{"id":22528,"date":"2022-12-09T10:02:01","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T10:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/sekhamane-speaks-out"},"modified":"2022-12-09T10:02:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T10:02:01","slug":"sekhamane-speaks-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/sekhamane-speaks-out","title":{"rendered":"Sekhamane Speaks Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>NEWLY minted Speaker of the National Assembly, Tlohang Sekhamane, has blamed politics of patronage for the \u201cpoor calibre\u201d of legislators over the years.<\/p>\n

Mr Sekhamane said due to the poor calibre of some of the MPs, parliament had become \u201cnegligent and toothless to a point where it did not move even an inch\u201d despite reports of either stolen or unaccounted for public funds, thus failing dismally to discharge its oversight function over the executive.<\/p>\n

Echoing the meritocracy mantra of his Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party, he said parliament could only deliver on its law-making and oversight mandate if the august house was comprised \u201conly of people who are up for the task\u201d.<\/p>\n

He was speaking exclusively to the Lesotho Times in his first media interview since his election late last month. \u201cI very strongly believe that you should only give an important job to people who can do it,\u201d Mr Sekhamane said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way people are elected to parliament right now leaves a lot to be desired, vis-a\u0300-vis their ability to do what they have been elected to do. I think there\u2019s a huge gap there.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because somebody\u2019s father was a good person in charge of burial societies or helping the elderly and so on, it doesn\u2019t qualify that person to go to parliament.<\/p>\n

Some will say this man has a right to go to parliament because his grandfather was a great man who did so many things for the nation. Right now, many people get rewarded just like that.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t believe in that. I believe that the nation should move towards a space where everyone who is in parliament and is called an honourable member, truly deserves that title because of merit.<\/p>\n

\u201cLately, I have seen an attempt in some quarters to sift through and try to pick people who are equal to the job. I think that should be encouraged,\u201d Mr Sekhamane added.<\/p>\n

This was probably in reference to the RFP\u2019s stated policy of choosing its election candidates and all other office bearers on the basis of meritocracy not just popularity with party supporters.<\/p>\n

The new speaker said due to its failure to choose meritorious candidates, the nation was now counting the cost of the MPs\u2019 failures to pass important laws and to hold the executive accountable for public funds that had either been stolen or could not be accounted for.<\/p>\n

He was referring to the M6, 1 billion government funds which Auditor General, Monica Besetsa, said could not be accounted for in the 2020\/21 financial year. Ms Besetsa made the findings in her latest report on government revenues for the financial year which ended on 31 March 2021.<\/p>\n

In his speech shortly after being sworn into office on 28 October 2022 at Setsoto Stadium, Maseru, RFP leader and Prime Minister Sam Matekane said the probe into the funds, which could not be accounted for by the previous Majoro-led government, must begin and the findings should be made public within 15 days of the completion of the probe.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the issue, Mr Sekhamane said, \u201cAs a country, we have become very notorious for being careless people\u201d. \u201cWe have a careless parliament by the way.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been told of a missing M6, 1 billion, we\u2019ve also been told of the theft of more than M50 million (by finance ministry staffers). These are massive amounts but you don\u2019t hear parliament pronouncing itself strongly on these matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing is that we have four estates, namely, parliament, the executive, the judiciary and the media.<\/p>\n

As the legislative arm of state, parliament makes laws, the executive implements the same laws while judiciary interprets them. And the media plays a watchdog role over the other three arms of state.<\/p>\n

The media can only shout and tell the nation that money is being stolen. It cannot do anything else. But parliament is the only institution charged with the oversight function.<\/p>\n

It has teeth and should be using them to bite, to act against the theft and misappropriation of public funds. Yet it is not performing its oversight function,\u201d Mr Sekhamane said, adding that this was due to the poor calibre of MPs.<\/p>\n

He also bemoaned the fact the previous parliament had failed to pass constitutional amendments to pave way for the implementation of multi-sector reforms which were recommended by SADC in 2016.<\/p>\n

He said during his tenure he would strive to ensure that MPs are capacitated and \u201cguided in a manner that benefits Basotho\u201d. \u201cParliament must make laws and stop the theft of public funds.<\/p>\n

Right now, we are embarrassed that we were not able to pass the reforms bills. These things were expected of us by our people, SADC and our development partners.<\/p>\n

Everybody had expectations. It\u2019s not an easy thing to pass laws. But then again, I have an appreciation of what needs to be done and how to talk to people so that they can deliver on their mandate.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, the 11th Parliament will make laws. Some of these laws are obsolete. There are many laws that have to passed or amended; laws to do with empowerment of women, to deal with gender-based violence.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m determined to ensure that priority laws can actually pass in the 11th Parliament, without further ado,\u201d Mr Sekhamane said. He said as part of efforts to make parliament more effective, it would have to decentralise its activities from time to time and meet in various districts to hear the people\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also the issue of parliament\u2019s proximity to the people.<\/p>\n

Parliament is too far from the people. This is the people\u2019s parliament, and it must go to the people. Parliament must go to Mokhotlong, it must go to Qacha\u2019s Nek.<\/p>\n

The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker go there. MPs should go to the people to say what they are doing. How that will be organised, I don\u2019t know but it will be organised under my leadership.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t have people who sit in Maseru and make laws for people who are at Sehlabathebe. Parliament must go the people. \u201d He said it defied logic that some people had been MPs for five years or more \u201cbut still lack expertise in terms of parliamentary matters\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMPs should be learning a lot. We have a library at parliament building; we have access to SADC, the AU, the Commonwealth and other important bodies.<\/p>\n

Our people must benefit from such. When leaving parliament, MPs should not be the same as they were when they first came to parliament,\u201d Mr Sekhamane said.<\/p>\n

He said even if he was elected on an RFP ticket, he would exercise his responsibilities in a non-partisan manner to ensure that the 11th Parliament would be worth its weight in gold to the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to say yesterday I was in another space and that was the political space. Today, I am in a different space, that of Speaker of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d be extremely worried if people were to perceive me as a member of a party or a section of society. I want my people to trust me to do a neutral job, without fear or favour to any side.<\/p>\n

I want MPs to trust me to provide guidance in terms of parliamentary processes to help the country and not any political party. I will strive to be a neutral Speaker and to facilitate the affairs of parliament in manner that benefits the people of this country,\u201d Mr Sekhamane said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. NEWLY minted Speaker of the National Assembly, Tlohang Sekhamane, has blamed politics of patronage for the \u201cpoor calibre\u201d of legislators over the years. Mr Sekhamane said due to the poor calibre of some of the MPs, parliament had become \u201cnegligent and toothless to a point where it did not move even an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":22527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,246,245,163],"class_list":["post-22528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-parliament"],"yoast_head":"\nSekhamane Speaks Out - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/sekhamane-speaks-out\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sekhamane Speaks Out\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Lesotho. NEWLY minted Speaker of the National Assembly, Tlohang Sekhamane, has blamed politics of patronage for the \u201cpoor calibre\u201d of legislators over the years. 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