Martin Endjala
President Hage Geingob has called on parliamentarians to uphold the promise to deliver a better life for all Namibians by working together in unison. Geingob made the call at the official opening of the 7th session of the 7th Parliament for the year 2023 today in Windhoek.
At the same time, he highlighted that several bills will be attended to during the course of the year.
He noted that some of the bills listed for tabling during this year are such as the High Court Amendment Bill, Magistrates Court Amendment Bill, Divorce Bill, Child Justice Bill, Ombudsman Bill and Marriage Bill which were carried over from the previous session of Parliament.
He has since encouraged Members of Parliament to re-double their efforts to ensure that there is a regular quorum in Parliament so that they are able to speed up the legislative process,emphasizing that they have promised to deliver unity, liberty and justice to the people of Namibia.
“Our laws play a crucial factor in ensuring that we are able to protect the rights of our citizens, ensuring inclusivity in all aspects of our modern society, as well as promoting shared prosperity for all Namibians,” said the President.
Geingob stressed that the path to prosperity consists of hard work.
“It is a struggle. It comes with successes and setbacks. It requires persistence but it is a path we must walk hand in hand. A journey we must travel in unison. A mission we must carry out shoulder-to-shoulder”, he reiterated. Touching on the civil registration and Identification Bill, the President pointed out that it provides for the registration of births, stillbirths, adoptions, deaths, marriages and divorces in the Civil Register and it further facilitates the development of an efficient system for the compilation and maintenance of a Civil Register for Namibia.
“You are catalysts for societal transformation. You have the power to push through the necessary reforms, as identified in our respective development plans. Our laws play a crucial factor in ensuring that we are able to protect the rights of our citizens, ensuring inclusivity in all aspects of our modern society, as well as promoting shared prosperity for all Namibians,” said the President.
Geingob also welcomed the tabling of the Research, Science, Technology and Innovation Bill, which will provide for the promotion, coordination and development of research, science, technology and innovation in Namibia.
Meanwhile, the speaker of the National Assembly Peter Katjavivi urged MPs to approach this year with a positive spirit and mindset as it is incumbent upon them as representatives to put systems in place to enhance the outreach oversights of the parliament.
Landless a People’s Movement Youth Leader,Duminga Ndala in an interview with the Windhoek Observer said that the tabling of the Research, Science, Technology and Innovation bill is commendable and progressive, as this will speak to the much needed data to uplift the country’s performance in areas were it is performing very poorly.
“We lack researchers in the country particularly that of the Namibia Statistic Agency, where we observed the cancellation of the census on numerous occasion, which in itself is already an issue as the tabling of the budget which needs to talk to the young people and the economy of the country will be impacted as we do not know how many young people or people are living in abject poverty or how much is needed to be budgeted,” she said.
