Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Speaker of the National Assembly Mr. Tlohang Sekhamane says Members of Parliament have power to ensure the welfare of the people who elected them by making laws.
This he said when officiating the opening of the 17th Southern African Development Community Organization of Public Accounts Committees (SADCOPAC) and the 21st Annual General Meeting held at Manthabiseng Convention Centre from Monday, under the theme ” Strengthening Oversight for Sustainable Development: Enhancing Parliamentary Engagement in Public Financial Management.”
Mr. Sekhamane said the people have put in place a system to ensure that there is no corruption, maladministration, and impunity thus the Parliament has to ensure their welfare.
He also reminded delegates that Parliament represents the people and their wealth, makes laws, allocates the money and oversees the manner in which that money is spent.
“This in a nutshell is the work of Parliament, to look after the welfare of citizens, primarily to monitor the manner in which the national wealth is created and spent” he stressed.
He further elaborated that the duty of Parliament is to ensure the generation of wealth before allocating money, saying the significant monitoring function allocated to Parliament in Lesotho through the National Strategic Development Plan II, is vital in this regard since Parliament is represented at the monitoring level.
“Parliament is the most powerful institution in any country and there is no excuse that people are fighting corruption fashionably in 2025 and there is no reason if the Public Accounts Committees and the SADCOPAC, uniting all of them, has existed since 2003” he added.
Speaking at the same event, SADCOPAC Chairperson Mr. Warren Mwambazi said SADCOPAC contributed immensely towards promoting good governance, saying PACs need to achieve oversight through capacity building amongst others.
He also said Members of Parliament and SADC are major cornerstones to ensure committees promote accountability and good governance.
Lesotho PAC Chairperson and also SADCOPAC Deputy Secretary Mrs. Machabana Lemphane Letsie said the conference marked a milestone in the history of Lesotho as it was held for the first time, saying the main challenge facing PACs in Africa is implementation of decisions thus the conference is vital as it will create a platform for delegates to discuss how challenges could be overcome.
On the other hand, Parliamentary Chair of Chairs Mr. Mokhothu Makhalanyane said in SADC, the cost of corruption is visible in incomplete infrastructure, collapsed hospitals, ghost projects, unpaid civil servants and rising debt with little development return, urging delegates to confront the cancer of corruption.
The conference saw participation of 149 delegates from Burundi, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Ghana, Kenya, Eswatini, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
SADCOPAC was launched in October 2003, South Africa and aims to amongst others,build capacity and expertise among member states to diligently and efficiently carry out their oversight functions and duties, improve the effectiveness of PACs or similar committees in the SADC region as well as to work with the governments and their relevant role players in meeting the people’s expectations of sound and accountable governance.
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