Rafael Hangula 

Kinshasa - Speaker of the National Assembly Peter Katjavivi has called on fellow leaders of national parliaments under the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF) to reaffirm their commitment towards SADC regional security and stability for all member states.

He said parliaments are collectively being challenged to rise to the occasion to address the core issues that affect the region as it relates to peace and security.

Katjavivi made these remarks on Monday evening during a symposium, which preceded the 52nd Plenary Assembly Session.  

The 52nd Plenary Assembly is hosted in Kinshasa, DRC under the theme ‘The Role of Parliaments in Strengthening Legislative Frameworks for Peace and Security in the SADC Region’.

The Plenary Assembly advises the SADC summit on matters of regional policy issues, and promotes the objectives and programmes of SADC.

“It is, therefore, important that as leaders of our various national parliaments under the umbrella of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, we reaffirm our firm commitment towards regional security and stability for all our member countries, including DRC. As the saying goes, an injury to one is an injury to all,” he stated.

The leader of the Namibian delegation further noted that high instability breeds low democracy, with devastating ripple-effects, including low life expectancy, high levels of malnutrition, high food insecurity, increased gender-based violence, poverty and poor health outcomes. “It is a well-established fact that instability and economic development are negatively correlated. Those of us who are familiar with institutional economic theory or simply political economy would agree with me that high instability culminates in low economic development,” he added. 

Katjavivi also made a call on other member states to liaise and cooperate with the SADC-PF Committee on Democracy, Governance and Human Rights to jointly build capacities for SADC National Parliaments in order to develop necessary legislative frameworks that will not only strengthen national security, but also SADC regional security.

He likewise pleaded with other countries to recognise the importance of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, currently under the chairmanship of Namibian President, Dr Hage Geingob. 

“Let us call for closer cooperation between the SADC PF as a regional legislative forum and the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security. In this regard, it is important that we seek to strengthen the capacity of the regional stakeholders in these areas,” he emphasised.

In support of DRC 

Katjavivi then joined DRC president Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo in supporting the parliament and people of DRC in resisting constant threats of instability as a result of being confronted by both domestic and external issues. 

During his official opening of the 52nd SADC-PF Plenary on Monday, Tshisekedi said this session is being held in a critical context marked by continued insecurity, particularly in the eastern part of DRC where armed groups, of which the terrorist M23 group backed by Rwanda, engages with impunity in massacres and other atrocious acts amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“In defending our cause, we welcome the support that we are getting from sister African countries, and in particular from those in the SADC”, he stated. 

In support of the sister country, Speaker Katjavivi said “it is, therefore, our collective burden as a regional parliamentary body to express our support to the parliament and the people of the DRC in their efforts to resist these threats, and to strengthen their capacity in order to preserve peace, stability, security and national sovereignty”.

The SADC-PF was established in 1997 in accordance with Article 9 (2) of the SADC Treaty as an autonomous institution of SADC. It is a regional inter-parliamentary body composed of 15 parliaments representing over 3 500 parliamentarians in the SADC region. 

These member parliaments are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, eSwatini, Lesotho, Madgascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Other members of Parliament attending the assembly from Namibia are Agnes Kafula, Henny Seibeb and Phillipus Katamelo.  It ends on 11 December.