Pamela Mate
This week, Members of the 6th National Council are meeting key stakeholders in efforts to strengthen cooperation, highlight key issues and deepen consultation and communication between the Standing Committees of the National Council and Government Ministries, Agencies and Organizations (OMAs). The engagement is being held under the theme: Reflections on Oversight Framework.
Speaking at the event, Vice Chairperson of the National Council, Hon. Victoria Kuama underscored the importance of the engagement, further stating that the aim of the engagement was to acquaint themselves with mandates, programs and budget implementation of the various OMAs inorder for it to be known where they intend to go, and thus, make the oversight function more effective. “Parliamentary oversight is very significant component of government’s drive to ensure accountability,” said Hon. Kauma. Thus, the Vice-Chairperson implored on OMAs to avail high ranking officials who can answer to the pertinent questions raised at such occasions for more effective interactions to take place.
The event forms part of the National Council’s capacity building initiative for MPs and is targeted towards strengthening the oversight function through sharing with their stakeholders the NC oversight framework and in turn, have the various Ministries, Agencies and Organization (OMAs) expound on their mandate and strategic initiatives.
The four-day exercise is an important one for the 6th National Council who commenced with their term just under a year ago but have hit the ground running, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Through this engagement, it is expected that National Council Standing Committees and the OMAs will foster an effective working relationship as well as build confidence through creating a common understanding of what the roles of the OMAs are in relation to the respective Committees overseeing them.
The stakeholder engagement, which started on Monday, 22 November, at Protea Furstenhof Hotel in Windhoek, will conclude on Thursday, 25 November 2021.
