By: Nghiinomenwa-vali Hangala
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Budget and Finance has called for the government to revise the Parliamentarian Orders that include the budget process timeline within Parliament. The Committee requests for 60-90 days to scrutinise the Budget Policy Statement and Budget Estimates before they are tabled.
According to the Commmitttee, the country has to move away from the current model/practice of tabling a fait accompli. A basic internet search defines fait accompli as a thing that has already happened or been decided before those affected hear about it, leaving them with no option but to accept it.
The Committee call is included in their Report on the Benchmarking Visit to the Parliament of Kenya. Following this visit, they have recommended institutionalising pre-budget scrutiny, mandating that the executives table a detailed Budget Policy Statement (BPS) to Parliament well in advance of the main budget. They state that this allows Parliament to influence the fiscal framework and priorities before detailed estimates are prepared.
The Committee also calls for the introduction of a formal “Bill Costing” to be drafted by its technical advisors, who will be conducting independent assessments of the financial implications of all proposed legislation, ensuring Parliament understands the fiscal impact of laws it passes.
The parliamentarians also call for the implementation of a Post-Budget Monitoring mechanism. This, they say, would be by establishing a system also supported by the Committee’s technical team to track budget implementation throughout the year, reporting on deviations, supplementary budgets, and compliance with the approved allocations.
The Committee has also recommended that the country institutionalises rigorous project appraisal systems to avoid unsustainable borrowing. Namibia’s debt, excluding external borrowing, stands at N$149 billion as of the end of January 2026.
Moreover, the Committee calls for the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act to recognise Parliament’s role in the fiscal processes of the country and provide more support to enable it to scrutinise and offer suggestions. With that, it called for information on reforms and procedural updates to be shared in a timely fashion.
The parliamentarians added that doing so would aid in modelling against their Kenyan counterparts by having a legal mandate under the PFM Act to provide an independent analysis of the budget, fiscal policy, and money bills.
The National Assembly Parliamentary Standing Committee on Budget and Finance was established in terms of Article 59 and 63 (2) of the Namibian Constitution and also Rule 43 of the Committee Rules. It examines budgetary policies, state revenue/expenditure, and public debt (Article 63 (2)(a-b) of the Constitution) and reviews money bills, tax rates, and economic programs with budget implications.
All nine members of the Committee from various political parties represented in the National Assembly, accompanied by 4 support staff, undertook the benchmarking visit to Kenya, under Helaria Mukapuli as chairperson.
erastus@thevillager.com.na
