The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has held regional consultations at the |Khomas Regional Council office in Windhoek to assess Namibia's progress in implementing recommendations from its Country Review Report and National Programme of Action.
Speaking at the Khomas Regional Council, Sam Nujoma, the governor of the |Khomas Region, says that the APRM exists to encourage member states to adopt policies and cooperate with one another to implement them.
"As a continent ever leading the post-colonial world, the African Peer Review Mechanism exists to encourage member states to adopt policies, standards, and practices that lead to quality possibilities, sustainable development, high economic growth, and inclusive cooperation on our continent. It is an African instrument intended to go on terror, through which we assess ourselves and submit that assessment to the gentlemen of our case."
Nujoma says that it is imperative that the priorities of the African Union are allowed so that there is a clear path to advance what the continent has set for itself.
APRM National Governing Council member Ambassador Wilfred Emvula said the consultations are assessing progress since the 2024 report while identifying remaining challenges and areas needing intervention.
"We adhere to accounting for progress made since the launch of the country review report in 2024 and to collectively assessing whether the actions undertaken by the government and the other stakeholders have sufficiently been addressed so that the governance challenges have also been identified in that review."
He stressed the need to determine whether government programmes are making a meaningful impact on communities.
Dr. Alfons Witbeen, Director of Operations, APRM National Secretariat, emphasised the biggest challenges currently slowing down implementation of the National Programme of Action.
"The biggest challenge is that APRM is still new to Namibia, so people do not understand the essence of good governance. So we are busy with our advocacy in terms of what the ultimate aim of the African Peer Review Mechanism is, which is for us to have a country that is well governed. And the implementers of the national plan of action are different ministries and agencies. So we just came from almost all the regions where we provided feedback in terms of what the findings of the review vote were as well as the target review report."
The review also covers decentralisation, access to information, gender equality, gender-based violence and access to justice, as well as economic issues such as green hydrogen, revenue collection and the mining value chain.
The findings will contribute to a progress report expected to be presented by President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah to fellow African leaders.