A visiting Namibian parliamentary delegation from the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Defence and Security is in the country to engage their Zimbabwean counterparts on various issues that include parliamentary standing rules and welfare of war veterans.
The delegation will meet with the Portfolio Committees on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services and that of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
The delegation, led by Lucia Witbooi, yesterday paid a courtesy call on Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda where they briefed him on the purpose of their visit.
“Currently, we are in the process of reviewing our rules and procedures of the Parliament, we are not done, we are still to review the committee rules and we are finalising it to accommodate the views from the virtual part,” she said.
Ms Witbooi said Zimbabwe and Namibia shared historical cordial relations, adding that they would also discuss issues of mutual security and engage with veterans of the liberation struggle during their visit.
“In short, we came to engage with them (war veterans), to hear from them, their mandate, the legislature, the policies, the framework and the legal processes that guide them, the operations and management thereof, and whatever good thing we can learn from them and take it back and work on it and bring it on our side,” she said, adding that they would also want to learn from the challenges they could be facing.
In his remarks, Advocate Mudenda acknowledged the good relations between the two countries and also noted the importance of Namibia as the headquarters of the Sadc Parliamentary Forum.
Turning to war veterans, he said their welfare was provided for in the country’s Constitution.
“It is a constitutional matter that we have in Zimbabwe to recognise the rights of veterans of the liberation struggle and the reason is very obvious,” said Adv Mudenda.
“They were the foot soldiers of our liberation and independence.
“Many perished in the process, and others were able to come back home alive to celebrate that which they fought for, the independence of their country, so was the case with yourselves and within the country there were others who did not go to war and they fought and were imprisoned, detained, others were hanged from those prisons, so the independence brought about a free Parliament of black people.”
Adv Mudenda said Parliament had revised its rules and standing orders, including virtual sittings and the terms of reference of select committees were clearly stated.
He said the standing orders had the force of law and anyone who breached them would have breached the law.
Adv Mudenda advised the Namibian delegation to ensure that their own new rules they were working on had the force of law. – The Herald
