Africa-Press – Namibia.
SADC Parliamentary Forum (PF) president Justin Tokely has praised Namibia’s longstanding
commitment to regional parliamentary cooperation.
Tokely also called for renewed support as the Forum moves towards becoming a fully-fledged SADC Regional Parliament.
Speaking during a courtesy call on the Speaker of the National Assembly, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila last week, Tokely, who is the Speaker of the National Assembly of Madagascar, expressed appreciation for Namibia’s “unwavering commitment to democratic values,” and its historic role in nurturing the SADC PF since its establishment 27 years ago.
“Our visit is not merely symbolic,” he said, “but a testimony to the deeply-rooted partnership between the Parliament of Namibia and the SADC Parliamentary Forum.”
He recalled that Namibia, under the leadership of the late Mose Penaani Tjitendero, was instrumental in the Forum’s founding, and has since provided the secretariat with a stable institutional home in Windhoek.
Tokely paid tribute to Namibia’s successive parliamentary leaders, including the late Theo-Ben Gurirab and Professor Peter Hitjevi Katjavivi, for their contributions to strengthening parliamentary diplomacy and advancing the transformation of the Forum into a regional parliament.
He congratulated Kuugongelwa-Amadhila for her groundbreaking leadership as the first female Speaker of Namibia’s National Assembly.
“You bring to this role not only profound experience in governance, but also an unwavering dedication to gender equality and regional diplomacy,” he said.
He applauded the progressive composition of Namibia’s new Parliament following the November 2024 elections, noting that women now occupy 40.6% of parliamentary seats, placing Namibia at the forefront of gender representation in the SADC region.
He also welcomed the increased participation of young people in Namibia’s Legislature, describing it as a “sign of meaningful intergenerational dialogue and national development”.
“These are not just statistics.”
On her part, Speaker Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said she and her National Assembly were deeply honoured and grateful for the courtesy call, which included representatives of countries that stood by Namibia as she waged a protracted liberation struggle.
“It is my pleasure and privilege to receive this courtesy call because of your (countries’) association socially and financially with Namibia’s liberation movement, and sometimes sustaining (military) attacks. It is always humbling when you come to our country. Feel at home,” she said.
She told the Executive Committee – to which she belongs by virtue of being host Speaker of the SADC PF Secretariat – that the 8th Parliament of Namibia was new, having been sworn in in March.
“So, I am very, very new. Please forgive whatever mistakes we might make because I am used to being in the Executive and not in the Legislature,” she quipped.
Among members of the Executive Committee who visited the Speaker was Professor Isaac Jean-Claude Tshilumbayi Musawu, the First Deputy Speaker of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).He briefed the Namibian Speaker about the ongoing instability in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and how SADC had stood by his country.
In response, Speaker Kuugongelwa-Amadhila called for peace.
“We are moved by what is happening in the DRC. We are all praying that that country of Patrice Lumumba will have permanent peace,” she said.
The courtesy call took place on the sidelines of the Executive Committee meeting of the SADC PF, ahead of the Forum’s 57th Plenary Assembly scheduled for Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe later this month.
Notable among the SADC PF delegation were the Speaker of the National Assembly of Angola, Carolina Cerqueira; the Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda; the Speaker of the National Assembly of Lesotho, Tlohang Sekhamane; the Speaker of the National Assembly of Zambia, Nelly Mutti; Honourable Dumelang Selashando, leader of the opposition in Botswana; Shally Josepha Raymond, the chairperson of the Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (RWPC); and SADC PF Secretary General Ms Boemo Sekgoma.
Earlier, the Executive Committee visited the Heroes’ Acre, and were shown the tombs of Namibia’s Founding President Sam Nujoma and that of president Hage Geingob.
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