EDITORIAL: A parliament that has forgotten to legislate

Sixteen months into its term, the 8th parliament has yet to perform the one function for which it principally exists – making laws.

As lawmakers crawl into another parliamentary recess, their legislative scorecard remains blank. Not a single bill has crossed the finish line. That should concern every Namibian.

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah publicly expressed her disappointment with parliament's slow pace as far back as November last year while campaigning in the south. It was a fair criticism then, and it remains a fair criticism today. 

Members of parliament, particularly those in the opposition, insist gone are the days when Swapo used its overwhelming majority to merely pass – without solid scrutiny – poorly constructed, wishy-washy laws. They argue that every bill deserves careful scrutiny and that parliament should never become a rubber stamp for the executive.

They are right. The country is better served by well-crafted legislation than by hastily enacted laws that create unintended consequences. Parliament's constitutional duty is not simply to approve bills but to interrogate, improve and, where necessary, reject them.

But there is an important distinction between scrutiny and stagnation. If parliament cannot conclude deliberations on a single bill in 16 months, then the problem is no longer diligence. It is dysfunction.

Namibia faces pressing legislative priorities that cannot remain trapped in committee rooms indefinitely. The Petroleum Bill is crucial as the country prepares for commercial oil and gas production. The Land Bill has the potential to reshape one of Namibia's most sensitive policy areas. The Mental Health Bill remains outstanding while cases of suicide and mental illness continue to place enormous strain on families and communities.

The irony is that while this dysfunction continues unabated, members of parliament have received their salaries, their parties have continued receiving public funding and travel allowances have been paid.