A Committee, also called Parliamentary Standing or Portfolio Committee, is a grouping made up of Back Bench Members of Parliament.  They meet on a regular basis to discuss issues that are referred to them by the National Assembly or National Council.

Committees receive and consider legislative proposals and make recommendations to the National Assembly. By virtue of the nature of their business, these Committees require citizens to be part of the decision- making process, while citizens themselves, also want to be part of the process. Committees are therefore the key to peoples' participation, and that participation, in turn, is the key to true democracy. It is consequently of the utmost importance to these Committees that the nation, be afforded the opportunity to make their input into parliamentary enactments. People are therefore encouraged to make representations regarding their concerns and those of specific people in their community, in respect of Bills, to the Standing Committees concerned. This will enable the Committees to fully understand how these Bills could affect individuals and families and to make recommendations for amendments where necessary.

Article 59 of the Namibian Constitution makes provision for Rules of Procedure, Committees and Standing Orders, which reads as follows:

(a) The National Assembly may make such rules of procedure for the conduct of its business and proceedings and may also make such rules for the establishing, functioning and procedures of committees, and formulate such standing orders, as may appear to it to be expedient or necessary.

(b) The, National Assembly shall in its rules of procedure make provision for such disclosure as may be considered to be appropriate in regard to the financial or business affairs of its members.

(c) For the purposes of exercising its powers and performing its functions any committee of the National Assembly established in terms of Sub-article (1) hereof shall have the power to subpoena persons to appear before it to give evidence on oath and to produce any documents required by it.

In terms of Rule 38 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly, the Speaker of the Assembly shall announce the names of members appointed to serve on a committee.

The Namibian Parliamentary Committees generally have the following of reference.

(a) To receive and consider policy documents and statements from the Offices, Ministries and Agencies within the purview of the Committee.

(b) To receive and consider legislative proposals, submitted to the Committee.

(c) To make recommendations regarding proposed legislation to the National Assembly.

(d) To secure attendance from Ministries, and officials of Offices, Ministries and Statutory Agencies in order to receive reports on the performance of the respective Offices, Ministries and Agencies.

(e) To receive submissions from citizens whether individually or through sectoral groups or other organisations, regarding the operations of the various Offices, Ministries and or Agencies.

(f) To organise meetings between citizens, community groups, sectoral organisations, Members of Parliament and representatives of Offices, Ministries as may be necessary to facilitate an exchange of views regarding the operations of- Government Agencies and Offices, Ministries, and their effects on communities and groups in the society.

(9) To make recommendations to Offices,Ministries and Agencies for the enhancement of their policies, functions and administrative operations.

The composition of the members of Parliamentary Committees is based on the principle of proportional representation based on the political parties represented in the National Assembly. Members of Committees are nominated by their respective political parties. Except where otherwise provided by the standing orders or by special direction of the House, a standing/select committee may elect a chairperson and a deputy from amongst its members. It has become convention that a member of the official opposition chairs the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. The Speaker of the Assembly announces the names of members appointed to serve on a committee in the House.

Generally in terms of the rules Committee meetings are held in camera and are usually formal and well structured.

The Committee of Privileges may, by way of a summons issued in terms of section 15 of the Powers, Privileges and lmmunities Act, 1996 (Act 17 of 1996), subpoena any person to attend before it and to give evidence or to produce any document or thing in the possession or custody or under the control of that person. By resolution of the National Assembly these powers may be exercised by any Namibian Parliamentary Standing or Select Committee. It should, however, be mentioned that it has to date not yet been necessary to invoke these powers, as everybody concerned has thus far responded to an official letter requesting their presence at a specific Committee meeting or Public (investigative) Hearing.

Public Hearings are usually conducted in as many of the thirteen regions as the budget allows and tends to be more informal. Committee Reports are normally drafted by the Committee Services Secretariat, in consultation with the relevant Committee, and become public documents once they have been tabled in the National Assembly.

After receiving the audited accounts and the reports on the appropriation accounts of the various Government Ministries, Local Authorities, Parastatals and other Bodies from the Auditor General, the National Assembly refers them to its Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PAC). The PAC is required to examine the audited accounts and the associated reports, take evidence from the Accounting Officers of the ministries and the various other institutions and, on the basis of their examination, make recommendations to the National Assembly.

The Auditor General and his office provide considerable support to the PAC in its work. The support is by way of advice and guidance to the Committee and providing assistance to the Committee's secretariat, which involves drafting the Committee's reports to the National Assembly. The ultimate responsibility for these reports, however, rests with the PAC.

From Independence in 1990 until approximately April 1996, there were basically only three Standing Committees in operation namely Standing Rules and Orders and Internal Arrangements; Ombudsman and Public Accounts. Ad hoc/Select Committees were appointed as and when needed

The National Assembly has since made great strides, due to the fact that most of its committees have been operationalised, which has opened the door to interactive scrutiny of the bills before the House.

The increase in the referrals of bills to committees, has caused a significant increase in the workload of the Directorate Committee Services. More important, however, is the fact that it also brought about increased public participation on proposed legislation. Various Committees consequently engaged in extensive public hearings on the proposed legislation referred to them by the National Assembly.

Although public interest in some of these hearings had not been satisfactory, the positive impact of public hearings on Namibia's democracy, has been very encouraging and the Directorate Committee Services has played a very significant role in the preparation and tabling of the relevant reports.