Politics of Namibia
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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]

  1. Office of the President (OP)
  2. Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)
  3. Office of the Judiciary (OJ)

As of 2020 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]

  1. Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF)
  2. Ministry of Defence (MoD)
  3. Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoE)
  4. Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT)
  5. Ministry of Finance (MoF)
  6. Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR)
  7. Ministry of Health and Social Services (MHSS)
  8. Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation (MHETI)
  9. Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security (MHAISS)
  10. Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT)
  11. Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation (MIRCo)
  12. Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT)
  13. Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
  14. Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation (MOL)
  15. Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME)
  16. Ministry of Public Enterprises (MPE)
  17. Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service (MSYNS)
  18. Ministry of Works and Transport (MoW)
  19. 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

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]

References

  1. ^ a b "About the Government of the Republic of Namibia". grnnet.gov.na. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  2. ^ "GRN Structure". Government of Namibia. Archived from the original on 18 August 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  3. ^ a b c "Government of Namibia". Office of the Prime Minister. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  4. ^ Tjitemisa, Kuzeeko (18 March 2020). "Commentators Weigh in on Trimmed Executive". New Era Live. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Government income from SOEs 2013/2014-2015-2016". Insight Namibia. April 2013. p. 21.
  6. ^ "Payments and transfers to SOEs 2013/2014-2015-2016". Insight Namibia. April 2013. p. 22.
  7. ^ "History of the NQA". Namibia Qualifications Authority. Archived from the original on 24 August 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Namibia Tourism Board (a) Introduction". BusinessDirectory.na. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Namibia Tourism Board". namibia-1on1.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  10. ^ Tjitemisa, Kuzeeko (18 November 2016). "Chiefs Cost Govt Millions". New Era. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2021.

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