George Sanzila
Speaker of the National Assembly Peter Katjavivi has reiterated the importance of parliamentary research, noting that it is the backbone of parliament and an important aspect for sharpening debates and the oversight function.
Katjavivi said this when he officially opened a one-week research training workshop for parliament staff on Monday.
The workshop, organised by the Kondrad Adenaeur Stiftung and facilitated by experts from the German Parliament, emanates from an earlier visit by Katjavivi to the German Bundestag in February last year, where cooperation agreements between the two parliaments were sealed.
According to Katjavivi, improved parliamentary research has the potential to solve challenges facing the country. “We need our parliament to deepen and strengthen its research capabilities in order to sharpen the level of debates. We believe that parliamentary debates assisted by the application of factual information will adequately address the challenges that our nation may be facing at any given time”, stated Katjavivi.
The speaker noted that in order to achieve that aspiration, parliamentary researchers should be well equipped with the necessary skills and competences. “Parliamentary researchers should be of a high level of competence so as to effectively facilitate parliamentarians to perform oversight responsibilities. We need researchers who understand research methodologies at least at graduate level and who are able to discharge their duties professionally governed by ethics”, said Katjavivi.
He further emphasised the importance of the parliament library in reinforcing parliament’s research abilities, adding that it is a useful resource for both houses of parliament.
*George Sanzila works for the Division: Research, Information, Publications and Editorial Services at the National Assembly.