Independent candidate Mbangu slams Venaani’s call to dip into emergency budget for parliament

Independent candidate and National Council member Paulus Mbangu on Tuesday rejected a proposal to boost the council’s coffers with emergency budget funds.

This comes after the National Assembly refused to approve parliament funds last week, citing they were insufficient.

An agreement was, however, later reached, which led to the approval of both august House budgets for the 2025/26 financial year.

Popular Democratic Movement president McHenry Venaani suggested the Office of the Prime Minister dip into the drought-relief budget to add to the budgets of both houses of parliament.

“On Friday, we heard a statement from honourable Venaani suggesting we cut N$20 million from this emergency budget within the Office of the Prime Minister to be channelled to parliament for the construction of offices and to enhance parliamentary standing committee oversight functions,” Mbangu said.

He said the committees’ functionality and inadequate office space are of valid concern, but this cannot be addressed at the expense of the poor.

Mbangu said the government should cut from other projects to address this and should not touch the emergency fund.

He said the emergency budget ensures the necessary resources are available for immediate response to disasters.

Without this budget, communities will be left vulnerable in the face of adversity, Mbangu said.

Currently, none of the 14 regional councils have a dedicated budget for disaster risk management.

“We cannot allow our citizens to suffer the consequences of inadequate preparedness,” he said.

Mbangu believes all 14 regional councils should be allocated a disaster risk management budget.

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