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EDITORIAL: NSA accused of hiding the ‘real’ data

The Namibia Statistic Agency’s (NSA's) failure to fully explain to the nation why key national statistics around the unemployment rate in the country were omitted from the main report of the National Housing and Population Census released this week has landed the agency in hot water.

Over the years, it was standard practice to include the employment and unemployment figures in the report; however, this time, Namibians were shocked to learn that those figures were omitted for reasons known only to the leadership of the NSA.

Indicators contained in the census reports are often critical for government to see where it is excelling and where it needs to do better. It is also a tool used by the citizens to measure the level of socioeconomic growth in the country and, to a certain extent, to juxtapose whether the statistics presented speak to the reality on the ground.

If the NSA had a genuine reason to omit the unemployment statistics, it was supposed to be communicated with the public in advance to avoid confusion and accusations of the census results being manipulated.

What the NSA has done with this ill-advised move is sow doubt in the minds of citizens and doubts whether the statistics are credible or not. There must be a genuine reason for the omission, but without it being communicated timeously, the public is forced to draw their own conclusions.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-08

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Katima Mulilo: 24° | 36° Rundu: 19° | 33° Eenhana: 21° | 28° Oshakati: 21° | 27° Ruacana: 21° | 32° Tsumeb: 19° | 23° Otjiwarongo: 18° | 28° Omaruru: 19° | 31° Windhoek: 18° | 28° Gobabis: 19° | 30° Henties Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 13:56, High tide: 07:46, Low Tide: 02:00, High tide: 20:14 Swakopmund: 15° | 16° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 13:54, High tide: 07:44, Low Tide: 02:00, High tide: 20:12 Walvis Bay: 15° | 22° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 13:54, High tide: 07:43, Low Tide: 02:00, High tide: 20:11 Rehoboth: 18° | 30° Mariental: 21° | 33° Keetmanshoop: 20° | 35° Aranos: 20° | 33° Lüderitz: 14° | 23° Ariamsvlei: 21° | 36° Oranjemund: 14° | 20° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 18° | 27° Lubumbashi: 17° | 33° Mbabane: 14° | 32° Maseru: 14° | 23° Antananarivo: 15° | 31° Lilongwe: 20° | 29° Maputo: 19° | 34° Windhoek: 18° | 28° Cape Town: 16° | 22° Durban: 18° | 27° Johannesburg: 17° | 26° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 19° | 34° Harare: 17° | 32° Currency: GBP to NAD 22.59 | EUR to NAD 18.82 | CNY to NAD 2.44 | USD to NAD 17.47 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.25 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.13 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.63 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.07 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 133.15 | USD to AOA 909.05 | USD to BWP 13.4 | USD to EGP 49.25 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1680.41 | USD to ZAR 17.47 | USD to ZMW 27.15 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1878.29 Up +1.09% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14487.67 Up +1.33% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 31267.47 Up +0.72% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 689.18/OZ DOWN -0.0066 | Copper US$ 4.35/lb DOWN -0.0161 | Zinc US$ 3 020.30/T DOWN -1.37% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 74.99/BBP DOWN -0.0123 | Platinum US$ 984.86/OZ DOWN -0.0123 Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 24° | 36° Rundu: 19° | 33° Eenhana: 21° | 28° Oshakati: 21° | 27° Ruacana: 21° | 32° Tsumeb: 19° | 23° Otjiwarongo: 18° | 28° Omaruru: 19° | 31° Windhoek: 18° | 28° Gobabis: 19° | 30° Henties Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 21km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 13:56, High tide: 07:46, Low Tide: 02:00, High tide: 20:14 Swakopmund: 15° | 16° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 13:54, High tide: 07:44, Low Tide: 02:00, High tide: 20:12 Walvis Bay: 15° | 22° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 13:54, High tide: 07:43, Low Tide: 02:00, High tide: 20:11 Rehoboth: 18° | 30° Mariental: 21° | 33° Keetmanshoop: 20° | 35° Aranos: 20° | 33° Lüderitz: 14° | 23° Ariamsvlei: 21° | 36° Oranjemund: 14° | 20° Luanda: 25° | 26° Gaborone: 18° | 27° Lubumbashi: 17° | 33° Mbabane: 14° | 32° Maseru: 14° | 23° Antananarivo: 15° | 31° Lilongwe: 20° | 29° Maputo: 19° | 34° Windhoek: 18° | 28° Cape Town: 16° | 22° Durban: 18° | 27° Johannesburg: 17° | 26° Dar es Salaam: 25° | 31° Lusaka: 19° | 34° Harare: 17° | 32° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 22.59 | EUR to NAD 18.82 | CNY to NAD 2.44 | USD to NAD 17.47 | DZD to NAD 0.13 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.25 | EGP to NAD 0.35 | KES to NAD 0.13 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.63 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.07 | RUB to NAD 0.18 | INR to NAD 0.21 | USD to DZD 133.15 | USD to AOA 909.05 | USD to BWP 13.4 | USD to EGP 49.25 | USD to KES 129.2 | USD to NGN 1680.41 | USD to ZAR 17.47 | USD to ZMW 27.15 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1878.29 Up +1.09% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 14487.67 Up +1.33% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 31267.47 Up +0.72% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 689.18/OZ DOWN -0.0066 | Copper US$ 4.35/lb DOWN -0.0161 | Zinc US$ 3 020.30/T DOWN -1.37% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 74.99/BBP DOWN -0.0123 | Platinum US$ 984.86/OZ DOWN -0.0123