PETITION FOR THE NULLIFICATION OF THE SPECIAL SESSIONS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND ALL SUBSEQUENT DECISIONS TAKEN AT AND DURING SUCH SESSIONS (incl. the reappointment of Paulus Noa and Erna VD Merwe)

We are peace-loving and law-abiding Namibians from all works of life. We are ordinary citizens, political party leaders, community leaders, civil society organizations, young professionals, non-affiliated citizens, card carrying members of political parties - we are NAMIBIANS. 

We the undersigned petitioners have witnessed with disgust and dismay the blatantly undemocratic manner in which the South West Africa Peoples’s Organization, SWAPO, has abused both executive prerogative and parliamentary process to protect its corrupt establishment.

Namibia is a constitutional democracy with three equally important arms of the State and for these arms to function properly they each must be given adequate space to throughly examine matters brought before them for consideration and decision. The legal procedures which regulate how matters are brought before these arms of State must not just be seen to be followed but must indeed be followed to the letter. The President as head of the Executive arm of the State failed to follow laid down procedures when he issued the purported proclamation to convene the special sessions of the National Assembly relying on his ministers and the SWAPO majority in the National Assembly to help him rape the parliamentary oversight function. The parliamentary oversight function is indispensable for our democracy and good governance and can therefore not be used when it suits the SWAPO agenda and when it does not then it gets thrown right out of the window.

While the President has the right in terms of Article 62 (1) (c) to direct the sitting of special sessions of the National Assembly by Proclamation, the President too has both a legal and moral obligation to exercise this right with caution so as to prevent abuse or anything that may resemble abuse.

As elected representatives of our people we call on all peace loving patriotic Namibians to vehemently reject the President’s contemptuous disregard of our democratic institutions and his sick fixation with Mr. Paulus Noah and his deputy; Ms. Erna VD Merwe.

The National Assembly sessions which were abused to confirm the reappointment of Mr. Noah and his deputy must be nullified and both positions of director and deputy director at the ACC must be advertised for all interested Namibians to apply! This also has the same unfortunate effect on Electoral Commissioners. 

The President is not limited in submitting names nominated for the ACC Director General and Deputy Director General and should therefore afford the National Assembly a pool of names to choose from, and not just bulldoze one name thereby undermining Parliament’s appointing authority. 

It is time to compel the President and his SWAPO colleagues to respect the Namibian constitution and to also teach them to embrace democracy even when it threatens their political survival. To abuse the parliamentary system for parochial party political interests in this case only means that there are darker motives behind the move to reappoint Mr. Paulus Noah and his deputy at all costs and by whatever means necessary.

#NoToPaulusNoah #NoToErnaVDMerwe #NoToillegality