June 15 2008
FURTIVE CABINET INTRIGUES TO AMEND CONSTITUTION
NSHR deplores the veil of secrecy and therefore sinister fashion under which the Namibian Constitution will soon undergo extensive substantive and procedural amendments.
According to a secret Cabinet Action Letter featuring Cabinet Decision no. 19th /06.11.07/002 as well as a Draft Namibian Constitution Second Amendment Bill, the Namibian Constitution will soon be amended at least nine times at the following Articles: 4(3)(bb) (acquisition of Namibian citizenship by marriage); 4(5)(b) (acquisition of Namibian citizenship by naturalization); 4 (8) (a) (loss of Namibian citizenship through voluntary act); 28(2)(b) (elect of the President); 70 (term of office of National Council); 82 (4) (appointment of Judges); 91 (functions and powers of Ombudsman); 106 (Regional Council elections); 107 (salaries and other benefits of Regional Councilors); and 109(1)(a) (executive powers of Management Committees of Regional Councils).
Article 132(2) of the Constitution, which makes provision for procedures to be adhered to when any of the provisions of the Constitution is to be amended or repealed, requires two-third majorities in both the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council (NC). However, the Constitution also empowers the President to make a law by Proclamation subjecting the proposed amendments of repeals to a national referendum, in case of failure to secure the two-third majorities in NA and NC.
According to the Draft Namibian Constitution Second Amendment Bill, which is prepared by the Office of Attorney General, in order to qualify for Namibian citizenship, foreigners married to Namibian citizens will have to wait for at least 10 years instead of current floor limit of 2 years. Foreign nationals wishing to become Namibian citizens by naturalization will also have to wait for at least 10 years instead of the current minimum of 5 years.
The tenure of NC members will now be decreased from the current 6 years to 5 years. On June 26 2003 NC Members rejected a controversial Constitution Amendment Bill which would have also shortened their tenure of office from the stipulated six years. At the time, the NC lawmakers said they opposed the proposed amendment because it had failed to state how long their new term of office would be and had ignored other technicalities.
The present Draft Namibian Constitution Second Amendment Bill also envisages foreign Judges being appointed in accordance with an unspecified fixed term employment contract, while the removal of the word “corruption” (Article 91 of the Constitution) from the list of the functions of the Ombudsman strongly suggests that the Ombudsman is to be stripped of some his or her constitutional powers to deal with corruption and or its manifestations.
Furthermore, the executive powers vested with Regional Councils Management Committees in terms of Article 109(1) of the Constitution are also to be removed. In so far as the amendment to Article 28(2) (b) of the Constitution on the election of the President is concerned, the furtive Cabinet Action Letter reads:
[The election of the President shall be] “conducted in accordance with the principles and procedures to be determined by an Act of Parliament, provided that no person shall be elected unless he or she has received more than fifty (50) per cent of votes cast and the necessary number of ballots shall be conducted until such result is reached(sic)”.
The existing Article 28(2) (b) reads:
[The election of the President shall be] “conducted in accordance with the principles and procedures to be determined by Act of Parliament: provided that no person shall be elected as President unless he or she has received more than fifty (50) per cent of the votes cast and the necessary number of ballots shall be conducted until such result is reached”.
It is therefore not immediately clear as to the material difference between the above-quoted texts.
NSHR calls upon the Cabinet to ensure that the proposed Constitutional amendments, which have the potential to further erode the principles of democracy and the rule of law as well as the administration justice in the country, are conducted in a transparent and accountable manner.
In case of additional comment, please call Dorkas Phillemon or Phil ya Nangoloh at Tel: 061 236 183 or 061 253 447 (office hours) or Cell: +264 811 299 641 (Dorkas) or E-mail: nshr@nshr.org.na or visit: www.nshr.org.na
| |
Similar Threads 
Linear Mode
