Namibia state funerals: Moratorium announced on burials amid cash crunch
Ms Theofelus told the BBC that a committee consisting of "no more than seven members" would be established to lead the review. Sam Nujoma: The revolutionary leader who liberated NamibiaNamibia's late President Hage Geingob's funeral amid surge in patriotismZambia's presidential feud that even death couldn't endThe government has not said whether the decision was related to mounting criticism of the increasing costs of the numerous state funerals as reported by local media. The BBC has asked the presidency for comment.The Windhoek Observer, a privately owned publication, said calls for the moratorium had been made as far back as 2021 when the rising cost of official burials came under scrutiny, especially at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.It quoted Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare, who earlier this year revealed that official funerals had cost the government 38.4m Namibian dollars ($2.2m; £1.6m) in the 2024/2025 financial year. By comparison, only 2.1m Namibian dollars was spent during the 2022/2023 financial year, according to the news site.The Observer said the state had spent 30m Namibian dollars on the funeral of the country's founding President Sam Nujoma in February this year. Nujoma, who died at the age of 95, led the long fight for independence from South Africa after helping found Namibia's liberation movement, the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo), in the 1960s.After independence, Nujoma became president in 1990 and led the country until 2005.
More BBC stories on Namibia:
Namibia marks colonial genocide as reparations hang in the balanceFrom freedom fighter to Namibia's first female president'I wanted someone to take better care of my son'
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