Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs has asked the Ministry of Justice and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to fast-track the implementation and operationalisation of the Whistle-Blowers Protection Act, 2017.
The law aims to protect public members who wish to report corruption and provide evidence.
The committee’s report to the National Assembly last week recommended that the Office of the President and Office of the Prime Minister, in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, and Public Enterprises, should provide the ACC with legal tools to effectively combat corruption.
The committee has also directed the Ministry of Justice to create public education and awareness about its mandate, legal framework, procedures, and processes, as well as that of the Office of the Judiciary and all its constitutional and statutory offices and agencies.
A risk framework and associated risk-based audits for the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Judiciary, as well as all of the ministry’s statutory and constitutional offices, should also be developed.
‘’Public and stakeholder awareness and client education on the NamibLII initiative must be strengthened because it remains relevant and necessary to ensure access to laws and legal information for citizens and members of the public. Free legal advice days across the country in which the public and citizenry can participate, create awareness, and strengthen client education on the mandate, functions, and duties of the Attorney-General and Prosecutor General must also be initiated,’’ said the Committee.
The Ministry of Justice is further urged to ensure systematic collaboration between the Directorate of Legal Drafting in the Ministry, Parliament’s Table Office, and Parliament’s Legal Services Directorates to support Members of Parliament with bill summaries.
This is to help them understand and process bills in Parliament more quickly.
The Committee added that the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises and the Ministry of Justice should ensure an increase in the annual budget allocations to the Office of the Ombudsman, Office of the Attorney-General, Office of the Prosecutor General, Office of the Master of the High Court, Office of the Government Attorney, and Law Reform and Development Commission.
‘’The Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises and the National Assembly should also increase the annual budget allocations of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Electoral Commission of Namibia to carry out their mandate, functions, and duties efficiently and effectively.
The Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Attorney General, and the Law Reform and Development Commission should find ways and means to mitigate the high number of legal claims against the state through a clear plan of action for the avoidance of such claims. The legal claims result in unsustainably high legal costs to the state, impacting adversely on the Ministry of Justice,’’ stressed the Committee.
