The Information and Communication Technology Minister Emma Theofelus has clarified that the management of government email systems falls under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), which oversees all ICT operations across government.
Responding to a question from Popular Democratic Movement MP Diederik Vries, who expressed concern over the slow and unreliable state of government email systems, Theofelus acknowledged the challenges but explained the structure.
“All government systems, including emails, websites, and other ICT services, are centrally managed and coordinated by the OPM through its Department of Public Service Information Technology Management,” she said.
Theofelus added that the department is responsible for system reliability, ICT infrastructure, e-government initiatives, and specialised ICT training.
“We do know that there are some glitches in the systems like anywhere in the world. Our phones also freeze because technology is not a perfect thing,” she said. “We do have some challenges because technology doesn’t function on its own. It functions with a bit of electricity. It functions with fibre networks, especially now we’ve seen recently that there was maintenance or there is still maintenance being done on the West African cable system… connecting us to the rest of the world where internet is concerned.”
She assured MPs that efforts are ongoing to upgrade government systems to improve both performance and security.
On civil servants using personal email accounts for official work, Theofelus stressed the need to use secure, government-managed platforms to protect the integrity of communication.
Supporting her remarks, Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare said many government websites and email systems are outdated and inactive.
“We have said that all Offices, Ministries and Agencies should now take responsibility to ensure their websites are interactive, active and regularly updated. It should not be a website that was once created and then abandoned,” he said.
Ngurare noted that his office is working with the ICT ministry to modernise systems and improve service delivery. He also announced the development of a national database of ICT experts to build local capacity.
“We must be in charge of both hardware and software in the technological space. It cannot be that we must always import what we need. We must create the capacity to assemble some of these things locally,” he said.
The Prime Minister also emphasised the need to improve rural access to digital services, saying technology should be available to all Namibians, not just those in urban areas.