Stefanus Nashama
National Council Chairperson, Lukas Muha has urged the delegation for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) to make use of self-assessment to promote the advancement of parliamentary democratic governance.
Muha spoke during the courtesy call by the CPA self-assessment delegation to the Parliament of Namibia, yesterday in Windhoek.
The engagement aims to share skills and knowledge to improve Parliamentary-related issues for democratic improvement.
While addressing the delegates, the Chairperson pointed out that self-assessment for the Namibian Parliament is imperative, particularly the National Council he presides over.
“Your working visit is promoting and strengthening the good working relationship established by the Parliament of Namibia and the CPA,” he stated.
Muha asserted that self-assessment engagement can only be useful and fruitful if conducted without bias.
“I believe that this self-assessment can be an excellent performance review tool for both Staff and Members of Parliament if completed without bias and with the goal of improvements,” he stressed.
According to Muha, the Namibian Parliament is not conducting a self-assessment for the first time; it has over the previous years, participated in various CPA engagements.
This, he said includes CPA at regional, African, and international levels and many conferences and seminars in Windhoek.
For this reason, Muha strongly urged the delegates to compare practices to the standards developed by the CPA and adopted by member parliaments.
At the same time, he said targeted self-reflection with the support of a CPA is required since it is not usual for some organisations to make time to review their operations.
He observed this engagement useful to help the Namibian Parliament reflect on its strengths and weaknesses and create objectives to meet its specific targets.
He added that the assessment will also assist the Parliament in creating strategies to improve on its weaknesses while maintaining its strength.
He reminded the delegates about the mandate of the National Council as per the Constitution of Namibia, which is to review legislation, exercise oversight and directly represent the citizens.
The Chairperson also informed the delegates that the National Council is mandated to recommend legislation on matters of regional concern.
“Regional input and considerations play a crucial role in crafting legislation responsive to the diverse needs and circumstances of different parts of the country,” he said.
Muha expects the outcome of CPA to complement the implementation of the Five-Year National Council Strategic Plan of 2023/24 to 2027/28 and the Parliament of Namibia E-Parliament Strategy 2022 to 2027.
He mentioned the outcomes will motivate both Members of Parliament and staff to redouble their efforts to make the Parliament more effective.
