APA-Maseru (Lesotho) A panel of eminent persons from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is in Lesotho to assess progress by Maseru authorities towards implementation of SADC-sponsored reforms aimed at fostering political stability in the kingdom.
In a statement on Friday, Lesotho Foreign Minister Lejone Mpotjoane said members of the SADC Panel of Elders paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Samuel Matekane at State House in Maseru to follow up on progress on the political reform process.
He said the panel “came to ensure the government’s commitment to implementing reforms as they have presented their progress to SADC members.”
The group comprises former Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete who chairs the group; ex-Mauritian vice president Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory; former Botswana foreign minister Charles Tibone, and ex-Zimbabwean justice minister Patrick Chinamasa.
He said the delegation would be in the country until August 4 and would meet with all political stakeholders in Lesotho.
This is the second visit of the panel following an earlier visit in February this year.
Kikwete said the purpose of the February 2023 visit was “to gain details of the government’s roadmap and plan for implementing the reforms.”
He said the latest visit was a follow up on Lesotho’s progress on reforms, especially the Omnibus Bill.
The 11th Amendment to the Constitution Bill – also known as the Omnibus Bill – contains changes to the supreme law emanating from Lesotho’s 2018-19 national dialogue on reform.
Kikwete said the panel is undertaking broad consultation with the relevant stakeholders and would report back to SADC about the progress on reforms before the regional body’s summit of heads of state and government slated for August in Angola.
The Panel of Elders is one of the mechanisms instituted by the SADC summit in 2022 to try and bring political stability to a country that has been rocked by several coups and attempted coups since independence in 1966.
The reforms are designed to stabilise the country by depoliticising the military, police and wider bureaucracy and stabilising parliament, among other measures.
JN/APA