Rafael Hangula
KINSHASA – President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi on Monday afternoon officially opened the 52nd SADC-Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF) Plenary Assembly.
It is being held in Kinshasa, Kenya 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.
In his opening statement, president Tshisekedi pledged his support and assistance to the transformation of SADC-PF into a regional parliament.
He added that the chosen theme of the 52nd Plenary Assembly session is being held in a critical context marked by continued insecurity, particularly in the eastern part of DRC where armed groups engage with impunity in massacres and other atrocious acts amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“We will never cease to condemn and then denounce the unfair aggression our country is the victim of and perpetrated by its neighbour, hence the main cause that we are advocating, namely the cessation of Rwanda’s support to M3 rebel group and its immediate and unconditional withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he stressed.
“In defending our cause, we welcome the support that we are getting from sister African countries, and in particular those in SADC,” he added.
Items scheduled on the agenda include a plenary assembly symposium on the theme, plenary sittings and a handover of the instruments of power for the Plenary Assembly.
Speaker of the National Assembly Peter Katjavivi is leading a Namibian parliamentary delegation to the 52nd Plenary Assembly. Other members attending are Agnes Kafula, Henny Seibeb and Phillipus Katamelo.
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, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The 52nd Plenary Assembly ends on 11 December 2022.
*Rafael Hangula works for the National Assembly in the Division: Research, Information, Publications and Editorial Services.