The Namibian government has announced a temporary suspension of state funerals following growing criticism over the high costs associated with the ceremonies.
The suspension, which will last until April 2026, was approved by the Cabinet earlier this week. Only President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has the authority to grant exemptions during the moratorium period.
Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Emma Theofelus, disclosed the development after the Cabinet meeting, stating that a review committee had been set up to examine the “criteria and processes associated with bestowing official funerals.”
The development followed a report by The Windhoek Observer that public calls for a moratorium on state funerals began as early as 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, when concerns about government spending increased.
Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare was quoted as saying that state funerals cost the government 38.4 million Namibian dollars ($2.2 million) in the 2024/2025 financial year. This represents a sharp increase from the 2.1 million Namibian dollars spent on 23 state funerals in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
The report also stated that about 30 million Namibian dollars was spent on transporting the remains of founding President Sam Nujoma across the country before his state funeral in February 2025.
President Nujoma, who died at the age of 95, was the founding father of Namibia’s independence movement. He co-founded the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) in the 1960s and served as the country’s first president from 1990 to 2005.
The government said the review aims to ensure that official funerals are granted based on clear and sustainable criteria.
