The government of Namibia consists of the executive, the legislative and the judiciary branches. The

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

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 r ...

. 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 Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, 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 co ...

(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 Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

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 state ...

(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 o ...

service (NLAS) # Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) # Ministry of Finance (MoF) # Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) # Ministry of Health and Social Services (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 national p ...

#* Namibian Correctional Services # 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 Justi ...

(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 (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 An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

* 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 and NamPost, 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 *

Law Reform and Development Commission The Law Reform and Development Commission (LRDC) is a government commission established in 1992 in Namibia, that creates reports making recommendations for legal reforms. In 2014, ''New Era'' reported that the Ministry of Justice was not seriously ...

(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 Tourism Board The Namibia Tourism Board (NTB) is mandated by the Namibian Government as the regulatory and marketing body for tourism activities in Namibia, and is headquartered in Windhoek, Namibia. The NTB was established by the Namibia Tourism Board Act, ...

(NTB), the regulatory and marketing body for tourism activities in

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 Traditional marriage may refer to: *Marriage and its customs and practices in a particular culture *Christian views on marriage From the earliest days of the Christian faith, Christians have honored ''holy matrimony'' (as Christian marriages are ...

, 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