Staff Reporter
NAMIBIA has signed the Agreement Amending the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Treaty to transform the SADC Parliamentary Forum into the SADC Parliament with the SADC Secretariat.
This announcement was made by Penda Naanda, Executive Director of the Ministry of International Relations, who confirmed that Dr. Peya Mushelenga, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, signed the agreement on behalf of Namibia. Naanda explained that the SADC Parliament will serve as a consultative and deliberative body without law-making or binding authority.
“The Agreement Amending the SADC Treaty on the Transformation of the SADC Parliamentary Forum into a SADC Parliament was adopted by the 41st SADC Summit that took place in August 2021, in Lilongwe, Malawi,” Naanda said.
He explained that for the agreement to take effect, it must be signed by two-thirds of SADC member states. Currently, he revealed, ten member states have agreed to amend the treaty, including Angola, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
“The agreement requires signatures by 12 SADC member states for it to enter into force. The Republic of Namibia is the 10th SADC member state to sign the Agreement. The composition, powers, functions, procedures and other related matters governing SADC Parliament shall be prescribed in a Protocol to be negotiated by SADC Member States after the Agreement Amending the Treaty has entered into force,” SADC added.
