Swanu calls for more oversight

Swanu says government institutions such as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the offices of the attorney-general, prosecutor-general and ombudsman should have direct parliamentary oversight through legislative amendments.

This, the opposition party said, is to strengthen accountability and the full independence of these institutions.

Currently these institutions report directly to the prime minister, who according to legislation must then submit reports to the National Assembly.

Swanu says these institutions need to be fully independent and must be seen to be so.

“All institutions must answer to the mandated oversight body, which is the National Assembly,” Swanu MP Usutuaije Maamberua said last week.

The party met with President Hage Geingob on Wednesday and said he agreed, in general, with its suggestions.



Mining contributions

Swanu also proposed that a study be conducted on the contribution the mining industry makes to state coffers.

Maamberua said he already made this suggestion during a budget debate in parliament in 2012, where he asked for an independent study to determine the optimal contribution the mining sector ought to make to state revenue.

“The then ministers of finance [Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila] and mines and energy [Isak Katali] did not take me seriously,” Maamberua said.

In 2014 and 2017, during his budget contributions in parliament, Maamberua lamented the fact that private companies and foreign economies are reaping the biggest rewards from Namibia's mineral wealth.

During the 2015 debates he again emphasised that Namibia, while not technologically backward, still wallows in “neck-deep poverty and joblessness”, despite its vast mineral wealth.

Swanu proposes that such a study focus on transfer pricing, royalty payments, leading and lagging payments, financing structures, parallel inter-company payments, re-invoicing, and countertrade and barter trade.

It said the study should also look at environmental matters, the mineral valuation capacity of the customs office, assessments, beneficiation and value-addition benchmark settings.



Wealth fund

Swanu also proposed a sovereign wealth fund, which it says will give the government access to liquid assets it can draw from in times of need.

The party said this is crucial for resource-dependent countries, which are vulnerable to commodity price shocks.

It said this would mean the government can put aside and invest surplus revenues, which can be used when finite resources run out. It said such a fund can act as a fiscal stabilisation mechanism and boost credit ratings, while lowering borrowing costs.



Rail services

Swanu proposed that Windhoek be linked by rail to Hosea Kutako International Airport, Okahandja and Rehoboth, and that Windhoek's CBD be linked via rail to central Katutura and other suburbs.

This, it said, takes into consideration the envisaged population growth within Windhoek, the increase in commuters to the city, traffic congestion and accidents on the roads.



Genocide memorials

Swanu also discussed with Geingob that its proposed genocide memorial sites at various locations across Namibia had not yet materialised.

It proposed that the genocide statue at the Alte Feste bears sufficient recognition that it was erected in honour of the 1904 to 1908 genocide victims.

Swanu also called on more genocide statutes and monuments to be erected in other parts of the country and that a genocide remembrance day be held.

Catherine Sasman