopis Project in Okombahe as all do the math. Sixteen months of hard labour felling water-thirsty trees along the Omaruru River has yielded just 30 U.S. dollars per person.

A mammoth draft bill on child care and protection is nearing completion in Namibia. A gaggle of experts has made recommendations; a muster of officials will decide what goes in and what stays out. And all worry what the politicians will say.

Access to the European markets is not a goal Namibia wants to accomplish at all costs. Neither is the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) holy. What counts in the country’s realpolitik approach is a close relationship with its neighbours, especially regional economic powerhouse South Africa but also oil-rich Angola.