In his address, President Boko explained that, by appending his signature on behalf of the Republic of Botswana, the SADC Region will be placed in a better position to harmonise its laws and practices. He asserted that, there was never any doubt at any moment in his understanding that, Botswana refused to sign and said credit should be given to the country.

President Boko emphasized the critical role the SADC PF has played. He cited that, the law making process is not easy as a lot goes into the need to be informed by data and to get the benefit of expert advice. The President shared that, often, the National Parliaments lack the resources and the expertise to engage in the process of law making as meaningfully as they would want to , stating that, SADC PF has borne the bulk of the responsibility of seeking expert intervention, establishing extensive research and, establishing the data mapping out the challenges that need to be remedied. ‘SADC PF has played this role and played it well’, he said.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of Botswana, Honourable Dithapelo L. Keorapetse, expressed great joy, pride and honour when articulating a brief on the journey of the Parliament of Botswana and the SADC PF and on how this milestone of almost three decades was achieved. He shared that the journey began as far as 1997 when Botswana and other SADC member states, committed to the common regional cause of promoting democracy, and good governance joined the SADC PF. He explained that, prior to that, there was no regional mechanism for the Parliamentarians of the SADC member states to debate and inform SADC about the views of their citizens on democracy, development and other issues affecting them. The Speaker indicated that, in the case of Botswana, the conversation on the establishment of the SADC Parliament took off in 2010 during the 10th Parliament, through a motion sponsored by Hon. Edwin Batshu. The motion was debated and passed. ‘More significant strides were made in 2018 and beyond and there were calls for Botswana to sign the agreement as a key partner, more so that the SADC Secretariat is based in Gaborone, Botswana’, he explained. 

According to the Speaker, SADC Parliament entered into force in July 2024 after attaining the required threshold of twelve members. He said despite this, other member states felt that it was important to be considerate and inclusive and convince Botswana to sign, given its role and status as one of the founders of the frontline states. The Speaker shared that, the transformation of the SADC PF into a regional parliament will improve the citizens’ participation in regional affairs and further promote the member states’ compliance with the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic election. Furthermore, the Speaker expressed that it will boost the representation of women through the SADC Gender and Development protocol which calls for 50:50 gender parity in national Parliaments by 2030.

The Chairman of the Strategic Lobbying Team for the transformation of the SADC PF into a Regional Parliament, Hon. Advocate Jacob Francis Nzwidamilimo Mudenda who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe, asserted that, the process of transformation has made a huge leap forward by the signature from Botswana. He said, it represents a huge leap in many respects; the first being, Botswana is a seat of the SADC Secretariat which is at the heart of all SADC operations, and that, Botswana’s signature gives renewed confidence and impetus to the transformation agenda of the Forum. ‘Botswana is a democracy on the rise and its signature demonstrates that the transformation agenda rides on a pedestal inclusivity that, no member and SADC country should be left out in the process,’ he said.

Botswana became the thirteenth member state to sign after the President of the Republic of Madagascar, His Excellency, Andry Nirina Rajoelina recently signed the agreement.  This leaves Mauritius as the only country which has not yet signed the agreement.

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