Moses Magadza
On Thursday, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) signed the Agreement to Amend the SADC Treaty, establishing the SADC Parliamentary Forum to set up a SADC Parliament.
The President of the DRC, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, delegated Kalala Mayiba Constantin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the DRC to Angola, to sign the agreement at the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana. The DRC became the 12th SADC Member State to sign, reaching the required 12 of the 16 SADC Member States.
According to SADC PF Secretary General, Boemo Sekgoma, the work to finalise the Protocol on the SADC Parliament, which requires signature and ratification by two-thirds of SADC Member States, has begun in earnest now that the DRC has signed the amendment to establish the SADC Parliament under Article 9(1) of the SADC Treaty.
During the 55th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum that the National Assembly of Angola hosted, Zambia became the 11th SADC Member State to sign the Agreement.
The SADC PF President and Speaker of the National Assembly of the Seychelles, Roger Mancienne, called for the region to vote together on the amendment to the SADC Treaty and Protocol during that plenary.
In this context, it was recommended that countries that had not signed the agreement be persuaded to sign so that no SADC member state is left behind.
Accordingly, efforts to bring Botswana, Madagascar and Mauritius on board are intensifying.
Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, chairs a SADC PF Lobby Group consisting of five Speakers of Parliament, including those from Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, and Angola.
He has enthusiastically embraced the DRC signing.
“I am extremely thrilled, as the team leader of the lobby group, that this has happened after 10 years of lobbying for the transformation of SADC PF into a SADC Regional Parliament. We look forward to the adoption of the SADC Transformation Protocol being adopted at the upcoming SADC Summit under the chairmanship of the President of Zimbabwe, Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, this August,” he said.
He added, “The Lobby Team will engage Botswana, Madagascar and Mauritius to also sign up in the spirit of the parliamentary college.”
According to Sekgoma, the agreement signed by the required 12 SADC member states is “a culmination of the wishes of the heads of state and government and their commitment to parliamentary democracy.”
She appreciated the “swiftness” with which the SADC Member States signed the Agreement.
“It says a lot about the cooperation between the SADC Secretariat and the SADC PF and the effectiveness of the task team that was initially led by Mrs Yapoka Mungandi in making sure that we roll over all the stones and prepare the ground to get to where we are,” she said.
Sekgoma said the agreement signing shows, too, that the executive and parliament can work together. She said that with the agreement now signed, work on the protocol for the SADC Parliament would begin.
“The Protocol will be circulated in line with a resolution of the SADC Summit to shape the SADC Parliament,” she said.
She reiterated calls for all SADC member states to sign the agreement.
“The resolution of the 55th Plenary of SADC PF is clear. We do not want an asymmetry that will leave others behind. The agreement remains open for signing by member states that are yet to sign,” she stressed.
