N$15m for MPs’ three-month travels

Parliament is set to splash nearly N$15 million in three months on conferences, subsistence and travel (S&T) allowance and conference facilities for members of parliament for their recess activities between July and September.

According to documents seen by Namibian Sun, the coastal resort town of Swakopmund is the preferred destination for many such events – for both the scenery and the friendly inflation rate for travel allowance claims.

Many events that could be held in Windhoek – where both houses of parliament are based - to contain costs, are to be held outside town. One such event is training on public speaking and advocacy for women parliamentarians, set to take place in Oshakati between 24 and 28 July – with an allocated budget of N$190 000.

An amount of N$800 000 has been set aside for eight MPs and two staff members to attend the Russia-Africa Summit from 26 to 29 July in St Petersburg, while N$1 million is budgeted for youth unemployment events from 21 to 25 August in Thailand and 11 to 18 September in China.

Another N$500 000 is budgeted for five MPs serving on the constitutional and legal affairs committee and one staff member to attend benchmark meetings on law reform, access to justice and petitions in July and August in Denmark, Finland or Singapore.

Five more parliamentarians serving on this committee and one staff member are set to travel to Ghana or South Africa for a benchmark meeting on law reform, access to justice and petitions between August and September, for which another N$500 000 is budgeted.

Big budgets

Another N$200 000 is budgeted for one MP and a staff member to attend the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting from 3 to 7 August in Tanzania, while N$500 000 has been earmarked for five MPs and a staff member to travel to Vietnam from 4 to 9 September for a benchmark visit on foreign affairs, defence and security.

For the same benchmarking visit, an amount of N$800 000 is set aside for another two groups of five MPs and one staff member each, scheduled to travel to Botswana and Angola between 27 August and 2 September.

Parliament has also set aside N$500 000 for five MPs and one staff member to travel to Congo Brazzaville or Angola to oversee the management of government economic trade and investment projects and facilities, including government’s capital projects there.

For 10 MPs and two staff members’ benchmarking visits, parliament has budgeted a combined N$1 million. The visits will be to countries with good practices in public administration including Ghana, Tunisia, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.

An amount of N$80 000 has been earmarked for six MPs and two staff members' attendance at public hearings and stakeholders consultations on seal culling in Swakopmund from 7 to 11 August.

Five parliamentarians and one staff member are also scheduled to travel to Canada from 25 to 29 September for a benchmark visit on fisheries regarding the seal-culling motion, and N$400 000 is budgeted for this exercise.

Jet-setting

Meanwhile, parliament has set aside N$450 000 for a study visit to the parliament of Canada for some time in September for five MPs and a staff member, while N$350 000 will be shelled out on three MPs and a staff member attending the ninth Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians from 15 to 17 September in Vietnam.

There is seemingly no end to parliamentarians’ jet-setting, with five MPs and one staff member set to head to Oslo, Norway, from 3 to 9 September for a benchmark visit on natural resources. For this trip, N$400 000 has been set aside.

An amount of N$320 000 has further been budgeted for protocol and diplomacy training for all MPs and parliamentary staff in Swakopmund from 27 August to 2 September, while training on how to conduct public hearings is also scheduled to take place in the coastal town and will be sponsored by the Parliamentary Forum.

The date and budget for the latter is yet to be confirmed.

No expense spared

A whopping N$400 000 is to be spent this week – 17 to 21 July – when five parliamentarians and one staff member head to Zambia for a benchmarking on public accounts committee operations in Zambia.

According documents seen by Namibian Sun, an amount of N$445 000 is budgeted for 30 parliamentarians and 10 staff members to attend a validation workshop this week in Swakopmund, while N$150 000 will be spent on an oversight trip - for six MPs and two staff members - to the Skeleton Coast to visit a diamond deposit in the Kunene Region from 7 to 11 August.

Parliament has also budgeted N$200 000 for a public hearing and review of audited reports, set to take place in Otjiwarongo from 13 to 19 August, for 15 parliamentarians and three staff members.

One vehicle has been allocated for this trip and MPs and parliament management will be paid a rate per kilometre.

For their convenience

Parliament yesterday dismissed that many of these trips were deliberately organised to take place out of town in order for lawmakers to rake in millions in travel allowances.

Spokesperson Sackey Kadhikwa told Namibian Sun that they organised activities and events based on accommodation availability and the itinerary of some of the MPs.

“There is nothing sinister or untoward this. We have actually looked at either the venue or the accommodation and not for the S&T. Swakopmund has more accommodation services and we are also finding challenges with venues for conferences in other towns,” he said.

“In the //Karas Region, there is a scarcity of accommodation and places like Lüderitz are very small and don’t have the capacity to hold the magnitude of people.

“Sometimes it is also just for the convenience of parliamentarians who are already in Swakopmund, to avoid them travelling back and forth.”

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