The government of Namibia consists of the executive, the legislative and the judiciary branches. The
Cabinet is the executive organ of government, implementing the laws of the country. It consists of the president, the prime minister and his deputy, as well as the ministers. The legislative organs of government are the
National Council and the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
. They make the laws of the country. The judiciary organs of government are the courts. The highest court of Namibia is the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. There are also the high courts and lower courts.
The Namibian government is partly centralised and partly regional. In the executive branch, central government consists of ministries, offices and agencies, whereas regional government consists of regional councils, and constituencies within these.
The legislation is centralised in the
lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or oth ...
(National Assembly), and regional in the
upper house
An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
(National Council).
The judiciary is centralised in the Supreme Court, whereas high courts and lower courts are distributed all over the country.
Executive branch of government
The central executive branch of government consists of offices, ministries, and agencies. The offices of central government are:
#
Office of the President (OP)
#*
Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare (MGEPESW)
#
Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)
#
Office of the Judiciary (OJ)
there are 19 stand-alone ministries in Namibia.
[ The Ministry of Gender Equality retained its minister in the 2020 downsizing of cabinet but falls under the Office of the President above.
# Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF)
# ]Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
(MoD)
# Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoE)
#* National Library
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
and Archives
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
service (NLAS)
# Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT)
# Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance.
Lists of current ministries of finance
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Finance and Eco ...
(MoF)
# Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR)
# Ministry of Health and Social Services The Minister of Health and Social Services (in French: ''Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux'') is responsible for the administration of health and social services in the province of Quebec since June 1985. The Minister of Social Affair ...
(MHSS)
# Ministry of Higher Education, Training and Innovation (MHETI)
# Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security (MHAISS)
#* Namibian Police Force
The Namibian Police Force (NAMPOL) is the national police force of Namibia. It was established by the Namibian Constitution and enacted by an act of Parliament. The Namibian Police Force replaced the South West African Police as the nationa ...
#* Namibian Correctional Services
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
# Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT)
# Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation (MIRCo)
# Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT)
# Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Jus ...
(MoJ)
# Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation (MOL)
# Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME)
# Ministry of Public Enterprises (MPE)
# Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service (MSYNS)
#* Namibia Sports Commission
# Ministry of Works and Transport (MoW)
#* Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)
#* Directorate of Aircraft Accident Investigations (DAAI)
# Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD)
The agencies of the central government are:[
* Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)
* ]Electoral Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(EC)
* Central Intelligence Service (NCIS)
* National Planning Commission (NPC)
* Office of the Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
(OAG)
* Office of the Auditor-General (OAG)
* Office of the Ombudsman
* Public Service Commission of Namibia (PSC)
Government organisations and state-owned enterprises
The Namibian state runs and owns a number of companies such as Transnamib
TransNamib Holdings Limited, commonly referred to as TransNamib, is a state-owned railway company in Namibia. Organised as a holding company, it provides both rail and road freight services, as well as passenger rail services. Its headquarters ar ...
and NamPost
NamPost is the national postal service of Namibia. It has 743 employees and reserves of N$ 2.51 million. The current CEO of NamPost is Festus Hangula.
History
The first postal services in then South West Africa started in 1814 with the deplo ...
, most of which need frequent financial assistance to stay afloat.
There is a number of agencies and authorities established by acts of Parliament that can be considered government organisations:
* Council of Traditional Leaders
The Council of Traditional Leaders is a national institution of the government of Namibia where the traditional leadership of Namibia is represented.
It was established by Act 13 of 1997 (GG 1706) and amended by Act 31 of 2000 (GG 2462). Pursuan ...
* Law Reform and Development Commission (LRDC) commission responsible for research recommended law changes to the Ministry of Justice.
* Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA). This institution evaluates and accredits national institutions and degrees, as well as foreign qualifications of people who wish to demonstrate the national equivalence of their degrees earned abroad.Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
, and is headquartered in Windhoek
Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...
, Namibia.
Traditional leadership
Alongside ordinary governance, Namibia also has a parallel system of traditional leadership. Only people of tribes recognised by the state, living in their traditional areas, are subject to this type of government which covers land allocation, traditional marriage, and lower court
A lower court or inferior court is a court from which an appeal may be taken, usually referring to courts other than supreme court. In relation to an appeal from one court to another, the lower court is the court whose decision is being reviewed ...
s. There are 51 recognised traditional authorities and a further 40 pending applications.
References
{{reflist
External links
Official website
of the government of Namibia
1990 establishments in Namibia