Parliament of the Republic of Namibia: To grant the public a National Referendum before altering the Constitution

The implementation of 50/50 gender representation in decision-making positions across all levels of government and branches of the State is one of the top priorities of the Government of the Republic of Namibia. This is reflected in the fact that the Namibian Government is a signatory to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development and the African Union (AU) Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Furthermore, 50/50 gender representation in decision-making positions across all party organs is also contained in the constitution of Namibia’s ruling Swapo Party.

However, recent media reports suggest that instead of implementing 50/50 gender representation as per the “zebra-style” party list for the upcoming National elections, the Swapo Party intends, through its majority in Parliament, to amend the Namibian Constitution and increase the size of the National Assembly from 72 seats to 100 seats.

We, the under-signed, believe that any amendment to our Constitution to allow an additional 28 individuals to take up seats in the National Assembly should not take place without a national referendum on the matter. We believe that any such amendment would only serve to benefit those 28 individuals as well as the Swapo Party and not the Namibian society at large. It is our conviction that such an amendment to the Constitution would be unjustified and illegitimate. As a result such an amendment should be deemed illegal in the absence of an overwhelming vote in favour thereof by way of a National Referendum for the following reasons:

A larger National Assembly will in no way, shape or form benefit the people of Namibia and as such any move to amend the Constitution in this regard should be viewed as a betrayal of the trust of the public by Swapo.
An enlarged Parliament would have a significant impact on the taxpayer as no less than an additional 28 individuals will receive exorbitant salaries along with all the bells and whistles afforded to current National Assembly members in terms of salary related benefits.
Members of Parliament occupying the National Assembly have repeatedly proved themselves to be ineffective, inefficient, unproductive and not focused on serving the needs and interests of the electorate.