Govt still not keen on Peer Review

NAMIBIA remains opposed to signing up to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), Foreign Affairs Minister Marco Hausiku said on Friday.

Speaking at a presentation of an APRM independent preliminary assessment of Namibia in Windhoek on Friday, Hausiku said Namibia’s position on Nepad had not changed – that the country was committed to the African Union decision to incorporate Nepad activities and that, if properly implemented, Nepad would have “tremendous” benefits for the continent. He said it was understood that participation in the APRM was a voluntary process.According to Hausiku, Namibia would not join the bandwagon just for financial exchange, but would get into ventures that were for the good of the country.Namibia has not acceded to the APRM – a self-monitoring mechanism that aims to foster ways for national growth and development, and accelerated economic regional integration.The Minister added that Namibia was against the concept of powerful countries dictating the process, wanting to make the APRM mandatory and linking it with bilateral agreements.”Namibia understands the participation in this review as a voluntary process.We are aware, particularly in the initial conceptualisation and presentation stages of the Nepad, of countries that wanted to make the review compulsory and link it to other development programmes and funding.Namibia is not opposed to the mechanism,” said Hausiku.But he said Namibia had been developing on its own before the Nepad initiative and would not just jump to anyone’s whims.The Minister said the right thing was not to make decisions to please others, but to do what is in the best interest of Namibia and its people.”We will buy what we need and not what we want,” said Hausiku.”Namibia will be ready to move on but at the right time and taking the right course”.A non-governmental organisation, the Hanns Seidel Forum, contracted the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (Nepru) to conduct an independent preliminary APRM of Namibia to encourage the Government to agree on an official assessment for the country.Researcher Mariama Deen-Swarray assessed Namibia’s status on the four APRM focus areas of democracy and good political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance and socio-economic development.She also reviewed the country’s adoption of policies, standards and practices identified by Nepad.The research paper revealed that Namibia in fact had adopted most of the criteria required by Nepad, like a stable political environment and favourable economic situation.But it also highlighted challenges, which included failures in the implementation of policies and programmes.Hausiku agreed, saying follow-throughs were necessary and should be conducted.Deen-Swarray said if Namibia acceded to APRM, the country would see a positive impact in getting development partners and investors, which would boost economic growth and assist the Government in strengthening capacity to implement its policies.Hausiku said fellow ministers and parliamentarians had asked him about the country’s position on Nepad and the APRM, and the research paper would come in handy when discussing the matter in the National Assembly.He said it was understood that participation in the APRM was a voluntary process.According to Hausiku, Namibia would not join the bandwagon just for financial exchange, but would get into ventures that were for the good of the country.Namibia has not acceded to the APRM – a self-monitoring mechanism that aims to foster ways for national growth and development, and accelerated economic regional integration.The Minister added that Namibia was against the concept of powerful countries dictating the process, wanting to make the APRM mandatory and linking it with bilateral agreements.”Namibia understands the participation in this review as a voluntary process.We are aware, particularly in the initial conceptualisation and presentation stages of the Nepad, of countries that wanted to make the review compulsory and link it to other development programmes and funding.Namibia is not opposed to the mechanism,” said Hausiku.But he said Namibia had been developing on its own before the Nepad initiative and would not just jump to anyone’s whims.The Minister said the right thing was not to make decisions to please others, but to do what is in the best interest of Namibia and its people.”We will buy what we need and not what we want,” said Hausiku.”Namibia will be ready to move on but at the right time and taking the right course”.A non-governmental organisation, the Hanns Seidel Forum, contracted the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (Nepru) to conduct an independent preliminary APRM of Namibia to encourage the Government to agree on an official assessment for the country.Researcher Mariama Deen-Swarray assessed Namibia’s status on the four APRM focus areas of democracy and good political governance, economic governance and management, corporate governance and socio-economic development.She also reviewed the country’s adoption of policies, standards and practices identified by Nepad. The research paper revealed that Namibia in fact had adopted most of the criteria required by Nepad, like a stable political environment and favourable economic situation.But it also highlighted challenges, which included failures in the implementation of policies and programmes.Hausiku agreed, saying follow-throughs were necessary and should be conducted.Deen-Swarray said if Namibia acceded to APRM, the country would see a positive impact in getting development partners and investors, which would boost economic growth and assist the Government in strengthening capacity to implement its policies.Hausiku said fellow ministers and parliamentarians had asked him about the country’s position on Nepad and the APRM, and the research paper would come in handy when discussing the matter in the National Assembly.