With the National Assembly (NA) resuming business yesterday, political parties have given a glimpse of what Namibians can expect in what appears to be another interesting parliamentary session.  

This paper reached out to political parties to give insight into what is to be expected during the remainder of the eighth session of the seventh parliament.

Official opposition leader in the NA McHenry Venaani said his Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) democrats will drive a robust session in the august house through various strategic motions and a private members’ bill (PMB).

A PMB is a proposed law that is moved or introduced to the Parliament by backbench MPs or committees. The PDM will introduce a PMB to amend the Marine Resources Act “that allowed Fishrot to take root”.

This, Venaani said, “will be a top priority for my office”.

The party will also introduce a PMB to compel authorities to distribute “sanitary pads in all secondary schools in our country to avoid girls being left behind due to menstrual challenges”.

They will also introduce a “PMB to protect the rights and promote social welfare and economic prosperity for marginalised communities: San, Bakagaladi, Ovatue and Ovatjimba”.

The party will also table a “PMB to compel municipalities and government to construct social housing units for rent to reduce housing rental,” Venaani said.

This will be preceded by PDM’s housing conference, which will lay the bedrock for the bill.

On the front of the motion, the country’s second-largest political party will detonate a motion on supporting single mothers, the high crime rate and another seeking to address the red line issue.

PDM will also move motions on desalination plants, stock theft and mental health.

Having been vocal about agriculture modernisation over the years, the PDM will also push for tractors to be distributed in rural communities for farming purposes.

In green, white and blue was United Democratic Movement (UDF) president Dudu Murorua, whose chief priority is to understand why the Gibeon village council was allocated only N$3 000 from the central government for the 2023/24 financial year.

However, Urban and Rural Development Minister Erastus Uutoni said the allocation to Gibeon is not influenced by the politics of the day.

“We do not allocate money based on who is ruling. We have a lot of factors that drive the allocation of funds. Firstly, we look at the structures and needs of each local authority. We then allocate based on those needs and the performance of the council. We do not allocate money to the councillors who are politically affiliated, but to the communities in the country,” he told New Era last month.

Murorua is unimpressed.

“We would like to understand the allocation of N$3 000 to the Gibeon village council. What should a local authority do with N$3 000? Is it a donation from the minister’s own pocket or was it a collective decision by the ministry?” Murorua wanted to know.

The veteran politician then moved to say they are rallying behind Swapo’s Jerry Ekandjo’s bills that seek to criminalise same-sex marriages in Namibia.

He said it does not make sense for the Supreme Court to recognise same-sex marriages solemnised outside Namibia if sodomy is a crime in the country.

“Otherwise, sodomy should not be a crime,” he said.

“If the Supreme Court recognises same-sex marriages done outside Namibia, will our courts be handling same-sex divorces or will they tell those people to go and divorce in the country where they got married? If the answer is no, then why recognise something you cannot handle?” Murorua said.

He then added that a law guiding Namibians’ beneficiation from the country’s natural resources should be formulated.

“We should come up with legislation on how our people will benefit from the natural resources. Otherwise, it is pointless that we’re sitting on all these resources but we can’t get maximum returns from them,” he said.

Orange army 

Furthermore, the LPM has placed exposing corruption and corrupt leaders at the centre of their plans going into this parliamentary session, the party’s NA spokesperson Utaara Mootu said. 

“We will be exposing more corruption and more corrupt leaders… we will be robust,” Mootu said before moving on to challenges confronting Namibians living with disabilities. 

“We are going to focus on pro-poor issues… We are going to challenge the disability council that gives N$1 000 to its affiliates – it is miniscule,” the lawmaker said. 

She also lamented the purported unfair recruitment that the disabled community is subjected to, especially when it comes to the security sector. 

“There is a lot of discrimination when it comes to recruitment in the security sector. At least every company, especially government companies, must have a certain quota reversed for the disabled community,” she said.  

With the Land Bill still due for tabling in Parliament, LPM has already sharpened its knives to give input and expose alleged corruption in the resettlement programme. 

Efforts to get input from several other political parties ahead of going to print proved futile. 

Recess

The NA went for recess on 13 July.

During the recess, various parliamentary standing committees were hard at work and undertook various oversight activities.

They include public hearings and stakeholder consultation on the motion on lithium mining in Uis, oversight visits to industrial parks and on projects of marginalised communities, as well as the Electoral Commission of Namibia’s regional offices.

According to a statement released on Monday, the NA’s standing committees also held public hearings on the motion on youth unemployment and human-wildlife conflict. Another interesting oversight visit was to Skeleton Coast on diamond deposits.

Public hearings and stakeholder consultation on the motion on seals and gender-based violence were also recorded among the successes during the two-month break.

During recess, oversight visits on “motions on mental health and inspection on health facilities, management of railways and infrastructure, oversight visit of police accommodation, defence barracks and air force, prisons, public hearing and review of audited reports, public hearings and stakeholder consultation on the motion on water and electricity [and] oversight to government assets,” were also held. 

- emumbuu@nepc.com.na

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