Lahja Nashuuta
Windhoek-Parliamentarians have re-affirmed their commitment to strengthen democracy in order to ensure transparency, accountability and good governance as parliament opened its doors for official business on Tuesday.
In his welcoming remarks, Speaker of the National Assembly Professor Peter Katjavivi reiterated parliament’s dedication to the task of continuing to serve and improve the standard of people by ensuring efficient service delivery.
“We are gathered here to rededicate ourselves to the task of continuing to serve and improve our nation by ensuring efficient service delivery,” Katjavivi said.
The parliamentary theme for this year is, “Enhancing Partnerships to Strengthen Good Governance in Namibia.”
Katjavivi noted the theme was chosen to signify parliament deepening engagement with the other two organs of state, namely the judiciary and executive in promoting democracy and good governance.
Katjavivi said for parliament to strengthen its democracy, there is a need to network with strategic partners at the national and international levels so as to benchmark and learn from good global practices.
He therefore pointed out the development of technical and human capacity as well as assessing the impact of legislation passed since independence as among the parliamentary targets for this year.
He also used the podium to acknowledge President Hage Geingob’s hands-on and proactive role in promoting good governance, both at home and abroad.
“This was recently evidenced by the role you played behind the scenes in dealing with some of the critical issues in our region. We are also cognisant of your efforts to place the continent on an important footing on the international stage, by advocating for Africa and the African Union in the United Nations and elsewhere,” he said.