Clik here to view.
(in the pic – King Letsie iii addressing Parliament). SADC Facilitator and South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa attending the reconvening of the Kingdom of Lesotho’s Parliament on the by His Majesty, King Letsie III. Elmond Jiyane, GCIS. 17/10/2014
Billy Ntaote
THE SOUTHERN African Development Community (SADC) Oversight Committee will be in the National Assembly to observe proceedings when the house reconvenes tomorrow.
The house re-opens after being adjourned indefinitely by National Assembly Speaker Ntlhoi Motsamai on 22 November, 2016. It was adjourned at a time when the opposition sought to move a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Montsuoe Lethoba which was seen as a dress rehearsal for the bigger no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili-led seven party coalition government.
The opposition, comprising of the All Basotho Convention, Alliance for Democrats (AD), Basotho National Party (BNP) and Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL), this week vowed to press on with the no-confidence motion.
And tomorrow, the SADC Oversight Committee, which is an early warning mechanism on Lesotho’s instability, shall be present in the house to observe how the National Assembly’s business is conducted.
The SADC oversight Committee is led by retired Tanzanian judge, Justice Frederic Mwita Werema and the 10-member Oversight Committee was established by an Extraordinary Summit of the Double Troika held on 3 July 2015 in Pretoria, South Africa to monitor the implementation of SADC decisions regarding the political and security situation.
The committee will observe proceedings as part of its task of providing assistance in the implementation of constitutional, security and public sector reforms in Lesotho.
Other members of the committee include Justice Werema’s deputy, Mamo Vusie Masango from Swaziland, Lieutenant-General Samuel Albert Mdambo (Tanzania), Patrick Balopi (Botswana), Major-General Jefferson Tlhokwane (Botswana), Brigadier Mnisi (South Africa), Colonel Omar Nala (Swaziland), Jose Filomemo da Fonsenca (Angola), and Ambassador Amba Sheyo (Tanzania).
The committee recently met with Ms Motsamai as part of its consultations with various stakeholders in the country.
Contacted for comment, National Assembly Clerk, Advocate King’s Counsel Fine Maema, confirmed the SADC Oversight Committee’s presence in the Speaker’s Gallery during the opening of the house tomorrow.
