2 NAMIB TIMES
25 AUGUST 2015
Namibia a flourishing parliamentary democracy: Kapere
namib times is registered as a newspaper by the Ministry of Information Technology and Communication
Walvis Bay Office Tel +264 64 205 854 Fax +264 64 204 813 wvb@namibtimes.net ADVERTISING sales@namibtimes.net desiree@namibtimes.net MARKETING/SALES Mikkie Kriel Cell +264 81 286 9519 mikkie@namibtimes.net marketing.namibtimes@iway.na Coenita de Bairos Cell +264 81 128 0311 coenita@namibtimes.net sales@namibtimes.net Desiree Jooste Cell +264 81 576 9555 desiree@namibtimes.net lolla@namibtimes.net CLASSIFIEDS smalls@namibtimes.net NEWS DESK Maria Davel-Wallis Cell +264 81 479 9844 newsdesk@namibtimes.net JOURNALISTS Madelaine Laubscher Cell +264 81 150 6887 madelaine@namibtimes.net Liesl Losper journalist1@namibtimes.net Cell +264 81 448 0749 Mavourlene Gaes Cell +264 81 676 0872 SPORT sport@namibtimes.net
Swakopmund Office Tel +264 64 461866 Fax +264 64 461824 ADVERTISING shene@namibtimes.net MARKETING/SALES Mikkie Kriel Cell +264 81 286 9519 marketing.namibtimes@iway.na mikkie@namibtimes.net Brenda Miles Cell +264 81 128 3280 brenda@namibtimes.net JOURNALISTS Marshallino Beukes Cell +264 81 605 2595 marshallino@namibtimes.net Sharlien Tjambari Cell +264 81 788 8155 sharlien@namibtimes.net
PRO-Print SWAKOPMUND Brenda Miles Cell +264 81 128 3280 brenda@namibtimes.net WALVIS BAY Moya Davids Cell +264 81 208 4047 moya@namibtimes.net e-book edition @ http://issuu.com/ namibtimes
www.namibtimes.net
WINDHOEK, 24 AUG – Namibia is one of the countries with a notably strong and flourishing parliamentary democracy in Africa - if not in the whole world, with a National Council (NC) that complements the National Assembly (NA) in the law making process. Chairperson of the NC, Asser Kapere made this remark during the launching of the Parliamentary Support Programme video, ‘A catalyst for Namibian Leadership’ on Monday. The video depicts and enhances the understanding of the foundation of Parliament and National Assembly, and also educates Members of Parliament (MP) on issues of poverty eradication. The programme is funded by the European Union (EU) with over Euros 1.7 million (about N$26 million) since the year 2012 and the video is one of its many components. It seeks to strengthen the capacity of the NA and the NC to increase public accountability for the purpose of greater engagement by Parliament
in poverty reduction programmes. According to Kapere, a well sourced parliament – be it resource wise or intellectually, will with no doubt contribute towards the transformation of the Namibian House into an institution that is responsive and accountable to the sovereign will and aspirations of the Namibian people. “Through programmes such as the Parliamentary Support Programme, we are once again reminded that through mutually beneficial partnerships, we can strengthen parliament to carry its mandate effectively and efficiently for the benefit of the electorates,” he noted. In order to execute effectively and meaningfully, the law-making process
(Photo by Joseph Nekaya) NAMPA
SERVING THE COASTAL COMMUNITY SINCE 1958
Members of the Swapo Party Central Committee pictured during the opening session held at Parliament Building and the oversight function, Parliament needs to continuously empower its members and staff through training and capacity building in various spheres of parliamentary operations. lopment partners for their eagerness to support Parliament in various ways. “Their rigorous training and technical support
bring much needed expertise to inform our path forward, as we identify opportunities to build a more stable and prosperous Namibia,” he said. Many workshops, trainings and seminars have been organised since 2012 to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the parliamentary Standing Committee.
