ADF IV PARLIAMENTARIANS AND GOVERNANCE FOCUS GROUP

12 October 2004

The focus group was attended by parliamentarians from Zambia, Uganda, Botswana, South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Chad, Liberia, Kenya, Malawi, and Sierra Leone. Other persons attending represented institutions from South Africa, Canadian Development Cooperation CIDA, German Cooperation Agency GTZ, the World Bank, the University of Dar es Salaam and ECA.

The elected chairman of the focus group was the Hon Justice EK Cowan, from Sierra Leone. He was assisted by the Secretary General of the African Parliamentary Union, Abdelgar Abdalla (Tunisia), and the Secretary General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Kasaka Mutukwa (Zambia), both former elected parliamentarians in their countries of origin.

It was decided by the group that the objective of the group would be to find ways in which ECA could assist parliaments in Africa to exercise their elected power.

Several parliamentarians discussed the difficulties faced by parliaments in their respective countries. In common, all of the discussants expressed enormous frustration with the application of a system of checks and balances, primarily with regard to the Executive.

The representative of the SADC Parliamentary Forum reminded participants that in many cases elected parliaments are mandated to monitor budgetary processes, write and approve legislation, promote and protect government, as well as strengthen its institutions. But in some cases, parliaments are not elected, or were once elected without a clearly defined mandate.

A parliamentarian from Kenya reminded those present that many African nations were coming out of ‘totalitarian regimes’, where parliaments were merely ‘rubberstamp’ institutions, enacting laws that served or serve the interests of individuals and do not promote the common good.

Another key concern was the issue of financial independence from the Executive. To the discussants, it is crucial that parliaments acquire and manage their own budget.

Capacity building on the areas of finance and budget was considered of the utmost importance. It was noted that many parliamentarians are not sufficiently specialized to follow the national budget, and require training in that sector.

The funding of political parties was considered another crucial area of interest, as there is a general concern that weak opposition results in imposition of interests of the Executive on the Legislative.

The focus group suggested that ECA contribute in the following areas:

• Establish a parliamentary index of core areas of intervention, in order to clearly demonstrate what is lacking and what can be strengthened;

• Building capacity for parliamentarians as well as parliament staff in the areas of finance, technology, drafting of legislation, and communication;

• Promoting internal parliamentary reform to ensure parliamentarians will promote and protect good governance;

• Promoting interparliamentary cooperation

A document of the session was scheduled for discussion at 0900 am the following morning, 13 October 2004.