MPs differ on why Parliament passed no bills before recess

Parliament has adjourned for its mid-year recess without passing any of the seven government bills before the National Assembly.

The failure comes just months after President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah urged lawmakers at the opening of the First Session of the Eighth Parliament to prioritise legislation as one of the key pillars of her administration.

The bills were the Land Bill, 2025, Mental Health Bill, 2025, Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Amendment Bill, Public Enterprises Governance Amendment Bill, Regional Councils Amendment Bill, Public Accountants and Auditors Bill, and the Income Tax Amendment Bill.

The official opposition leader in parliament, Imms Nashinge, said Parliament's responsibility was to improve legislation before approving it.

He argued that MPs were elected to represent Namibians' interests and should not simply endorse every government bill.

"We all agree in principle with land reform, but we have submitted our contributions. The Bill says foreigners owning land must come to an end, but it must also deal with inequality between communal and commercial farming," he said.

Nashinge also criticised the Regional Councils Amendment Bill and the Public Enterprises Governance Amendment Bill, saying they centralise too much power in the executive without adequate accountability.

He further questioned aspects of the Mental Health Bill, saying it should better address the realities facing people living with severe mental illness.

Senior Landless People's Movement MP Utaara Mootu said Parliament's failure to pass legislation reflected broader concerns about how the House is being managed. She criticised restrictions placed on MPs during question time, saying they weakened Parliament's oversight role.

"The way the House is being managed is becoming a concern. As a member, I would ask multiple questions, and during Speaker Peter Katjavivi's time, he would even joke about meeting over coffee when members asked many questions.

"In this instance, we are being asked to ask only one question. Now we are playing Mickey Mouse about which issue I should ask a question," she said.

Mootu added that Parliament risked becoming "a rubber-stamping House" if scrutiny was curtailed.

On the Petroleum Bill, she said: "The only Bill we are against is the Petroleum Bill because of a lot of corruption going on with it. How can I support something like that? Petroleum is our natural resource. It is not something we can play with. Look at what is happening in countries like Nigeria. We do not want the same thing to happen."

Adequate scrutiny

Affirmative Repositioning MP George Kambala defended the slower pace of the Eighth Parliament, arguing that previous legislatures often rushed bills through without adequate scrutiny.

"That is why you find that most of the Bills passed in the past have oversight problems and contradict the Constitution. Our Supreme Court has ruled that some Bills were unconstitutional," he said.

Kambala maintained that Parliament was now examining legislation more thoroughly before allowing it to proceed. He cited the Mental Health Bill as an example, saying opposition MPs had successfully pushed for important changes.

"The Mental Health Bill has a definition because of the opposition. We red-flagged such issues, and they were rectified."

He added: "The slow pace does not mean Members of Parliament are not working. We want to ensure quality control and not just rubber-stamp."

Swapo MP Ephraim Nekongo said Parliament has a constitutional responsibility not only to scrutinise legislation but also to pass laws on behalf of the people. He explained that every government bill undergoes extensive debate before reaching committee stage, where MPs examine it "page by page and clause by clause before it returns for third reading."

Nekongo argued that while scrutiny was necessary, some MPs were deliberately slowing the legislative process.

"Many of us debate and allow the Bills to proceed, but there are members who simply come and say the debate must be postponed to another date. The idea is to frustrate the process and perhaps ensure that the Bill is not passed," he said.

Nekongo added that "Namibians sent us to Parliament to pass Bills, yet no Bill has been passed," while noting that oral and written questions consume about 80% of parliamentary time, leaving "very little time to discuss other matters on the Order Paper."