SWAPO MPs on induction workshop

By Asser Ntinda

'Party can recall any MP' - Pohamba
SWAPO Party members of the National Assembly who will be sworn in shortly after March 21st this year began a two-day induction workshop to familiarize themselves with Parliamentary affairs, but with a stern warning from President Hifikepunye Pohamba that SWAPO Party can recall any MP who misbehaved and acted contrary to SWAPO Party policy guidelines.

Opening the workshop on Thursday, President Pohamba warned the MPs to always remember that the 2009 SWAPO Party Election Manifesto was a contract between the Namibian people and the SWAPO Party, and should therefore ensure that the legislative programmes reflected aspects of the Manifesto.

“There are some MPs who, once elected into the National Assembly, talk and say things as if they are not members of SWAPO Party,” said President Pohamba. “They talk as if they were not brought there by the Party. When you are in Parliament, you are there on the SWAPO Party ticket. SWAPO Party has the right to recall you.”

During the workshop, MPs would discuss issues such as the role of the Speaker, the introductions of bills and motions, major principles of the constitution, domestic and foreign policy, the MPs relations with SWAPO Party and its government, social consciousness about gender and other related societal issues, the implementation of the 2009 SWAPO Party Election Manifesto and the expectations of the Party wings.

“Wings such as SWAPO Party Youth League, SPYL, Women’s Council, Elders’ Council, have expectations. Workers, too, have their expectations. If you fail them, they will wait until the next Congress, until the next Electoral Convention. When they react the way they do, do not shed crocodile tears,” said the President.

The President urged them to learn and acquaint themselves with different aspects of parliamentary democracy and the law-making process, if they wanted to become effective lawmakers. As lawmakers representing all Namibians in the National Assembly, the President said, they should lead by example.

“You are expected to be the standard-bearers in terms of self-respect, integrity, dignity, discipline and respect for others,” he said. “That should be your exemplary character wherever you are, within the Chamber, in the communities within the country as well as outside our Land of the Brave.

“This is the only way that lawmakers can maintain the credibility, dignity and trust of our lawmaking institution among the general public. I would like to urge all of you to follow these proceedings attentively and to internalize all the information that will be given to you during this induction workshop.

“Above all, you are expected to carry out your mandate of ensuring that the legislative frameworks are in place to facilitate the implementation of the SWAPO Party Election Manifesto and the wider national development agenda, which the SWAPO Party has put in place for our country.”

The President also urged MPs to ensure that outdated laws were repealed and scrapped from the country’s statutes, adding that Namibians in general and SWAPO Party in particular expected only the best from them, and a high quality of debate in the chamber at all times.

“Your time in Parliament must be spent on issues that concern and advance the well-being of our people and the country, not on non-issues that can only sidetrack the real debates on important matters of national concern,” said the President.

“I trust that the Namibian people will see a dynamic and robust legislative agenda, spearheaded by our elected representatives in their patriotic quest to give effect to the aspirations of our people.”

As lawmakers, Namibians expected them to introduce and pass laws that would facilitate and make it possible for the people to build better communities, to promote positive social values and to strengthen social fabric by emphasizing unity, peace, cultural diversity and national reconciliation.

The National Assembly should therefore be used as an arena for finding durable solutions to the challenges of under-development, poverty and other difficulties Namibians faced.

SWAPO Party Secretary General, Cde Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana, urged the MPs to interrogate the future of Namibia in the context of the next five years. Apart from reinforcing the existing skills of the MPs re-elected to the National Assembly, she said the workshop should offer an opportunity to the MPs to interact with their experienced counterparts on various issues that formed part of the agenda.

She also urged MPs to be researchers and foot soldiers of the people, adding that it was of great concern that some bills took longer to be passed, and in some cases, some MPs hardly contributed to debates in the chambers. The workshop was organized to minimize such occurrences.

“The next five years will be challenging and that this workshop will serve as an important doze of medicine for the hard work that lay ahead of us,” she said. “Let us hold our hands together and serve our people. We cannot let ‘the center to fall apart’ as we continue to implement ‘pro-poor, pro-growth policies.”

The workshop, which ended on Friday, was sponsored by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.