Lawmakers described their plight during debate on the Public Office Bearers' Commission Bill.

While MPs on both sides of the House gave the thumbs up to the establishment of an independent commission to determine their salaries, they said they wanted to make sure that their employment conditions were not overlooked.

UDF Chief Justus Garoeb, who has been notably quiet for months, suddenly awoke from this dormancy yesterday, kickstarting the debate on pensions for MPs.

He alleged that when he resigned from the House in 1996, and returned again a year and half later, his pension had fallen away.

According to Garoeb, he had to start from scratch in accumulating a pension when he once again became an MP.

"We are captives of the legislation of our own making.

The writing on the wall reads: if you want your pension or part thereof you resign," he said.

Last week DTA leader Katuutire Kaure and Minister without Portfolio Ngarikutuke Tjiriange both resigned from the National Assembly - allegedly to access their pension payouts.

Garoeb said the determination of their own salaries was "legally correct, but morally wrong".

The commission will decide on salaries for members of the National Assembly, National Council and Regional Councils.

Garoeb also took issue with the State's medical aid scheme describing it as "a social ill".

He said it was possible that the scheme could yield better benefits if it was revised.

Swapo backbencher Elia Kaiyamo supported Garoeb on this point.

He said the State's medical aid system had to be revamped to enable lawmakers to seek medical attention at private hospitals with full medical cover.

"If you get sick you can't even go to that pink hospital [Medi-Clinic] because there's no money," he said.

"The political office bearer is suffering in terms of salary and allowances."

Amidst much laughter, Kaiyamo said he was forced not to eat when he was travelling - especially abroad — because allowances were so meagre.

He said the N$319 per diem an MP received for local travelling expenses did not even cover the costs of a hotel room.

"I am sure you all know how much a steak costs including Oros, not even Coca-Cola," he said in earnest.

Higher Education Minister Nahas Angula told speakers that they were losing sight of the bill, which was aimed at "good governance".

"We are missing the point, we are talking about our own conditions of service," Angula told his colleagues.

"We are on the right track in deciding on a fair basis what is due to political office bearers.

That should be the message to the public."

However, Angula told the House that he hoped the commission would consider that arriving at the office before seven, attending Cabinet in the morning and then parliament in the afternoon, was all in a day's work for MPs, who were never assured of their position from one day to the next.

"By the time you go back home, you have worked more than eight hours.

There is no job security but we do lots of things.

I hope the commission will come up with a solution to our dilemma."

The MAG's Kosie Pretorius noted that there was no pay difference between a young parliamentarian in his twenties and an older one like himself who had served as a lawmaker for more than half his life.

"No wonder I cannot sell a political career to any young man or woman from a financial point of view," said Pretorius.

"Even South Africa is differentiating between the salaries of a newcomer to parliament and that of an old hand."

He said he hoped an independent commission might help avoid such situations.

Pretorius also noted that as many as 1 000 public servants received the same salary or more than an ordinary member of parliament, let alone the huge salaries of senior employees in local authorities and parastatals.

Pretorius further felt that the President should be included among public office bearers over whose salary the commission should decide.

The DTA's Phillemon Moongo said Namibia did not want to experience the kind of "political embarrassment" that had happened elsewhere in Africa, where, he alleged, up to five years ago, MPs could not afford proper suits.

"We don't want such a situation where you [are so] poor, you cannot distinguish an ordinary Namibian worker from an African MP," said Moongo.

He said it was important that the commission showed the MPs "dignity" when their salaries were reviewed.

Moongo further pleaded for a pension hike for lawmakers, saying they were also "affected by inflation".

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