The programme has also improved domestic accountability of the parliament by creating a freely available database containing all laws and regulations currently in force in the country. The programme focuses on improving interaction between the Standing Committee and Parliament on one hand, and
civil society on the other. Various events and workshops have been organised to ensure enhanced communication and regular knowledge exchange on poverty between relevant Standing Committees, civil society and academia. The programme ends in November 2015. NAMPA
Prime Minister deeply concerned over Human Trafficking Continued from page 1 sequences for their horrendous acts.” In his speech, the U.S Ambassador to the Republic of Namibia, Thomas Daughton, said trafficking in persons is an international problem. “The greatest challenge of trafficking is that trafficking in persons is difficult to track, investigate, prosecute and to convict. Men, women, boys and girls can all fall victim to trafficking. Through this training, participants will acquire valuable skills and best practices that they will transfer to hundreds of highly capable police officers, prosecutors, immigration officers, social workers, and labour inspectors.” Prime Minister Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, said she expected all participants from various stakeholder insti-
Participants at the training session tutions to work non-stop on finalising the anti-traffic strategy and to make concrete recommendations about action steps to be
taken for implementation of the strategy. During the training, participants hope to learn more about the signs and indicators of
human trafficking. The training session ends on Friday.
Sharing Memories amidst Many Unanswered Questions Continued from page 1
On Sunday the family of Amore Espag, one of the pilots on the flight, held a private memorial service for her. Yesterday at 11:00 a private service was held at E Med Rescue for the other pilot, Steven Naudé. Today’s service brings together the all the victims’ families, friends and colleagues – and anyone from the general public who would want to attend, the CEO of the Prosperity Group and E Med Res 24 Namibia, told namib times earlier. When we spoke to him yesterday, he confirmed that he had been informed that the awaited investigation report, had seemingly been held back, and would be released later than expected.
Struwig says more than a week after a Namibian air ambulance crashed near Cape Town, many questions in the hearts and minds of those near to the five victims remain unanswered. Struwig, late yesterday said they were still trying everything within their power to get access to the the recordings of the last conversations between the air ambulance pilots and the airport control room. He says several critically important questions about the circumstances surrounding the tragedy will remain unanswered until they have gained access to the conversations. Struwig says, one of the incidents haunting them at this stage, is the fact that
the control tower phoned THEM to find out “if WE knew where our plane was, and that AFTER it had already crashed.” Seemingly, a NOTAM or NoTAM (Notice to Airmen), ‘a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight’ about the radar problems that they had experienced, was only filed an hour and a half after the air ambulance crash, and not 24 hours earlier. Were it sent out earlier, a warning would have been generated and circulated. ‘NOTAMs are created and transmitted by government agencies and airport op-
erators under guidelines specified by Annex 15: Aeronautical Information Services of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (CICA). Aviation authorities typically exchange NOTAMs over AFTN circuits.’ Struwig says they want to know if the radar screens in the control tower were working that morning, because they have heard rumours that the flight-data processor had become dysfunctional on the Saturday night. “We also want to know exactly which co-ordinates were given to the pilots, as they came in on a VOR – Visual Orientation Approach – that would only happen in South Africa, if
and when the Radar systems were down. We know the plane prepared for a VOR landing, as the pilot of a Boeing, one of at least eight other planes that were already on a holding block, heard the conversation and the instructions. We have to know exactly what the instructions entailed. They can stall, they can try to sidestep, we’ll get the truth – the truth will out!” Struwig says, if the South African Aviation Authorities do not give them access to the voice recordings, they will ask the Namibian Civil Air Authority to request a copy of the recordings, or would even approach the President of Namibia, Hage Geingob, if necessary.
He says since the disaster the E Med Rescue 24 Namibia team has done 13 evacuations. They are in the process of acquiring a new Hawker 400 XP Jet that will be doing all the evacuation flights to South Africa. The namib times also spoke to Terence Ward last night – he and his family were with Struwig and his wife when we called. He confirmed that two memorial services will be held for their son, Alfred John Ward – One on Wednesday evening at 19:00, in the ESK (Evangeliese Sendingkerk) in Vrede Rede Street, Tamariskia, and another one on Friday evening at 19:00 in the same church.