Dr Hage Geingob became Namibia’s third democratically elected president on March 21, 2015. The following is Part 2 of a summary of what President Geingob’s government has achieved during his first 100 days in office.
MINISTRY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATIONS
• Prepared and participated in the working visit of President Hage G. Geingob to Angola, and participated in a courtesy visit to President Jacob Zuma of South Africa.
• President Geingob attended the inauguration of Nigeria’s President, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari and also paid a courtesy call to the Executive Governor of Lagos. Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote paid a courtesy call to President Hage Geingob whilst in Nigeria.
• President Geingob visited Mali, and held meetings with general Chang Wanquan, State Councilor and Minister of Defence.
• The Ministry facilitated a visit by Special Envoy of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, and a visit of Nhial Deng Nhial, Special Envoy of Mr. Salva Kiir, and President of the Republic of South Sudan to President Geingob. A meeting was held between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Nandi-Ndaitwah and Ambassador Ji Peiding, Special Envoy.
• Agreements signed: The Ministry and the Angolan Government signed an MOU on for the construction of bridges across Okavango River; an MOU with the Government of South Africa on 15 June 2015 on the implementation of drought relief assistance offered by the latter. An extension on the establishment of a China Space Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TTC) station in Namibia.
• A draft Protocol on export of Namibian beef to China was submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry for their inputs.
• Establishment of Diplomatic Relations: Progress has been made in establishing Diplomatic relations between Namibia and Saudi Arabia.
• Joint Commissions of Cooperation: H.E. Yuri Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister and Special Representative of and Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation paid a working visit to Namibia, in preparation for the Namibian-Russian Intergovernment Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.
• Policy Implementation: Namibia and Angola engaged in diplomatic discussions to tackle the Foot and Mouth Disease.
• Meetings attended: The Tripartite (COMESA-EAC-SADC) Summit and Launch of the Tripartite Free Trade Area , Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt. H.E. Geingob signed the agreement.
• SADC Extraordinary Summit was held in Zimbabwe, whereby various strategies were approved.
• Facilitated the country’s participation in numerous preparatory meetings for the AMANI Africa 11 Field Exercise.
• Participated in the First Joint SADC Meeting for Ministers Responsible for Disaster Risk Management.
• President Geingob participated in the 25th Ordinary Session of Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, Johannesburg, South Africa
• Namibia hosted the African Union PSC retreat in Swakopmund on Peace and Security Council(PCS)
• Attended the 60th Asian-African Conference and 10th Anniversary of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP) Africa Caribbean Pacific-European Union (ACP/EU): Agreement was reached between the ACP and EU on the Namibian National Indicative Plan (NIP) which was signed.
• Participated in the NPT 2015 NPT Review Conference: Namibia Membership. Participated in the activities and deliberations of ILO, IOM, WHO, UNAIDS, IPU, UNISDIR, UNIISDIR, WHO, ITU, WTO and the UNCTAD Voluntary Review Mechanism.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES
• Mobilised a medical brigade from private and state sectors to volunteer their free time to provide medical services in remote areas to help reduce waiting list for operations and special services.
• Drafted a conceptual framework on the refining of institutional frameworks for the delivery of specialised services, specifically to address cancer diagnostic, treatment and management.
• Medical doctors have been sent for specialisation in Zimbabwe and South Africa to help increase the number of specialists in the country.
MINISTRY OF LABOUR, INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND EMPLOYMENT CREATION
Introduction of Minimum Wage for Domestic Workers
• A Wage Order setting minimum wages and other conditions of employment for domestic workers took effect on 1 April 2015.
Employment Equity Commission and Social Security Commission
• The 5th Employment Equity Commission was appointed by the Minister for a three-year term commencing 1 April 2015 and the Commissioners underwent induction training. The Chairperson of the Social Security Commission has been appointed.
MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
• The renovation of asylum seekers’ centre in Katima Mulilo has been completed.
• The successful turnaround strategy in Windhoek is being escalated to all regions and border posts.
• The data network communication was established in Omaruru, and upgraded in Okahandja sub-regional office and the visa permit electronic stickers was finalised.
• 2,400 former Angolan refugees were integrated in Namibia and World Refugee Day was commemorated at Osire Refugee Camp. A meeting on the 988 Namibian refugees in Dukwe Botswana was held in Francistown.
• Reduction on the waiting period for travel documents, as well as issuance of visas from 10 days to less than 2 days; employment permit issuance has significantly reduced to a 30-day waiting period. An SMS system was introduced to confirm current status of applications.
• The automation of aliens control system’s pilot project was extended to Namibia’s diplomatic missions, such as Pretoria, Beijing, and Berlin. The automation of citizenship system was signed.
• Training of stakeholders on the Essentials of Migration Management workshop in consultation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) was conducted.
• The Case Management System to track and trace application forms, as well to verify the authenticity of every application form submitted to the Ministry was developed and integrated with the National Population Registration System.
• 30,000 marriage records in the 80s and 90s were retrieved using the Automation Project System, whose primary purpose is to digitise all historical records (births, deaths and marriages).
MINISTRY OF SPORT, YOUTH AND NATIONAL SERVICE
• Paralympics: The Nedbank Disability championship saw the country scooping 37 medals; 30 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze.
