SANF 25 no 8 by Clarkson Mambo
After years of anticipation and collective ambition, southern Africa has reached a historic milestone: the establishment of a regional parliament.
With the required majority of member states signing onto an agreement to formalise the establishment of the South African Development Community (SADC) Parliament, the dream of a unified legislative voice for the region has transitioned from aspiration to reality.
The agreement amends the SADC Treaty, the foundational document that established SADC as a regional organisation. Signed in Windhoek, Namibia, in 1992, the Treaty defines the objectives of SADC, its institutional framework and operational mechanisms, all aimed at advancing regional integration and sustainable development across southern Africa.
The establishment of the SADC Parliament represents the culmination of a lengthy and determined journey. This milestone is the result of more than 20 years of persistent lobbying, strategic diplomacy and unwavering commitment to fostering deeper regional integration and legislative cooperation.
The SADC PF was established in 1997 as a regional inter-parliamentary body and is made up of 15 national parliaments, representing over 3,500 parliamentarians in southern Africa.
The member parliaments are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The transformation of SADC PF into a regional parliament has been on the table since 2004.
SADC PF Secretary General Boemo Sekgoma admits that the journey has been a complex process, requiring three critical steps.
“The first stage was to deposit an instrument – a white paper or proposal – at the Summit indicating the modalities and parameters for this parliament, following which the Heads of State and Government gave approval and directed the SADC Secretariat to form a task team that is made up of the SADC PF and the Secretariat,” she said.
The first stage was completed when a decision was formally taken at the 41st SADC Summit in Malawi in August 2021 to transform the forum into the SADC Parliament, which will be a “consultative and deliberative body”.
The second stage focused on amending the SADC Treaty to officially recognize the parliament as an organ of SADC, and the third stage requires the ratification of the protocol establishing the parliament.
The milestone of amending the Treaty was achieved in July 2024 when the Democratic Republic of Congo became the 12th member state to sign the agreement, marking significant progress toward realising this long-held vision.
Both the amendment of the Treaty and the ratification of the protocol require at least two-thirds of all the 16 SADC member states – not only the 15 that are members of SADC PF – to deposit instruments of ratification with the SADC Secretariat. Efforts are underway to engage the Comoros, the sole SADC member state yet to join the regional parliament, to encourage its participation in this vital legislative platform.
Since July 2024, Madagascar and Botswana have joined 12 other member states in signing the agreement amending the SADC Treaty, bringing the total to 14 the number of countries in favour of the transformation.
With this overwhelming support, the SADC Parliament is now legally recognised as an institution of SADC under Article 9(1) of the Treaty.
Prior to the recent amendment, the SADC Treaty recognised eight institutions: the Summit of Heads of State and Government, the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, the Council of Ministers, Sectoral and Cluster Ministerial Committees, the Standing Committee of Officials, SADC Secretariat, SADC Tribunal and SADC National Committees.
To complete the transformation, member states must overcome one pivotal challenge: securing the required majority to endorse and sign the Protocol on the SADC Parliament.
According to SADC PF Transformation Lobby Team Chairperson, Jacob Mudenda, this step is essential to fully establish the parliament as a functional regional institution.
“The Protocol on the SADC Parliament is already in circulation, and it needs to be both signed and ratified by two-thirds of the SADC member states for transformation to actually take effect,” said Mudenda, who is Speaker of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe.
The protocol outlines the framework for the SADC Parliament, detailing its composition, powers, functions, procedures and other key provisions essential for its governance and effective operation.
In his 2024-2026 roadmap for the organisation, new SADC PF President, Justin Tokely, who also serves as the Speaker of the National Assembly of Madagascar, expressed optimism that the full transformation will be achieved by 2026, reflecting the high expectations surrounding this significant milestone for regional integration.
“Central to the roadmap is the concept of “People-powered democracy,” which aims to ensure that democracy is driven by active citizen participation,” he said.
Tokely was elected to lead the organisation at its 56th Plenary Session in December last year, taking over from Roger Mancienne, who is the Speaker of the National Assembly for Seychelles.
Professor Peter Katjavivi, the former Speaker of the National Assembly of Namibia and a member of the SADC PF Transformation Lobby Team, described the journey as “arduous, but worth every step.”
“We have struggled hard to achieve something that we feel is very important. Parliament cannot be left behind as we are discussing the critical issue of regional integration,” Prof Katjavivi said after witnessing Botswana President Duma Boko, sign the agreement to amend the SADC Treaty and recognise the SADC Parliament.
He added, “We have been dreaming about this, but it has become a reality. As we look back and look to the future, this is something that will define who we are as a SADC community.”
The establishment of the regional parliament provides the final piece and a third leg to the regional governance architecture, as SADC has an active executive and judiciary.
The executive, which is the main driver of the regional integration agenda, is represented by the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, which has an administrative Secretariat based in Gaborone, Botswana.
On the judiciary side, a SADC Tribunal was operationalised through a Summit decision of 2005 in Gaborone, Botswana, with its first judges being sworn in later the same year. It would later be disbanded in 2010, and has evolved since then, with a new SADC Administrative Tribunal set up in 2015.
Its role is limited “to hear and determine labour disputes between SADC Secretariat or any of its institutions, as an employer, and an employee.”
The SADC Parliament, which becomes the third arm, is intended to ensure broader citizen participation in regional affairs and facilitate more extensive debate on regional issues. This initiative is expected to accelerate the implementation of SADC protocols that need to be ratified and domesticated into national legislation.
The regional parliament, therefore, becomes a key driver of integration and development, bridging the gap between citizens and policymakers.
It will play a greater role than SADC PF, whose main objective has been to provide a platform for parliaments and parliamentarians to promote and improve regional integration through parliamentary involvement.
The SADC regional parliament is expected to observe and respect the sovereignty of SADC member states while, in operational terms, it would consult and liaise with other SADC institutions and structures such as the Council of Ministers, through which its recommendations would be channelled for consideration by Summit.
Regarding the relationship with national parliaments, the regional parliament is expected to facilitate the drafting of model laws while the former would continue their legislative role in domesticating regional laws as well as their oversight role on the effective implementation of executive programmes and projects at the national level.
The coming into being of the SADC Parliament puts the region at par with other regional parliamentary organisations in Africa.
Four regional communities in Africa have established similar institutions and these are the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States, the East African Legislative Assembly, the Network of Parliamentarians of the Economic Community of Central African States and the Inter-Parliamentary Union of Inter-Governmental Authority on Development Member States for the Horn of Africa.
Namibia, as the host nation of the SADC PF, is poised to extend its role in regional legislative affairs. The current headquarters of the SADC PF, located in Windhoek, are expected to become the official base of operations for the newly established SADC Regional Parliament, further solidifying Namibia’s central role in supporting regional integration and governance. sardc.net
