Public administration in Namibia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The public administration structures in Namibia are based on Chapter 12, Articles 102-11 of the Namibian Constitution . The capital and seat of the Namibian government is Windhoek .

From Namibia's independence in 1990 to the adoption of the Regional Councils Act (No. 22) and Local Authorities Act (No. 23) - both in 1992 - the administrative and territorial structure corresponded to those of South West Africa at the time of the South African mandate until 1946 and the South African occupation until 1946 1989.

Administrative structure since 1992

Legal basis

The Namibian constitution lays down principles of regional administrative structures that there are regions ('Regional Authority'), each with a regional council ( English 'Regional Council' ). These regional governments are freely elected at least every five years. Up until August 5, 2010, the legislative period at regional level was six years.

All administrative areas were expressly and explicitly created on the basis of geographical conditions and not on the basis of ethnic distribution. Therefore, none of the administrative areas bears the name of a race, ethnic group or population group. That is why the Kavango region is officially called Okavango , as the Kavango are an ethnic group.

The constitution also stipulates that there should be between six and twelve constituency ('constituency') per region, each of which sends a councilor ('councilor') to the regional council and one of these councilors is elected as a representative for the national council. Furthermore, there should be local administrations ('Local Authority'), each with a local council ('Local Council'), which is determined by free choice. These local administrations are divided into

  • Municipalities ('Municipality') with their own, freely elected council with seven to 15 members
  • Cities ('Town') with their own, freely elected council with seven to twelve members
  • Villages with their own freely elected council with five to seven members
  • as well as other organs and institutions of local administration

In addition, a Council of is traditional leaders ( 'Council of Traditional Leaders') established regardless of geographical borders within Namibia.

In addition, the constitution stipulates that the Parliament of Namibia should undertake a more precise interpretation of the constitution with regard to administrative structures. This was carried out on the basis of the Regional Councils Act and Local Authorities Act. Changes to the municipalities, towns, villages and settlements specified there are announced through government declarations ('Government Gazette').

Regional administration

The regional administration of Namibia is enshrined in the Regional Councils Act of 1992, which was last amended in 2010. Accordingly, there are 14 regions in Namibia, each with an administrative seat and divided into constituencies.

→ See also: Regions of Namibia

One of the last substantive changes to the appendices of the Regional Councils Act, in which the regions and their administrative offices as well as constituencies are laid down, was the appointment of Omuthiya as the administrative headquarters of the Oshikoto region in 2008. The last change in 2010 included the requirement that all Regional governors, to be appointed by the President of the Republic as chairmen of the regional councils .

Local administration

→ See: Local government (Namibia)

Traditional administration

→ See: Traditional administration (Namibia)

Administrative structure during the South African period

→ See: Homelands in South West Africa

From 1921 to 1989 the administrative structure consisted of 15 districts and ten partially autonomous homelands .

Administrative structure DSWA

Map of German South West Africa

From 1884 to 1914/1919 German South West Africa (DSWA) was administered as a protected area . There were five district offices in 1901 , nine in 1906 and a total of twelve in 1913 with 43 administrative officials. At that time, Walvis Bay was part of the Cape Colony (from 1910 part of the South African Union ) and thus a British colony .

The management of the protected area was located in Otjimbingwe from 1885 to 1891 , but was then relocated to Windhoek when the Old Fortress was completed and was briefly in Grootfontein in 1915 .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Constitution of Namibia
  2. ^ National Council approves two amendments, but serious doubts remain, Allgemeine Zeitung, August 6, 2010
  3. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Regiona Council Act@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.decentralisation.gov.na
  4. ^ Full approval - Two amendments to the law passed by the National Council. In: Allgemeine Zeitung. October 29, 2010.
  5. ↑ The rulers of German Africa, 1884-1914 - Lewis H. Gann, Peter Duignan, p. 71.