A MAJORITY of the African countries that are part of the Commonwealth are united behind the plan to restructure the organisation to give it relevance in the modern world.
Under this plan, the member states intend to reform the organisation to address perceived imbalances and strengthen its relevance, taking into account issues such as representation, decision-making processes, and the organization’s ability to address contemporary challenges effectively that have been voiced by its members for years.
This was revealed by the Chairperson of the National Council Hon. Lukas Sinimbo Muha during a courtesy meeting with the High Commissioner of Malaysia to Namibia H.E Hishamuddin Ibrahim whose term in Namibia comes to an end.
At the meeting, Muha emphasised that a majority of the Commonwealth member states are not happy with the current status of the organisation.
“Maybe it is time for us to look at the status of the Commonwealth to determine whether we should continue embracing the current status as a charity organisation or it should be transformed. … If the host (Britain) is resistant to change, we should find another host that will embrace the changes that we want,” he said.
Muha also revealed that a steering committee of African member states would soon visit Malaysia to deliberate on that country’s willingness to host the Commonwealth as part of the bid to reform the organisation.
“Malaysia should understand that Namibia and the rest of the African Commonwealth countries are ready to participate in the discussion to restructure the Commonwealth. We should continue communicating to identify areas of improvements within the commonwealth,” he said.
The Chairperson also extended his gratitude to the Federation of Malaya and its people for the support the country offered during the preparation for Namibias’ Independence.
On his part H.E. Hishamuddin Ibrahim emphasised the friendly relationship between Namibia and Malaysia which continues to grow in many areas such as education.
The establishment of the private Malaysian university in Windhoek, is testimony to that relationship.
“I can say that I have achieved my goal as I wanted to establish a private university in Namibia. It has been established and fully functional in Khomasdal. This will strengthen the cooperation between Namibia and Malaysia in the field of education,” he said.
