By: Nghiinomenwa-vali Hangala
In his address at the 2025 Public Policy Forum, the executive director of the National Planning Commission (NPC) I-Ben Nashandi, has told various offices, ministries and agencies (OMAs) not to use excuses that existing policies were not well designed, have not been implemented or suffer from weak collaboration.
Instead, he recommended that such policies be redesigned, and that means be found to implement them and strengthen collaboration with stakeholders.
The country held its first Public Policy Forum this week in the capital through the National Planning Commission (NPC), where various OMAs were in attendance with sectoral associations and private sector bodies.
Nashandi said that the approach is meant to ensure accountability, not shift blame, in line with the President’s mantra ‘No Business as Usual’.
“When we are going to be asked to account, we should not be found saying we found it like that. That is the reason we monitor and evaluate our actions, so that we can correct and improve, and not let things go in wrong trajectories because we found it being that way,” he said.
Nashandi reminded the stakeholders that the mandate of the NPC is to plan and spearhead the course of national development. The mandate further provides for the NPC to coordinate the formulation of public policies and evaluate said policies.
He also indicated that the Commission intends to host the forum annually to provide a platform for stakeholders to engage and share knowledge and ideas regarding policy formulation and implementation.
Nashandi explained that all stakeholders have a stake in the policies through interest, thus it is important that these policies put in place by the government are relevant to the needs of all Namibians and are implemented in a manner which best achieves the results that meet the nation’s expectations.
He added that this would be done through consultations between the government and stakeholders. The country has, over the years, developed numerous policies aimed at addressing pressing issues affecting its society.
Among such policies are those aimed at reducing inequalities, alleviating poverty and increasing inclusivity, as well as those targeted at growing the nation’s economy to create more opportunities for citizens to enter, play a role, and benefit from the mainstream economy.
Nashadi also reminded the forum that Namibia is experiencing challenges that it needs to tackle head-on. One such challenge is population growth through the youth bulge, leading to increased demand for services.
There is also a technological shift requiring highly-skilled human capital that is essential to strengthen the country’s competitiveness in all spheres of development, including innovation, governance, security, and knowledge advancement.
“All these call for deliberate and drastic actions to improve our policy designs, implementation, and the use of information produced through monitoring and evaluation to improve our operations and processes,” stated Nashandi.
A situation analysis and training needs assessment aimed at informing the development of a Capacity Development Plan and the outline of a Public Policy Cycle Course presented at the forum revealed that the country has around 68 policies that are in implementation.
The assessment recommended that the country revises and updates the national guidelines on policy formulation.
Moreover, it has also suggested that the NPC actively creates awareness among stakeholders to be aware of the existence of the guidelines and increases usage or compliance.
The forum also opened a platform for the OMAs and sectoral bodies to give their inputs, while a panel discussion presented the challenges facing policy formulation and implementation, along with the best possible ways to improve the process going forward.
