WINDHOEK - President Hage Geingob says Namibia remains confident that through proper implementation of Namibia’s
Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the continent will improve its governance architecture.
Geingob made the remarks yesterday at State House when he launched Namibia’s APRM National Governing Council whose members were also revealed.
“We are now opening the doors for the APRM continental secretariat to start its work in the four thematic areas. I therefore congratulate the members of the National Governing Council on their new assignment as champions for transparency and good governance in Namibia.”
The APRM Statute requires participating member states to establish appropriate national structures such as the focal point, National Secretariat and National Governing Council.
Ambassador Lineekela Mboti was appointed as the National Focal Point and the chief executive officer of the National APRM secretariat, and for spearheading the establishment of the APRM national structures in Namibia.
Besides Mboti, the other appointed members of the National Governing Council are Wilfred Emvula, Dr Victor Tonchi, John Nakuta, Sam Shivute, Dr Christina Swart-Opperman, Matthew Gowaseb, Dr Fenni Shidika, Katrina Liswani, Salome Kambala, Betty Kauna-Schröder and Namwira Mpasi Katewa.
The national secretariat will be providing administrative and support services, necessary for the successful running of the national APRM programmes.
The event also saw the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Assessment Missions and the Country Review Visits between the Committee of Heads of State and Government Participating in the Africa Peer Review Mechanism and Namibia.
By signing the Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Assessment Missions, Geingob said Namibia is committing to the full implementation of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism.
He indicated Namibia is committed to provide critical information to the continental secretariat, relevant to speeding up the process of finalising the Country Review Report for Namibia.
Namibia acceded to the Africa Peer Review Mechanism as the 36th member state in January 2017 at Addis Ababa-Ethiopia, during the Africa Peer Review Forum of Heads of State and Government.
Since inception, the Africa Peer Review Mechanism undertook sensitisation missions to Namibia in 2018-2019, on the importance of undertaking a successful and inclusive base review.
These national consultations were held with all relevant stakeholders, especially civil society.
Geingob said the APRM plays a critical role in ensuring that Africa realises its aspirations and developmental goals as enshrined in Agenda 2063, particularly its first 10 years implementation plan. Further, he maintained the APRM is also critical in the implementation of the development agenda in Africa, given its new extended mandate of monitoring the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2063 in all AU member states.
To date, 38 member states are participating in the mechanism which provides a valuable opportunity to introspectively interrogate systems, processes and institutions in member states.
“Namibia voluntarily acceded to the mechanism with a view to sharing with the continent its best governance practices that will contribute to the growth and development of Africa in achieving the Africa we all want and at the same time, learning from the best practices from other African countries,” Geingob said.