SADC Parliamentary Forum
Eva Jhala was admitted to the Zambia Bar in 1979 and thereafter commenced her Public Service Career. In 1987 she obtained her Master of Laws degree with Legislative Drafting from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland after having previously obtained a Senior Fellow Certificate in Legislative Drafting from the Legislative Drafting Institute of Canberra, Australia in 1981. Between 1981 and 2012, she attended various specialist training Institutions that have enhanced her knowledge in governance matters (corporate and public governance, public administration and policy) and equipped her with problem solving and advisory capabilities covering a wide variety of subject areas, in the realm of public and private law.
- Honourable Members of Parliament
- Secretary General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Ms. Boemo Sekgoma
- Esteemed Presenter Dr. Khabele Matlosa
- Staff of the SADC Parliamentary Forum
- Staff of National Parliaments
- Distinguished Participants
- Ladies and Gentlemen
From the outset, allow me to pay particular tribute to the esteemed presenter for the well-researched, informative and timely presentations. Not only has he enlightened us about the recurrent and emerging challenges which continue to undermine the integrity and credibility of elections in our Region, but he has reminded us that all is not lost and that we can strengthen our electoral legal framework, systems and practices through the domestication our Model Law on Elections and implementation of the Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections and Norms and Standards for Elections.
Dr. Khabele Matlosa is a visiting Professor at the Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg. He holds a Ph.D in Political Studies from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa; a Post-Graduate Diploma in Conflict Resolution from Uppsala University, Sweden; a Master’s degree in Development Studies from Leeds University, UK; a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from the National University of Lesotho (NUL).
He is the former Senior Governance Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is the former Director, Department of Political Affairs, African Union Commission (AUC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) based in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa.
He is the author of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance which evolved between 2004 and 2006. This Charter was ultimately adopted by the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 30 January 2007. It came into force in 2012 following its ratification by 15 Member States of the AU. Working with two other African experts, he researched and co-authored the AU Panel of the Wise Report on “Election-Related Disputes and Political Violence: Strengthening the Role of the African Union in Preventing, Managing and Resolving Conflict”. This report was adopted by the AU in 2009. The report has informed and guided the AU Panel of the Wise in its preventive diplomacy interventions in crises situations in Africa, particularly those related to election-related conflicts. In 2021, he was commissioned as one of the 10 African experts to prepare a strategic reflection report for UNDP entitled “Re-Imagining Governance and Peacebuilding in Africa” meant to re-orient UNDP’s next strategic plan, 2023-2025.
He has researched and written widely on various governance, democracy, elections peace and development issues in Africa. His latest publications include “Electoral systems, party systems and coalitions: Lessons from Southern Africa”, in Booysen, S. ed. 2021. Marriages of Convenience: The Politics of coalitions in South Africa, Johannesburg: Mupungubwe Institutute for Strategic Reflection: Johannesburg, pp97-126 and “Governance in Africa: AU achievements, challenges and prospects’ in Okumu, W. and Atta-Asamoah, A. (ed). 2023. The Africa Union at 20: African perspectives on progress, challenges and prospects, Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies (ISS), pp158-186.
Presentations
Electoral System Design in the SADC Region with Special Focus on Inclusiveness By Khabele Matlosa
Political Party Financing in the SADC Region By Khabele Matlosa
Among the highlights of the Forum delegation engagements with partners was the meeting with the USAID at its headquarters in Washington DC on 8 March. The meeting was attended by a high-level delegation that included Kevin Gash, Legislative Strengthening Advisor; Kristine Herrmann-DeLuca, Head of the Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG) Center; Mark Billera, Deputy Director DRG Center; and Caroline Hubbard, Senior Gender Advisor, among others. During the meeting it was recalled that USAID and SADC PF had a long partnership dating back to between 2000 and 2010 when the former commissioned a 10-yeear grant to support the Forum’s role in promoting democratic elections through election observation missions by male and female MPs from both ruling and opposition political parties. The collaboration contributed to various electoral reforms including the creation of independent election management bodies, the counting of votes and declaration of results at polling centres, introduction of continuous voter registration, among other international best practices.
The USAID commented the SADC PF for the visible leadership in promoting inclusive governance, democratic accountability, rule of law and human rights in the SADC region through the development of Model Laws and other normative standards for use by MPs and stakeholders in domesticating regional and international commitments.
The two organisations agreed on the need to consolidate their partnership by focusing on strengthening parliamentary capacity in advocating for democratic drive and ensuring that democracy delivers to citizens. Other areas of possible collaboration that were identified include health service delivery, management of transboundary waters, wildlife trafficking, debt crisis, enhancing public participation and curbing corruption, with the Model Law on Public Financial Management which SADC PF adopted in 2022, being singled out as a strategic tool for use in this regard.
During the engagement SADC PF took note of the policy shift by USAID towards bilateral approaches to allocating funding, as opposed to a regional approach as was previously the case. In this regard, it was agreed that USAID would facilitate engagement between SADC PF and the USAID national offices in the region as well as with its Regional Office in Pretoria, to explore funding opportunities. The engagement was successful in updating the USAID on the trailblazing work the SADC PF has been undertaking since the laps of the previous Project and in identifying areas of mutual interest the two entities could pursue.
STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF SADC-PF
END OF PROJECT MEETING – PARLIAMENT OF NAMIBIA
1ST APRIL 2023 AT 9:30 HRS
“SETTING THE END OF PROJECT REVIEW AND DOCUMENTATION TONE”
STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF SADC-PF END OF PROJECT MEETING – PARLIAMENT OF NAMIBIA