Andreas Thomas
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on Tuesday announced that there will be only one Cabinet session held every Tuesday at State House.
Speaking at the opening of the first Cabinet session following the announcement of the trimmed-down Cabinet on Saturday, Nandi-Ndaitwah stated that the single Cabinet meeting would ensure timely decision-making and that members would speak with one voice.
“Our Cabinet [meeting] is every week. To ensure that we take decisions timely, we will only have that one Cabinet [meeting], chaired by the President. And then decisions will be taken and implemented,” she said in her opening statement.
The decision to hold one Cabinet meeting marks a departure from the norm, where Cabinet typically held two sessions.
The deliberative Cabinet meetings are usually chaired by the Prime Minister.
Decisions made there are implemented in the decision-making Cabinet meeting chaired by the President.
The President emphasised that sustainable socio-economic development in Namibia can only be achieved through an accountable and efficient administration.
Therefore, she urged ministers to promote a predictable, rules-based system that instils confidence in offices, ministries and agencies (OMAs).
“As heads of offices and ministries, you must have overall responsibility over the staff members in your ministries and offices,” she said.
To ensure administrative efficiency, Nandi-Ndaitwah has directed Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare to ensure that legal bottlenecks impeding seamless public administration are removed by May 2025.
in addition, she directed him, with the assistance of justice and labour relations minister Fillemon Wise Imannuel and Attorney General Festus Mbandeka, to ensure that any laws that may impede ministers from performing their duties are amended.
“Let us all make sure that all public servants in our offices, ministries and agencies maintain, at all times, high ethical standards.
“OMAs must provide the best possible services timeously without favouritism. We must be determined to effectively and efficiently fight and root out corruption in all its manifestations from our society,” the President said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah on Saturday reduced the number of ministers that form Cabinet from 21 to 14.
In addition, she trimmed the number of deputy ministers from 21 to seven. -Nampa