Parliament bus to arrive next year

THE Chinese government will provide the Namibian parliament with a promised bus next year.

National Assembly Speaker Peter Katjavivi requested the Chinese government in May this year to donate a bus for parliamentarians to use during their outreach programmes.

When asked last week regarding the progress of receiving the bus, he told that the bus will arrive sometime early next year.

“The parliamentary activity and outreach bus donated to the Office of the Speaker is part of bilateral relations between the parliament of Namibia and the parliament of China,” he said.

However, Katjavivi did not respond to a question on how much the bus will cost the Chinese government.

Swapo chief whip Evelyn !Nawases-Taeyele also confirmed that the bus would be arriving next year.

Swapo member of parliament Julius Hambyuka told on Sunday that the bus will be necessary in order to cut costs for the government.

He explained that instead of using one motor vehicle for trips, the members of parliament currently use multiple cars. The bus would thus help as it would be the only one to be filled up at a given time.

Hambyuka further said receiving a donation from the Chinese government would be more suitable than the government using state funds to buy one, especially in the current financial state.

Katjavivi pleaded for the bus while he was addressing the chairperson of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress of China, Li Zhanshu, when he stated that the government was lacking the “specialised means to undertake this endeavour”.

Online newspaper The Villager quoted the speaker as saying the Hino bus company manufacturers have strong buses, which could perfectly serve as a Namibia parliamentary community outreach bus.

Katjavivi also expressed the National Assembly’s wish to team up with the Chinese parliamentary institution in working closely with those who are engaged in parliament’s monitoring and evaluation of the country’s efforts to achieve the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Parliamentarians were caught up in controversy in June this year when Chinese company Huawei donated 157 Huawei MediaPad M3 Lite tablets to Namibian lawmakers. The devices were worth a combined N$700 000.

Communications minister Stanley Simataa defended the donation then, saying it was part of parliament’s drive to operate digitally to improve their work. However, not all lawmakers used the devices for legislative work.

The Patriot newspaper reported earlier this year how trade minister Tjekero Tweya used his donated tablet to visit dating websites during parliamentary sessions.

Tweya apologised for his conduct.

“I humbly apologise for being a red-blooded member of the male species Homo sapiens. I rebuke myself for not following my own code of conduct,” he stated.