Women still underrepresented in National Council

Women remain significantly underrepresented in the National Council, with only seven of the 42 members being female, despite a slight improvement from the previous term, National Council secretary Tousy Namiseb said this week.

Addressing newly sworn-in members during an orientation session, Namiseb said women currently account for 16% of the House, up from 14% in the previous National Council, but stressed that progress remains slow.

“Women representation is at 16%, seven out of 42 members. It’s a slight improvement from 14% which was six out of 42 but a lot needs to be done. We need to do a lot more.”

Namiseb also noted that the composition of the seventh National Council reflects a major generational shift, with nearly three quarters of members serving for the first time.

“In terms of the demographics I also note that we have about 74% of new members to the National Council. We need to work rigorously to do the inductions but we will not overload you today and tomorrow, but when the new year comes it will be serious business,” he said.

He reminded members that their primary role as legislators is to review all bills passed by the National Assembly, warning that parliament’s performance will ultimately be judged by the quality and outcomes of its laws.

“The Namibian parliament will be judged by the outcome of our laws and for this calendar year we have only passed two, the appropriation bill and the appropriation amendment bill.”

Namiseb emphasised that the National Council’s mandate goes beyond waiting for bills to arrive from the lower House.

“We do not only sit and wait for a bill to come. We engage at various levels,” he added.

Namiseb said members must actively follow public funds and demand accountability from ministries to ensure services reach citizens, especially in remote areas.

“Once funds are allocated to the home affairs ministry, for example, as parliament, you need to go to them to see that they deployed the funds to the best interest of the people or if they are issuing all the relevant documents and if they are reaching the people in the far remote areas and how they can improve the services,” he said.

Namiseb called on the National Council to distinguish itself as a review chamber by deepening rather than duplicating the work of the National Assembly.

“Do not copy what the National Assembly has done. Do not duplicate it… But as a review chamber you should elevate your review functions,” he noted.

On representation, Namiseb reminded members that they were elected directly by voters and must remain accessible to their constituencies.

“The people looked at your face and your name and they have decided I’m going to vote for this candidate. You serve the people directly.”

He expressed concern about low voter turnout in the recent regional elections and urged members to actively combat political apathy.

“The turn out on 26 November for elections was not good. Apathy in political terms is not good,” he said.

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