Government of Namibia explained
The government of Namibia consists of the executive, the legislative and the judiciary branches. The Cabinet is the executive organ of government, implementing the laws of the country. It consists of the president, the prime minister and his deputy, as well as the ministers of the Cabinet of Namibia. The legislative organs of government are the National Council and the National Assembly. They make the laws of the country. The judiciary organs of government are the courts. The highest court of Namibia is the Supreme Court. There are also the high courts and lower courts.[1]
The Namibian government is partly centralised and partly regional. In the executive branch, central government consists of ministries, offices and agencies, whereas regional government consists of regional councils, and constituencies within these.[1] The legislation is centralised in the lower house (National Assembly), and regional in the upper house (National Council).[2] The judiciary is centralised in the Supreme Court, whereas high courts and lower courts are distributed all over the country.
Executive branch of government
The central executive branch of government consists of offices, ministries, and agencies. The offices of central government are:[3]
- Office of the President (OP)
- Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)
- Office of the Judiciary (OJ)
there are 19 stand-alone ministries in Namibia.[3] The Ministry of Gender Equality retained its minister in the 2020 downsizing of cabinet but falls under the Office of the President above.[4]
- Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR)
- Ministry of Defence (MoD)
- Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoE)
- Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT)
- Ministry of Finance (MoF)
- Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR)
- Ministry of Health and Social Services (MHSS)
- Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation (MHETI)
- Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security (MHAISS)
- Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT)
- Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation (MIRCo)
- Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT)
- Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
- Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation (MOL)
- Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME)
- Ministry of Public Enterprises (MPE)
- Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service (MSYNS)
- Ministry of Works and Transport (MoW)
- Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD)
The agencies of the central government are:[3]
Government organisations and state-owned enterprises
See also: List of state-owned enterprises in Namibia. The Namibian state runs and owns a number of companies such as Transnamib and NamPost, most of which need frequent financial assistance to stay afloat.[5] [6]
There is a number of agencies and authorities established by acts of Parliament that can be considered government organisations:
Traditional leadership
See main article: Traditional leadership of Namibia. Alongside ordinary governance, Namibia also has a parallel system of traditional leadership. Only people of tribes recognised by the state, living in their traditional areas, are subject to this type of government which covers land allocation, traditional marriage, and lower courts. There are 51 recognised traditional authorities and a further 40 pending applications.[10]
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: About the Government of the Republic of Namibia . https://archive.today/20121130182015/http://209.88.21.36/opencms/opencms/grnnet/GRNOverview2/index.html . dead . 30 November 2012. grnnet.gov.na . 29 September 2011.
- Web site: GRN Structure . Government of Namibia . 29 September 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110818165115/http://209.88.21.36/opencms/opencms/grnnet/GRNOverview/grnStructure/legislative.html . 18 August 2011. dead.
- Web site: Government of Namibia . Office of the Prime Minister . 3 April 2022.
- News: Tjitemisa . Kuzeeko . 18 March 2020 . Commentators Weigh in on Trimmed Executive . New Era Live . 7 May 2022.
- News: Government income from SOEs 2013/2014-2015-2016. Insight Namibia. April 2013. 21.
- News: Payments and transfers to SOEs 2013/2014-2015-2016. Insight Namibia. April 2013. 22.
- Web site: History of the NQA . Namibia Qualifications Authority . 1 November 2012. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120824223532/http://www.namqa.org/NQA/History/tabid/176/language/en-US/Default.aspx . 24 August 2012.
- Web site: Namibia Tourism Board (a) Introduction . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140401153533/http://businessdirectory.na/namibia-tourism-board-intro/ . 1 April 2014 . 7 December 2015 . BusinessDirectory.na.
- Web site: Namibia Tourism Board . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151208211835/http://www.namibia-1on1.com/namibiatourismboard.html . 8 December 2015 . 7 December 2015 . namibia-1on1.com.
- News: Tjitemisa . Kuzeeko . 18 November 2016 . Chiefs Cost Govt Millions . 6 . . dead . 6 August 2021 . 2 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180702222914/https://www.newera.com.na/2016/11/18/chiefs-cost-govt-millions/ .