Windhoek
Presidential Affairs Minister Frans Kapofi has revealed that the basic salary of the vice-president is 15 percent more than that of the prime minister.
The PM currently earns over N$1.2 million per year, including benefits.
Kapofi revealed this in the National Assembly yesterday when he tabled the Presidential Remunerations and Other Benefits Bill.
The Bill was drafted to bring into effect the provision of the Third Constitutional Amendments Act of 2014, which provides for the appointment of the vice-president by the head of state.
There is currently no law that provides for the remuneration of the vice-president, in this case, Dr Nicky Iyambo, whom President Hage Geingob appointed on March 11, 2015.
The tabling of the Bill comes as a relief for taxpayers who were in the dark regarding the exact salary of Iyambo – after a year in office.
It would also put to rest concerns raised by the opposition over the legality of remunerating Iyambo in the absence of a legislative tool to validate such payment.
Kapofi said that nothing unlawful or illegal was done. To ensure that nothing untoward is done with respect to the remuneration, he said, Geingob issued a proclamation by which the vice-president was declared a political office-bearer, in terms of section 8 of the Public Office-Bearers Commission Act, 2005 No. 3.
This, he says, made it possible for a determination to be made regarding the vice-president’s remuneration and benefits.
“This Bill I am tabling today will give full legislative effect to the action taken by the president last year,” he noted.
Kapofi said the Bill is not intended to make any adjustments to Geingob’s salary, but rather to create a legal framework for the vice-president’s remuneration.
Rather, he said, the Bill presents the salary payable to the president at 15 percent above the remuneration allocated to the vice-president.
“I wish to emphasise that the promulgation of this Bill establishes a legislative framework for remuneration of the vice-president and his spouse, as contemplated in the proclamation by the president last year.”
Once promulgated, the Bill will repeal the Presidential Remuneration and Other Benefits Act, 2012 (Act No. 15 of 2012), which did not make provision for the remuneration of the vice-president, because such a position did not previously exist since independence.
“Our government is committed to transparency and accountability. It is for this reason that the remuneration of our head of state and the vice-president is subject to debate here in our parliament by the elected representatives of the Namibian people. This is in line with the principle of checks and balances as provided for in the supreme law of the land,” he stated.
Some of the main provisions in the Bill cover remuneration payable to the president and the vice-president, allowances payable to presidential spouses and medical aid.
These disbursements, Kapofi said, will be made from the State Revenue Fund and will be exempt from tax.
The Bill is to undergo further discussion and finalisation.
