Several Members of Parliament (MPs) have registered their disappointment in President Hage Geingob’s decision to open the 2022 parliamentary year virtually, despite State resources being spent to host him.

On Tuesday, in a last-minute public announcement, it was said Geingob will not be addressing the opening physically – no reasons for this were provided.

Consequently, a pre-recorded video clip of the president was played in the National Assembly (NA) chambers, something that was seen by some MPs as undermining the legislative organ of the State.

The opening was preceded by technical glitches, with Geingob clearly inaudible through the National Assembly’s sound system to connectivity issues that kept MPs waiting for about 30 minutes.

“You are making a mockery of Parliament,” chanted Landless People’s Movement (LPM) lawmaker Henny Seibeb.

Others argued that it does not make sense for Geingob to grace other events with his physical presence and does the exact opposite to Parliament.

“He [Geingob] was at [the late Katuutire] Kaura’s funeral,” said Epafras Mukwiilongo of the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters.

Rally for Democracy and Progress leader, Mike Kavekotora was also unimpressed.

“The red carpet was laid. The mics and all those fancy things were put in place to host the president…what does it mean? It is a costly exercise to the taxpayers. There is a cost associated with all these things,” he lamented.

Kavekotora further vented about sound quality.

“The president spoke to himself. We couldn’t hear anything…it is very unfortunate. The question is, why did the president stay away from Parliament and for how long is the president going to stay away from Parliament?”

Kavekotora also charged that the August House has been turned into a political battleground as opposed to providing a national forum for public consideration of issues, passing legislation, and scrutinising and overseeing executive action.

Official opposition leader in the National Assembly, McHenry Venaani was equally disappointed, saying Geingob failed to speak to bread and butter issues confronting most Namibians.

“Are we seeing legislation that is addressing housing? Are we seeing legislation that addresses food security? He was too brief for me,” Venaani said outside the NA chambers.

On Geingob’s absence, Venaani said, the Head of State missed the opportunity to take Parliament into confidence.

“The president not coming to Parliament physically, he is leaving us with a bad taste. The president cannot argue that he attends funerals [but cannot open Parliament physically]?” a baffled Venaani said.

In the meantime, NA Speaker, Peter Katjivivi took time to apologise to Geingob for the events of last year during his State of the Nation Address, when Parliament descended into chaos, leading to the ejection of two MPs.

“I wish to apologise to you, Your Excellency, for the disruption during the question time after your State of the Nation Address last year,” said Katjavivi.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency