Regional and Local Government

For purposes of regional and local government, Namibia shall be divided into regional and local units, which shall consist of such region and Local Authorities as may be determined and defined by Act of Parliament.

The delineation of the boundaries of the regions and Local Authorities referred to in Sub-Article (1) hereof shall be geographical only, without any reference to the race, colour or ethnic origin of the inhabitants of such areas.

Every organ of regional and local government shall have a Council as the principal governing body, freely elected in accordance with this Constitution and the Act of Parliament referred to in Sub-Article (1) hereof, with an executive and administration which shall carry out all lawful resolutions and policies of such Council, subject to this Constitution and any other relevant laws.

For the purposes of this Chapter, a Local Authority shall include all municipalities, communities, village councils and other organs of local government defined and constituted by Act of Parliament.

There shall be a Council of Traditional Leaders to be established in terms of an Act of Parliament in order to advise the President on the control and utilization of communal land and on all such other matters as may be referred to it by the President for advice.

The boundaries of regions and constituencies shall be determined by the President by Proclamation on the recommendation of the Boundaries Delimitation and Demarcation Commission established by Article 104(1) in accordance with the principles set out in Article 102(2) hereof.

The boundaries of regions and constituencies may be changed, new regions and constituencies may be created and regions and constituencies may be merged but only in accordance with the procedure provided for in Sub-Article (1).

A Regional Council shall be established for every region the boundaries of which have been determined in accordance with Sub-Articles (1) and (2) hereof.

There shall be a Boundaries Delimitation and Demarcation Commission which shall - (a) delimit and demarcate the boundaries of Namibia subject to Article 1(4); (b) recommend the determination of the boundaries and names of regions, constituencies and local authorities in accordance with this Constitution and the provisions of an Act of Parliament, and shall report thereon to the President.

The Boundaries Delimitation and Demarcation Commission shall consist of a full-time Chairperson and other part-time Commissioners as may be appointed by the President with the approval of the National Assembly.

An Act of Parliament may further regulate any matter not expressly provided for by this Constitution, including the method of arriving at a decision.

Every Regional Council shall consist of a number of persons determined in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 103(1) for the particular region for which that Regional Council has been established, and who are qualified to be elected to the National Council.

Each region shall be divided into constituencies the boundaries of which shall be fixed by the Boundaries Delimitation and Demarcation Commission in accordance with the provisions of an Act of Parliament and this Constitution: provided that there shall be no fewer than six (6) and no more than twelve (12) constituencies in each region.

Each constituency shall elect one member to the Regional Council for the region in which it is situated.

The elections shall be by secret ballot to be conducted in accordance with the provisions of an Act of Parliament, and the candidate receiving the most votes in any constituency shall be the elected member of the Regional Council for that constituency.

All Regional Council elections for the various regions of Namibia shall be held on the same day.

The date for Regional Council elections shall be determined by the President by Proclamation in the Gazette.

Members of Regional Councils are entitled to such remuneration and allowances and other benefits as determined in accordance with an Act of Parliament.

Regional Councils shall have the following powers: (a) to elect members to the National Council; (b) to exercise within the region for which they have been constituted such executive powers and to perform such duties in connection therewith as may be assigned to them by Act of Parliament and as may be delegated to them by the President; (c) to raise revenue, or share in the revenue raised by the central Government within the regions for which they have been established, as may be determined by Act of Parliament; (d) to exercise powers, perform any other functions and make such by-laws or regulations as may be determined by Act of Parliament.

Each Regional Council shall elect from amongst its members a Management Committee, which shall be vested with executive powers in accordance with the provisions of an Act of Parliament.

The Management Committee shall have a Chairperson to be elected by the members of the Regional Council at the time that they elect the Management Committee, and such Chairperson shall preside at meetings of his or her Regional Council.

The Chairperson and the members of the Management Committee shall hold office for two (2) years and six (6) months and shall be eligible for re-election.

The holding and conducting of meetings of Regional Councils, the filling of casual vacancies on Regional Councils and the manner of appointing staff members the method of determining their conditions of service any other matter relating to their employment and the availing of staff members in the public service by the Public Service Commission to the Regional Councils, as well as all other matters dealing with or incidental to the administration and functioning of Regional Councils, shall be determined by Act of Parliament.

An Act of Parliament may regulate the employment of staff members to perform work for Regional Councils.

The Act referred to in Sub-Article (2) may provide for the employment of staff members by regional councils or may provide that staff members are employed in the public service and may provide for the manner in which staff members employed in the public service are made available to Regional Councils.

The Act referred to in Sub-Article (2) may also provide for the transfer of staff members employed by Regional Councils to the public service and their subsequent making available to Regional Councils.

The Act referred to in Sub-Article (2) may also provide for any other matter relating to the employment, conditions of service, disciplinary matters of the staff members in question and any matter that is necessary, incidental or ancillary to the employment of the staff members in question.

The President shall appoint Regional Governors as political heads of the regions, and an Act of Parliament shall further prescribe their powers and functions.

Regional Governors shall serve at the pleasure of the President.

Subject to this Constitution or any other law, a Regional Governor shall oversee the exercise of any executive function of Government in the region for which he or she is the Regional Governor, and he or she shall be the link between the central Government and the Regional Council, Local Authorities and Traditional Leaders in the region concerned.

In the performance of his or her functions, a Regional Governor may in writing require the Regional Council of the region of which he or she is the Regional Governor to convene urgent special sessions and address any matter.

A Regional Governor shall attend a meeting of the Regional Council of the region for which he or she is the Regional Governor once every year, which meeting shall occur after the President and Cabinet attend Parliament in terms of Article 32(2) hereof.

During the meeting referred to in Sub-Article (5), the Regional Governor shall address the Regional Council on the state of the region, planned activities of the central Government in the region, report on the activities of the central Government of the previous year in the region and be available to respond to questions.

The President or the Minister responsible for regional government may assign further functions to Regional Governors and Regional Governors shall report to the President.

Local Authorities shall be established in accordance with the provisions of Article 102 hereof.

The boundaries of Local Authorities, the election of Councils to administer the affairs of Local Authorities, the method of electing persons to Local Authority Councils, the methods of raising revenue for Local Authorities, the remuneration of Local Authority Councillors and all other matters dealing with or incidental to the administration and functioning of Local Authorities, shall be determined by Act of Parliament.

Persons shall be qualified to vote in elections for Local Authority Councils if such persons have been resident within the jurisdiction of a Local Authority for not less than one (1) year immediately prior to such election and if such persons are qualified to vote in elections for the National Assembly.

Different provisions may be made by the Act of Parliament referred to in Sub-Article (2) hereof in regard to different types of Local Authorities.

All by-laws or regulations made by Local Authorities pursuant to powers vested in them by Act of Parliament shall be tabled in the National Assembly and shall cease to be of force if a resolution to that effect is passed by the National Assembly.