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Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
The visiting Namibian Parliamentary Budget Select Committee has commended Zimbabwe’s National Budget making and oversight processes, saying they will adopt some of the best practices they have learnt during their ongoing benchmarking tour.
The seven-member delegation, comprising four parliamentarians and three support staff, paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda this week as part of their visit.
Leader of the delegation Mr Phillipus Wido Katamelo said the team had been impressed.
“We have undertaken a benchmark tour since Namibian Parliament established a Budget Select Committee (in 2021) to benchmark with the best practices and we selected Zimbabwe because of the inroads they have made and the effectiveness they have had since they established the Budget Office and the Budget Committee in 2016, so that has brought us to Zimbabwe.
“We envisage to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the budget implementation and oversight functions entrusted to us as one of the key functions of the legislative assembly of Namibia,” said Mr Katamelo.
He said they had been taken through Zimbabwe’s National Budget process, including interactions with external stakeholders that include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank.
“There is one key fundamental which has come out; the consultation process, the grassroots, which they call the white paper. It’s one of the avenues that we don’t have and we intend to explore as to how effectively, within a short time, we can implement it,” he said.
Chairperson of the Zimbabwean Parliamentary Budget, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Committee Cde Clemence Chiduwa said they covered a number of issues on the budget making process and oversight.
“We have had a meeting with them as the Committee on Budget and Finance and we have covered a lot of issues, especially on oversight.
“So, in terms of understanding the oversight, one has to understand the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry of Finance and we have done that and we are hoping that going forward, we will continue having these benchmarking visits, not only with Namibia but with other SADC countries and beyond,” said Cde Chiduwa.
He welcomed the endorsement of Zimbabwe’s processes by the Namibians.
Online Reporter