Namibia

Parliament of Namibia

Key Facts

Head of State: President Dr Hage Gottfried Geingob

Joined the Commonwealth: 1990

Capital City (location of Parliament): Windhoek

Unicameral/Bicameral: Bicameral - National Assembly (104) and National Council (42)

Further Information:

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CPA UK & Namibia

Members and staff from the Parliament of Namibia have regularly participated in CPA UK’s multilateral conferences and workshops, including its annual Westminster Seminar. However, CPA UK and Namibia relations made great strides after the visit of the Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia, Hon. Professor Peter Katjavivi MP, to Westminster in May 2016 at which time he expressed the need for capacity building support in the National Assembly of Namibia, both for the Members and for the parliamentary administration. Later in November 2016, the Parliament of Namibia hosted the African Regional Workshop on Cybersecurity in Windhoek, the delivery of which has been coordinated by CPA UK, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Organisation of American States.

Later, CPA UK sent a delegation of five in February 2017 to Windhoek to deliver a training programme on strengthening parliamentary practice and procedure. This programme also served as a scoping visit to assess the needs and requirements of the Parliament of Namibia for future collaboration. Based on the feedback received from this visit, CPA UK established a three-year Parliamentary Partnership Programme in 2017. The PPP lays out a three-year engagement strategy with the National Assembly of Namibia to strengthen the technical skills of Members to undertake their parliamentary responsibilities efficiently and effectively, particularly legislative and financial scrutiny.

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Our Recent Programmes

Bilateral Visit & Parliamentary Strengthening Programme, Windhoek, 11 – 16 April 2019

From 11-16 April 2019, a CPA UK delegation led by Lord Purvis visited Windhoek, Namibia to participate in a series of diplomatic meetings with key ministers, as well as lead a capacity-building workshop for Members and clerks of the Parliament of Namibia.

The workshop broadly focused on management of committees and parliamentary business, and was aimed at strengthening the skills and knowledge of Members and clerks to undertake their parliamentary duties in an effective, accountable and inclusive manner.

The programme forms part of CPA UK’s three-year Parliamentary Partnership Programme (PPP) with the Parliament of Namibia, designed in collaboration with the National Assembly.

Read more about the visit here

Legislative Scrutiny Programme, Westminster, 29 – 31 October 2018

Five members and two staff of the Parliament of Namibia visited Westminster between 29 and 31 Oct to discuss, learn and share the principles of legislative scrutiny. The visiting delegates represented the National Assembly Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and the National Council on Security, Constitutional and Legal Affairs.

The delegates met with UK MPs, clerks and officials from the Scrutiny Unit. As an outcome of the programme delegates strengthened their technical skills to undertake their parliamentary responsibilities efficiently and effectively, particularly legislative scrutiny.

Africa-UK Public Accounts Committee Workshop 2018, Nairobi, 29 August - 1 September 2018

CPA UK organised an Africa- UK Public Accounts Committee workshop in Nairobi between 29 August and 1 September. The workshop aimed to enable Public Accounts Committees to fulfil their remit to scrutinise the value for money of public spending, to hold their governments to account for the delivery of public services, and to strengthen regional collaboration and seek opportunities for coordination. The workshop also provided an opportunity to participants to develop their technical skills and improve capacity through interactive exercises and knowledge and experience sharing. Around 45 delegates participated from 11 African countries.

Benchmarking Visit to Westminster – Westminster, 19-22 March 2018

From 19-22 March 2018, CPA UK organised a benchmarking programme for staff of the National Assembly of Namibia to assist them in improving the services they provide to Members. The programme built on CPA UK’s prior work with the National Assembly of Namibia in line with its three year parliamentary partnership proposal.

The delegation, consisting of the Director, Deputy Director, and Chief Administration Officer met with a number of parliamentary counterparts at the UK Parliament covering the following areas:

Printing and Distribution of
Parliamentary Papers
Parliamentary Research
Communications
Outreach
Hansard
Parliamentary Digital Services

Westminster Workshop on Public Accounts Committees – Westminster, 4-6 December 2017

CPA UK's series of capacity building Westminster Workshops have explored the role of parliamentarians and parliamentary Public Accounts Committees (PACs) in financial oversight, providing practical training and knowledge to Commonwealth PACs. The 2017 Westminster Workshop aimed to further the role of parliamentarians in the promotion of tax transparency and the prevention of tax avoidance.

Westminster Seminar on Parliamentary Practice and Procedure – Westminster, 13-17 November 2017

The annual Westminster Seminar is CPA UK’s flagship capacity-building programme for first-term parliamentarians and newly appointed procedural/committee Clerks from across the Commonwealth. Every year the programme provides a unique platform for participants to network and engage with counterparts; exploring different approaches to parliamentary democracy, practice and procedure in the context of the Westminster System and comparative Commonwealth parliamentary structures.

Programme on Legislative Scrutiny, Parliament of Namibia, Windhoek, 8-12 November 2017

The programme on legislative scrutiny, as part of CPA UK’s Parliamentary Partnership Programme (PPP) with the National Assembly, was delivered in Windhoek between 8 and 10 November 2017. The three day training programme, involving both parliamentary staff and the Members of National Assembly, provided an opportunity for both delegates and participants to share their best parliamentary practices, discuss critical challenges they face to undertake their work effectively, and explore efficient ways to improve legislative scrutiny.

Programme on Parliamentary Scrutiny, Parliament of Namibia, Windhoek, 13 - 17 February 2017

Following a request from the Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia, Hon. Professor Peter Katjavivi MP, CPA UK organised an outward delegation to build on the work conducted by the EU delegation to Namibia and the German political foundation Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). CPA UK worked in partnership with the Parliament of Namibia to provide support for effective parliamentary management and scrutiny of government policy, practices and budgets at the national level, as well as strengthening the skills of the parliamentary secretariat. This initial programme took place at the Parliament of Namibia and focussed on strengthening parliamentary scrutiny.

International Parliamentary Conference on National Security and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Cybersecurity & Cybercrime Project - Westminster and beyond, 2016-2017

As part of CPA UK's annual themed projects, the 2016-17 project was designed to increase parliamentarians’ knowledge of and build capacity on national security and cybersecurity through engaging interactive discussion sessions and networking opportunities with key stakeholders. The programme focused on a range of themes covering legislation, committee scrutiny, budgets, and engagement with civil society, international institutions and the private sector.