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SADC PF President praises Namibia’s leadership, urges robust regional parliamentary integration
06 May 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumBy Moses Magadza
WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA - The President of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF), Hon. Justin Tokely, has saluted Namibia’s long-standing contribution to regional integration and parliamentary diplomacy, and called for sustained collaboration as the Forum prepares to transition into a fully-fledged regional parliament.
Speaking during a courtesy call on Wednesday by members of the Executive Committee of the SADC PF on the newly inaugurated President of Namibia, Her Excellency Madam Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Hon. Tokely congratulated her on her historic ascension as the country’s first female Head of State.
“Your recent assumption of office is a source of inspiration to our entire region. It represents a landmark victory for gender equality in African leadership,” he said.
Growing calls for stronger Parliamentary oversight of prisons in Southern Africa
06 May 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumBy Moses Magadza in Johannesburg, South Africa
A joint sitting of five standing committees of the SADC Parliamentary Forum began in Johannesburg South Africa on Thursday with the Secretary General of the SADC PF, Ms. Boemo Sekgoma, calling for enhanced parliamentary oversight of prisons across the Southern African region.
The Joint Session follows separate standing committee meetings that took place on Wednesday and is deliberating on a proposed Model Law on Prison Oversight to be developed by the SADC PF with the financial support of Sweden.
Addressing delegates at the opening of the two-day session, Ms. Sekgoma stated that the state of prison systems reflects the health of democracy and the extent to which nations uphold human rights and justice.
SADC PF Committee proposes bold recommendations on prison oversight
06 May 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumBy Moses Magadza in Johannesburg, South Africa
A one-day meeting of the SADC Parliamentary Forum’s Standing Committee on Human and Social Development and Special Programmes (HSDSP) ended in Johannesburg on Wednesday with strong calls for systemic reform, strengthened oversight, and improved healthcare in prisons across the region.
The committee (one of five standing committees of the SADC PF that met separately on Wednesday ahead of a joint session scheduled for 24 April 2025) engaged in robust deliberations informed by expert presentations and video testimonies by regional judges who had undertaken prison visits. The judges described alarming conditions marked by overcrowding, poor sanitation, and the incarceration of minor offenders alongside hardened criminals.
Experts call for better Prison oversight to combat diseases, protect rights
24 Apr 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumBy Moses Magadza in Johannesburg, South Africa
Experts this week called for better prison oversight to combat communicable diseases and protect the rights of everyone.
They also welcomed plans to develop a SADC Model Law on Prison Oversight by the SADC Parliamentary Forum with support from Sweden.
Ms Michaela Clayton, the interim Director for AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) expressed her organisation’s support for the envisaged model law. She noted that stark health inequalities and systemic neglect were fuelling the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), HIV, hepatitis B and C in prisons.
OPENING REMARKS BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL ON THE OCCASION OF THE JOINT SESSION OF STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE SADC-PF ON PRISON OVERSIGHT 23RD-24TH APRIL 2025
24 Apr 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumHonourable Members, dear Colleagues and Distinguished Participants,
It is with immense pleasure that I address this august Session as a prelude to the consideration of the Prison Oversight Model Law framework.
The Joint Session of Standing Committees of the SADC-PF has always been a pivotal platform to advance critical themes in a cross-cutting manner. At the Forum, we strongly believe that Committees should not operate in silos and that ideas must be exchanged and ventilated between MPs as peers, especially on themes which concern all Committees.
Calls for Model Law to transform prisons into centres of reform and hope
24 Apr 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumBy Moses Magadza Johannesburg, South Africa
The Chairperson of the Human and Social Development and Special Programmes Committee of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF), Honourable Mope Khati, has urged Members of Parliament to help in transforming the region’s prison systems through the development of a progressive Model Law on Prison Oversight.
Speaking during the official opening of the Standing Committee’s statutory meeting in Johannesburg, Hon Khati paid tribute to the late Clerk of the National Assembly of Zambia, Mr Roy Ngulube.
SADC PF Committees set to convene to lay foundation for Prison Oversight Model Law
21 Apr 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumWindhoek, Namibia – The Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) will host a Joint Session of its Standing Committees from 23 to 25 April 2025 under the theme: “Towards Developing a SADC Model Law on Prison Oversight.”
The Secretary General of the SADC PF, Ms Boemo Sekgoma said the meetings, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, mark a milestone in the Forum’s efforts to champion human rights and strengthen parliamentary oversight of prisons across the region.
Speaker says SADC Regional Parliament no threat to national sovereignty
10 Apr 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumBy Moses Magadza recently in Botswana
The Speaker of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda, has said that the establishment of a SADC Regional Parliament would not infringe on the independence of Member States nor require any significant added resources.
Adv. Mudenda gave the assurance shortly after the signing of the Agreement Amending the SADC Treaty to establish a SADC Regional Parliament recently by the President of Botswana, Advocate Duma Boko recently. He said the signing marks the culmination of a 15-year journey toward greater regional legislative cooperation.
SADC PF mourns the passing of Clerk of the National Assembly of Zambia
09 Apr 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumBy Moses Magadza
Windhoek, Namibia - The SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) has expressed sorrow following the death of Mr. Roy Ngulube, the Clerk of the National Assembly of Zambia, who died on 7 April 2025 while on official duty in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Mr. Ngulube was in Tashkent as part of a Zambian parliamentary delegation attending the 150th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, led by Speaker Nelly Mutti.
“Are we really here?” – Katjavivi reacts to transformation of SADC PF
01 Apr 2025 Written by SADC Parliamentary ForumBy Moses Magadza
Gaborone, Botswana – In Luke 2:25-32, Simeon, a devout man who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen Christ, said - upon holding the infant Jesus in his hands - “Sovereign Lord, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen salvation.”
Last week, in a similar moment thick with emotion and decades of anticipation, Prof. Peter Katjavivi, the former Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia and a member of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) Transformation Lobby Team, delivered a stirring address at the signing of the Agreement to Amend the SADC Treaty to establish the SADC PF as an official institution of the regional bloc.
