The 'Silly' Question
THE silly season seemed to set in during the final pre-election sessions of both houses of parliament.
A number of pieces of legislation which needed tempered
consideration were passed without crucial issues being adequately
debated.
Most notable in this respect was the new Criminal Procedure
Bill.
Added to this, discussion on the Presidential pay package often
degenerated into farce.
Accusations by Swapo MP Johny Hakaye this week that opposition
MPs were asking "silly questions such as how much the President
earns per month" - he claimed that they knew very well what the
President's salary was - couldn't have been further off the
mark.
Even more off the mark was a comment earlier this month by
Justice Minister Albert Kawana who, in referring to the package,
said: "Our sitting President spent nearly 30 years in exile
fighting for this very fundamental right."
We are sure that that was the last thing on President Sam
Nujoma's mind when he and other Namibians were waging the
liberation struggle.
President Nujoma should be given an adequate retirement package
- no one disputes that.
But, as we have said before, it should be a package in keeping
with what the country can afford.
However, the fact that the legislation facilitating the package
was passed without any indication of the final cost to the
taxpayers remains of deep concern.
Instead of leaving the nation confident that its elected
representatives were acting in the best interests of the President
and Namibians, Minister Kawana and ruling party MPs succeeded only
in creating more question marks around the package.
Instead of the process being conducted with transparency and
accountability, we are left wondering why so much secrecy surrounds
the cost of the package, and why the Minister and ruling party MPs
were so reluctant to divulge the details to the nation.
Was it a case of some merely wanting to curry favour with
President Nujoma, whose influence is likely to felt for a
considerable tie to come? Was it because the estimated final cost
of the exit package would be too embarrassing? We don't know.
Asking for details on the presidential pay package is far from
silly, as Hakaye said.
Asking for details is also not "scandalous", as Minister Kawana
said.
It is necessary.
We live in a democracy.
What is scandalous was the reluctance to play open cards on the
issue.
At the end of the day parliament should be answerable to the
people.
In this case it has not been.
The people deserve better.
The NBC Must Get Its Ducks In A Row THE Namibian Broadcasting
Corporation came under fire this week from the South West African
National Union (Swanu) because of what it perceives as the unfair
allocation of airtime to parties taking part in the upcoming
elections.
In the process of Swanu launching a legal challenge, it emerged
that the national broadcaster had misled the public when it said it
was guided by the Communications Act in the way it treated various
parties.
In countering the challenge, the NBC lawyers said that in fact
the broadcaster had used its own discretion.
This newspaper reported on the issue and, as is common
journalistic practice, approached the NBC for comment.
They declined.
They subsequently used their 8 o' clock news to accuse The
Namibian of being unethical for not printing comment from them! To
say the least, this displays a casual acquaintance with the
truth.
An apology is in order.
Most notable in this respect was the new Criminal Procedure
Bill.Added to this, discussion on the Presidential pay package
often degenerated into farce.Accusations by Swapo MP Johny Hakaye
this week that opposition MPs were asking "silly questions such as
how much the President earns per month" - he claimed that they knew
very well what the President's salary was - couldn't have been
further off the mark.Even more off the mark was a comment earlier
this month by Justice Minister Albert Kawana who, in referring to
the package, said: "Our sitting President spent nearly 30 years in
exile fighting for this very fundamental right." We are sure that
that was the last thing on President Sam Nujoma's mind when he and
other Namibians were waging the liberation struggle.President
Nujoma should be given an adequate retirement package - no one
disputes that.But, as we have said before, it should be a package
in keeping with what the country can afford.However, the fact that
the legislation facilitating the package was passed without any
indication of the final cost to the taxpayers remains of deep
concern.Instead of leaving the nation confident that its elected
representatives were acting in the best interests of the President
and Namibians, Minister Kawana and ruling party MPs succeeded only
in creating more question marks around the package.Instead of the
process being conducted with transparency and accountability, we
are left wondering why so much secrecy surrounds the cost of the
package, and why the Minister and ruling party MPs were so
reluctant to divulge the details to the nation.Was it a case of
some merely wanting to curry favour with President Nujoma, whose
influence is likely to felt for a considerable tie to come? Was it
because the estimated final cost of the exit package would be too
embarrassing? We don't know.Asking for details on the presidential
pay package is far from silly, as Hakaye said.Asking for details is
also not "scandalous", as Minister Kawana said.It is necessary.We
live in a democracy.What is scandalous was the reluctance to play
open cards on the issue.At the end of the day parliament should be
answerable to the people.In this case it has not been.The people
deserve better. The NBC Must Get Its Ducks In A Row THE Namibian
Broadcasting Corporation came under fire this week from the South
West African National Union (Swanu) because of what it perceives as
the unfair allocation of airtime to parties taking part in the
upcoming elections.In the process of Swanu launching a legal
challenge, it emerged that the national broadcaster had misled the
public when it said it was guided by the Communications Act in the
way it treated various parties.In countering the challenge, the NBC
lawyers said that in fact the broadcaster had used its own
discretion.This newspaper reported on the issue and, as is common
journalistic practice, approached the NBC for comment.They
declined.They subsequently used their 8 o' clock news to accuse The
Namibian of being unethical for not printing comment from them! To
say the least, this displays a casual acquaintance with the
truth.An apology is in order.