SADC Parliamentary Forum – Windhoek Observer

19 Jul

SADC PF SG: Leave no one behind

ObserverNational NewsMs Boemo Mmandu-Sekgoma, SADC Parliamentary Forum

From Moses Magadza in Malawi LILONGWE- THE Secretary General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Ms Boemo Mmandu-Sekgoma says there is a need to consider how to boost intra-Africa trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and ensure that African women are empowered through entrepreneurship, to tap into the envisaged economic gains. Mmandu-Sekgoma made the call in a speech at the official opening session of the 51st Plenary Assembly Session of the Forum on 11 July, 2022 in Lilongwe, Malawi. “As we empower young girls through education, women must be empowered through opportunities which are offered by an equitable…

15 Jul

Model law on PFM Adopted

ObserverNational NewsModel law on PFM Adopted, Right Honourable Nellie Butete Kashumba Mutti, SADC Parliamentary Forum

Moses Magadza in Malawi LILONGWE – The 51st Plenary Assembly session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum has today (14 July, 2022) adopted the much-anticipated Model Law on Public Financial Management (PFM), raising hopes in a region in which lack of accountability in the use of public funds has perennially jinxed socioeconomic development. The Plenary Assembly is the highest decision making body of SADC PF, the deliberative body that brings together 15 national parliaments of the SADC PF. It met under hybrid conditions - largely physically and partly virtually - in the Malawian capital city of Lilongwe and was taken through…

13 Jul

SADC PF roots for renewable energy

ObserverObserver MoneyChristophe Mboso N’kodi Pwanga, SADC Parliamentary Forum, SADC PF roots for renewable energy

Moses Magadza in Malawi LILONGWE - THE Southern Africa Development Community must turn to green renewable energy if it is to become self-sufficient in its energy needs. This was said by Honorable Christophe Mboso N’kodi Pwanga, the President of the SADC Parliamentary Forum when he spoke at the start of a symposium during the opening session of the 51st Plenary Assembly of the Forum in Lilongwe, Malawi yesterday (11 July 2022). Honourable Mboso, who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said it would be amiss if the SADC, an interconnected region,…

09 Jul

SADC PF wants right to health enforceable

ObserverNational NewsDr Saleem Muhammad (UNAIDS) and Ms. Lilian Mworeko, Ms Boemo Mmandu-Sekgoma, SADC Parliamentary Forum, SADC PF wants right to health enforceable

Moses Magadza THE Secretary General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Ms Boemo Mmandu-Sekgoma has made the case for the right to health to be recognised as a justiciable one that can be enforced in the courts of law, which is not the case in most African countries. Mmandu-Sekgoma made the call when she addressed the opening session of the second continental conference on the impact of Covid-19 on HIV responses in Africa that was held in Windhoek, Namibia on 30 June, 2022. The conference was organised by the reconstituted Committee on the Protection of PLHIV under the aegis of the…

10 May

“Public finances must impact society” … as Model Law on Public Financial Management awaits adoption

ObserverNational NewsDr Situmbeko Musokotwane, Members of Parliament, Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (RWPC), SADC Parliamentary Forum, Zambia’s Minister of Finance and National Planning

By Moses Magadza and Clare Musonda Standing Committees of the SADC Parliamentary Forum and the Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (RWPC) have unanimously endorsed a draft SADC Model Law on Public Financial Management (PFM) and will soon commend it to the highest decision body of the Forum, the Plenary Assembly, for adoption. The endorsement happened at the end of a two-day consultation over the draft Model Law on PFM that took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, recently. The validation was the climax of a series of similar engagements with different stakeholders over several weeks, as the SADC PF sought buy-in and…

07 Mar

Concern over the need to regulate cryptocurrencies

ObserverUncategorisedConcern over the need to regulate cryptocurrencies, counter-financing of terrorism laws, Mr Pepukai Chivore, SADC Parliamentary Forum, The SADC Model Law on Public Financial Management

Moses Magadza and Clare Musonda The SADC Model Law on Public Financial Management (PFM) that the SADC Parliamentary Forum is developing has attracted more praise, with some people commending it for touching, albeit in passing, on cryptocurrencies while others have called for more guidance on the phenomenon. A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that works as a medium of exchange through a computer network. Media reports say that last year, money laundering through cryptocurrencies increased by 30 percent and involved about US$8,6 billion. Cryptocurrencies constitute a rapidly developing phenomenon that is being aggressively marketed, especially on social media platforms. Some…

17 Mar

Call to track, measure women’s progress

ObserverObserver MoneyBoemo Sekgoma, International Women’s Day, SADC Parliamentary Forum

Moses Magadza As the world marked International Women’s Day last week, the Secretary General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Ms Boemo Sekgoma, called for an advanced framework for tracking and measuring key indicators to ensure progress of women in political participation. Sekgoma made the call when she delivered keynote remarks during a virtual international engagement meant to discuss ways of enhancing women’s political participation. She noted that although “women's political participation is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality, democracy and for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” more remains to be done to ensure their meaningful political…

12 Dec

MPs call for unity against destructive locusts

ObserverUncategorisedAML, MPs call for unity against destructive locusts, SADC Parliamentary Forum

Moses Magadza Windhoek – Members of Parliament from southern Africa who represent their national parliaments on the SADC Parliamentary Forum are urging SADC Member States to unite against African Migratory Locusts (AML) that have been reported in several countries. Meteorologists have forecasted normal to above normal rainfall in much of the SADC Region during the 2020-2021 crop growing season. The predictions have raised hopes of bumper harvests in a region in which more than 44 million people are food insecure due to droughts and outbreaks of pests and crop diseases. From May 2020, the remarkably destructive AML, which can wipe…

09 Dec

MPs call for debt waiver

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, SADC Parliamentary Forum

Moses Magadza WINDHOEK – The 48th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum has adopted a motion exhorting the regional body to support an initiative by Speakers and heads of African national parliaments to call for total cancellation of the continent’s foreign debt. Many African countries are heavily indebted to industrialised countries and financial bodies that include the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Consequently, some countries have been failing to meet the human needs of their citizens. Against this backdrop, the Speaker of the Parliament of South Africa, Honourable Thandi Modise, tabled the motion through South…

08 Dec

DRC backs SADC Parliament bid

ObserverObserver MoneySADC Parliamentary Forum, SADC Regional Parliament

Moses Magadza The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Professor Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba , has pronounced his country’s support to efforts to transform the SADC Parliamentary Forum into a SADC Regional Parliament as his country assumed the presidency of the SADC PF. Ilunkamba spoke about the need for a SADC Parliament when he officially opened the 48th Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum on Friday. The DRC virtually hosted the Plenary which brought together over 120 members of Parliament and other delegates from 14 of the SADC PF Member States over two days. He recalled that…