Namibia to house SADC parliament

NAMIBIA has offered to house the future parliament of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), once the existing regional forum of parliamentarians becomes a full legislative body, Prime Minister Nahas Angula said yesterday.

Opening the 22nd plenary session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Angula read the speech of President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who is on a visit to Britain this week. Namibia already hosts the headquarters of the Forum on the premises of the National Assembly.”Namibia is proud to be associated with the Forum that represents all the national parliaments of SADC member states.Our Government is committed to continue hosting it and, when it is finally established, the SADC Parliament as well,” Angula read from Pohamba’s speech.The head of state reminded MPs of their oversight functions and duties as lawmakers to represent the people to who voted for them.”The advancement of a democratic culture and freedom comes with a high sense of responsibility not to infringe on the freedom of others.”The fight against corruption was also the duty of parliamentarians, the Prime Minister read from the presidential speech.”For parliamentarians to be good soldiers in the fight against corruption, they themselves should be clean of corruption and should become friends of those who fight it.”The newly elected SADC PF chairman, Patrick Balopi, Speaker of the Botswana parliament, who took office in February, paid tribute to former National Assembly Speaker Dr Mosé Tjitendero, who was a founder of the Forum in 1997 and wanted to see it develop into a regional parliament.”The late Dr Tjitendero was a visionary and very committed to this cause,” Balopi said.”We look to your country (Namibia) to use its influence in ensuring that our objective to establish a regional parliament is realised soon,” he added.The 100 delegates will deliberate on regional integration, economic issues, gender equality and HIV-AIDS until tomorrow, co-chaired by Namibian MP Nora-Schimming of the Congress of Democrats.The future SADC Parliament will co-operate with the Pan-African Parliament, which is hosted by South Africa.For the first time parliamentarians of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are attending the plenary session.The DRC parliament was established recently.Namibia already hosts the headquarters of the Forum on the premises of the National Assembly.”Namibia is proud to be associated with the Forum that represents all the national parliaments of SADC member states.Our Government is committed to continue hosting it and, when it is finally established, the SADC Parliament as well,” Angula read from Pohamba’s speech.The head of state reminded MPs of their oversight functions and duties as lawmakers to represent the people to who voted for them.”The advancement of a democratic culture and freedom comes with a high sense of responsibility not to infringe on the freedom of others.”The fight against corruption was also the duty of parliamentarians, the Prime Minister read from the presidential speech.”For parliamentarians to be good soldiers in the fight against corruption, they themselves should be clean of corruption and should become friends of those who fight it.”The newly elected SADC PF chairman, Patrick Balopi, Speaker of the Botswana parliament, who took office in February, paid tribute to former National Assembly Speaker Dr Mosé Tjitendero, who was a founder of the Forum in 1997 and wanted to see it develop into a regional parliament.”The late Dr Tjitendero was a visionary and very committed to this cause,” Balopi said.”We look to your country (Namibia) to use its influence in ensuring that our objective to establish a regional parliament is realised soon,” he added.The 100 delegates will deliberate on regional integration, economic issues, gender equality and HIV-AIDS until tomorrow, co-chaired by Namibian MP Nora-Schimming of the Congress of Democrats.The future SADC Parliament will co-operate with the Pan-African Parliament, which is hosted by South Africa.For the first time parliamentarians of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are attending the plenary session.The DRC parliament was established recently.