The Namibia government has announced a temporary ban on the funeral of the state amid criticism on the rising costs of these burials.

The government said that only President Netumbo Nandi-Naditva has the power to exempt the funeral from the sub-system.

Information and Communication Technology Minister Emma Theophalas announced after a cabinet meeting earlier this week.

He said that the Sadhangan would run till April 2026, while a review committee sees “the norms associated with the official funeral”.

Ms. Theophalas told the BBC that a committee of “not more than seven members” would be established to lead the review.

The government has not said whether this decision was related to the increasing criticism of the rising costs of several state funerals stated by the local media.

The BBC has asked the Presidency to comment.

A private -owned publication, Windhok Observer, said the calls for the sub -institution came back by 2021 when the rising cost of the official burial came under the scope of investigation, especially at the height of the Kovid -19 epidemic.

It quoted Prime Minister Eliza Nagurare as saying, who revealed earlier this year that the official funerals cost the government in the financial year of 2024/2025 at the government cost 38.4m Namibian dollars ($ 2.2m; £ 1.6m).

According to the news site, only 2.1m Namibian dollars were spent on 23 funerals during the 20222/2023 financial year.

Observer said that the state had spent 30 meters of Namibian dollars to transport the body of Sam Nuzoma, the founder of the founder President Sam Nujoma across the country before the funeral of its state in February this year.

He died at the age of 95, who died at the age of 95, found the liberation movement of Namibia in the 1960s, South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO).

After independence, Nuzoma became President in 1990 and led the country until 2005.