1. The National Assembly has observed in the recent past with concern on the
inaccuracy reporting by some of the media houses with regard to the
Declaration of Members` business and financial interests. 2. The main purpose of the Declaration of Members’ business and financial
interests is two-fold: a) To ensure that Namibia’s elected leaders maintain the highest standards of
propriety to ensure that their integrity and that of the political institutions
that they serve are beyond reproach; and b) To declare information on any business and financial interest or other
material benefit a member receives which might reasonably be thought by
others to influence his or her actions, speeches or votes in Parliament, or
actions taken in his or her capacity as a Member of Parliament.
Some of the media houses reported that, some MPs either own or are directors of
fishing companies and also own farms or farming companies.
In view of the above, the National Assembly would like to state the following on the
matter:
The Members acquired farms and fishing quotas in question through legal
procedures as per the laws of the land; – Some of the Members that were allocated some fishing quotas as reported in
the media were allocated in their individual capacity before they were elected
to become Members of Parliament.
As Members of the National Assembly by law are required to make their
financial assets and interests known on annual basis, some of the assets for
MPs may either increase or decrease since some activities or companies
become dormant, therefore companies that are dormant might not be
declared in the following year.
Finally, the National Assembly would like to appeal to the public that, this exercise
of Declaration of Member`s interest must be seen as a requirement from the side of
their representatives to promote transparency.