• Namibia School Sports Union: 50 athletes participated in the COSANA Athletics Competition in Lesotho, and brought home 58 medals; 17 gold, 17 silver and 24 bronze. One athlete qualified for the World Youth games.
• Athletics: The 2nd Youth Athletics Championship was held in Mauritius, one gold medal won in 400 meters. In the Southern Senior Regional Athletics Championship, we won 5 gold medals.
• Football: The Brave Warriors won the 2015 edition of the COSAFA Cup which was held in South Africa
• Youth Training: 38 unemployed youth were offered field guide training through cooperation between the Directorate Youth Development, UNDP and Wilderness Safari. 15 Youths Officers were trained in various aspects of Gender related issues.
• 26 Young offenders from various regions were rehabilitated and provided with life skills training as ordered by the courts.
• 948 trainees passed successfully, and 550 intakes were recruited this year. N$3 800 000 for loans disbursed to the youths for projects through the Namibia Youth Credit Scheme.
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
• The Minister of Defence acquainted himself with the operations of the ministry, the Namibian Defence Force and the defence industry. Hosted the Minister of Defence of China, ambassadors, and High Commissioners to consolidate bilateral co-operations.
• Attended meetings of the AU Specialised Technical Committee on Defence, Safety and Security in Zimbabwe and the AU Summit in South Africa.
MINISTRY OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
• Tabled the Public Enterprises Amendment Bill in Parliament. Embarked on gathering information from all Public Enterprises to compile a management system database; 66 out of 89 provided the requested information.
• The terms of reference of the Corporate Advisory Reform Unit have been finalised and approved by Tender Board.
• A reward system for performing public enterprises was put in place.
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM
The following short and medium term measures to counter poaching were put in place:
• Ground presence and patrols by the Namibian Police force in Etosha, Bwabwata and Palmwag areas; intensified aerial patrols of the affected areas through the Namibian Police and Defence Force; secondment of staff members from other National Parks to the worst affected areas; rhino dehorning operations; construction and electrification of the elephant and predator proof fence in Etosha; submission of the new proposed structure of Anti-Poaching Un it to the Public Service Commission; review of white rhino species management plan and development of a black rhino species management plan; reduction of poaching in the past month and the arrest of perpetrators.
Expansion of Tourism and increased Community Beneficiation
• 82 conservancies were registered in Namibia benefiting more than 250,000 rural people.
• Two concessions to develop and operate accommodation facilities in Mubumu National Park and Nkasa Rupara were awarded to adjacent conservancies. The five-year contract to two trophy hunting concessions in Bwabwata National Park were also extended to the Kyramacan Community Association.
• Game counts in the southern and north-western conservancies were successfully conducted and the consolidated data is to be released by end of next month.
• The first ever Namibia Sustainable Development Awards, were held to reward outstanding conservation practices at community level. N$100,000 was awarded to Ncumcara Community Forest and N$50,000 to Okango Community Forest.
Improved Waste Management
Various strategic programme concepts were drafted to tackle waste management issues such as:
• A tidy towns competition, aimed at encouraging local authorities to improve management of waste and create awareness in communities; stakeholders consultation on the coordination of environmentally sound waste management and administration; awareness-raising among key stakeholders and partners for the effective implementation of the Environmental Management Act.
Implementation of National strategies on Climate change, Biodiversity and Desertification
• As part of the first 14 countries in the world to be involved in a pilot project aiming at Land Degradation Neutrality, and a field assessment of pilot sites was conducted.
Finalisation of key pieces of Legislation
• Gaming and Entertainment Bill workshop with the legal drafters was conducted.
• Final consultative workshops on the revision of the Environmental Impact Regulations and Development of Assessment, under the Environmental Management Act of 2007, as well as on the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Bill were held and are still under consultation.
MINISTRY OF GENDER EQUALITY AND CHILD WELFARE
• A cluster meeting for the operationalisation of the National Gender Policy Coordination Mechanism was held.
• Participated in the Gender Mainstreaming Seminar on, Governance, peace and security for Ministry of Defence force Leadership, Management to deepen its understanding on an international outlook.
• Embarked on sensitisation of gender and related laws in various regions to combat gender-based violence and strengthening of the social protection system for children.
• The Child Care and Protection Bill was promulgated by Parliament and gazetted. Also submitted the instructions towards the accession to the Hague Convention in respect of children rights.
• Organised the Commemoration of the Day of the African Child in all 14 regions, with the main event celebrated at Groot Aub, Khomas Region.
NATIONAL COUNCIL
• The following bills were confirmed, some with amendments: Appropriation Bill; University of Science and Technology Bill; Namibian Citizenship (second) Special Conferment Bill; and Veterans Amendment Bill.
• Standing Committee on Rural Development’s report to establish a constituency development fund was adopted.
• A report on lack of national documents of residents of Gam and Eiseb, repatriated from Botswana, was tabled recommending to expedite the process of issuing national documents. The report was forwarded to Ministries of Home Affairs and Immigration and International Relations and Cooperation for implementation.
• The 3rd Rural Women’s Parliament, focusing on gender-based violence and the importance of the Rural Development Resolution 1325 on Women and Peace and Security was held.
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
• The proposed structures for the Directorates Law reform and Legislative Drafting were submitted to the Office of the Prime Minister for consideration.