With about N$12 million already spent by the National Assembly’s parliamentary committees on travelling, only a paltry N$3 million remains for the current financial year. 

There are seven months to go before the next financial year (FY). 

Now, staff at the National Assembly (NA), this paper is reliably informed, are under pressure to approve two trips that will cost N$1.7 million this month. 

Insiders say the concern is that if the two imminent trips come to pass, only N$1.3 million will be left for the assembly’s committees’ travelling. 

Official figures show that the National Assembly had set aside N$30 million for travelling and daily subsistence (S&T) for the entire institution. Of this, N$15 million is reserved for committee services. 

One trip is to Stockholm, Sweden, by the parliamentary standing committee on economics and public administration. 

Those destined for Stockholm are the Republican Party’s Mathias Mbundu, Swapo’s Maria Elago, Tobie Aupindi, Sebastian Karupu and Helaria Mukapuli. It is chaired by former deputy finance minister and now backbencher, Natangwe Ithete. 

Ithete did not immediately respond to questions sent to him on Friday. 

The composition of this committee has also caused consternation among some opposition parties, with leaders of the Landless People’s Movement allegedly registering their disappointment over Swapo’s dominance in the economics and public administration committee’s Swedish-bound delegation.  

This trip, slated for 22 September to 1 October, will cost taxpayers N$900 000. 

The only motivation advanced by the committee to justify the visit is to “study” from Sweden. 

The second trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, is by the parliamentary standing committee on defence and security, which is aimed at learning “from their counterparts”. 

Those expected to form part of this adventure are Swapo’s Leevi Katoma, Vincent Mareka and former Windhoek mayor Agnes Kafula. Popular Democratic Movement  (PDM)leader McHenry Venaani and his lieutenant, party chief whip Elma Dienda, complete the delegation. 

It is chaired by Katoma. 

When contacted last week, Katoma justified the visit, saying it was for benchmarking purposes. 

He emphasised that committees exist for a reason. 

“The work of the committees is the one that gives work to Parliament. That involves benchmarking from other countries in order to perfect our own system,” he said. 

“We plan to benchmark on how they [Vietnamese] deal with defence and [war] veterans because we understand they have a good system,” Katoma said. 

The politician was quick to note that this was the first time the committee was going on a mission abroad. 

In fact, he said, the trip to Vietnam was supposed to have been executed during the last financial year, had it not been for financial constraints. 

“We planned it during the last financial year. But because of some hiccups, we didn’t make it. Hence, we’re planning on going this financial year. In the event that there are no funds, we can move it to the next financial year,” the seasoned politician emphatically stated. 

To the naysayers, particularly around the delegation’s composition, he had this to say: “Those who are complaining, it is well within their rights. However, the selection of the delegation is not done by the chairperson. The delegates are nominated and seconded by the committee itself at a meeting. 

“The rules are clear that the delegation must consist of members of the ruling party and opposition. It does not say which opposition party. There was no [deliberate] selection of PDM members. It was just by chance. Maybe only PDM members were present during the selection meeting, and they nominated themselves.”

Benchmarking

They are expected to jet off to Hanoi next month. 

“The committee will visit Vietnam to learn from their counterparts,” reads part of a motivation advanced to justify the tour. 

Talk, however, in the NA’s corridors is that MPs have made it a chief priority to travel abroad at any given opportunity. 

This urge to travel, parliamentary staff say, is not necessarily aimed at improving the lives of ordinary Namibians and the electorate, but to simply “collect S&T for themselves”. 

Concerns 

According to an insider, there was an incident where a parliamentary committee was pushing for a trip to an Asian economic powerhouse “to benchmark on how to address youth unemployment”. 

“Even when there are alternative countries closer to home with similar demographics and political set-ups, the MPs insisted that they want to go to an Asian country ‘because the S&T rate is higher’,” said the source. 

“What is sad is that our leaders just want to travel as a way of making money. They don’t care about the drought-hit Namibians, or even mere street kids. This money could make a huge difference in Namibians’ lives; the very same people who elected them into office (sic).

“Why do they prefer benchmarking from other countries instead of going down to the people who elected them to hear their issues and fix them? It is good that the media is exposing this so that the people can see for themselves,” another frustrated senior National Council staff member complained. 

National Council

Namibia has bicameral legislature, consisting of two houses, the NA (lower house) and the National Council (upper house). 

At the NC too, complaints about unnecessary travelling by MPs, particularly chairperson Lukas Muha and his right-hand man, secretary Tousy Namiseb. 

New Era recently zeroed into the NC’s travelling expenditure in recent years. 

The NC received a total budget of about N$120 million for the 2022/23 financial year. Of this figure, about N$75 million was spent on salaries and other benefits, while N$26 million was spent on S&T for MPs and officials. 

The trend has continued into the current financial year. So far this year, the NC spent N$3.1 million in travel-related expenditure on inter-parliamentary organisations’ activities.

Back to the 2016/17 financial year [FY], N$13.7 million was spent that year. During the next FY, the figure jumped to N$18.9 million. 

During the 2018/19 FY, the amount spent on S&T dropped to N$16.2 million. 

The amount dropped to N$14.8 million in 2019/20. It would drop sharply during the 2020/21 FY at the height of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, which brought most government and private business functions to a standstill. That year, only N$6 million was spent on travel-related expenditure.

Roles

Among others, the committees exist to conduct investigative or oversight hearings and make recommendations to offices, ministries, agencies and state-owned enterprises for the enhancement of their policies, functions and administrative operations. -  emumbuu@nepc.com.na