George Sanzila
National Assembly Speaker Peter Katjavivi has appealed to his counterpart in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, for the two parliaments to create a parliamentary friendship group in order to strengthen bilateral relations and enhance the capacities of the two institutions.
Katjavivi made the call in the company of Namibia’s High Commissioner to the UK, Linda Scott, where he is currently visiting the UK parliament to hold bilateral meetings aimed at boosting the already existing relationship between the two legislative bodies and engaging on capacity- building initiatives.
The Speaker noted that both parliaments, as members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), are presented with an opportunity to explore new areas of cooperation that would be mutually beneficial.
“Our parliaments are members of the CPA. The membership provides us with networks that enable us to benchmark with sister parliaments in order to strengthen our capacities”, noted Katjavivi.
He said the advent of Covid-19 has forced many parliaments to look at innovative ways of conducting business. “After our 7th parliament was sworn in on the 20th of March 2020, we were immediately hit by Covid-19 that affected most countries, including parliaments. We lost many lives, including members of parliament. As a response measure, we have established an emergency care centre at parliament that is designed to provide first ai, and support members and staff. We want to improve this set-up by providing it with appropriate equipment,” stated Katjavivi. The UK Parliament is among the parliaments with fully-fledged medical support services.
He further admitted that a review of the current systems was necessary in order to keep abreast of new developments. He was specifically interested in how the UK Parliament handled petitions from citizens, which is a crucial component of public participation in law-making. “After 30 years, we felt the time has come to review our rules in order to strengthen them where appropriate, as well as keeping time with developments within our political dispensation. We are particularly interested in learning from the House of Commons about the way you are handling petitions from citizens across the country. We are keen to learn and improve our systems in these areas,” appealed the Speaker. On his part, Hoyle affirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two parliaments. He was in agreement that a friendship group would be mutually beneficial, adding that the relationship could extend beyond parliamentary business. “Friendship is very important, and would benefit parliament. Namibia is a country rich in resources, and parliaments can work towards enhancing eco-tourism and economic trade. We have a responsibility to work together in a more caring way,” observed the UK Speaker.
He further pledged his support towards strengthening parliamentary committees, noting the UK Parliament was willing to cooperate in this area through the proposed friendship group. As a strategy to improve engagements with citizens, the UK Parliament has adopted the E-petition system that is designed to reach many people efficiently. Speaker Katjavivi will also meet the leadership of the CPAUK Office and the Globe Legislators Organisation.