Members of the Oversight Committee (OC) on the Kingdom of Lesotho met the SADC Facilitator, His Excellency Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, today, 18 November 2016, in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa.
The OC was led by the Chairperson, Retired Justice Frederick Mwita Werema, representing the United Republic of Tanzania, the current Chair of the Organ.
The Facilitator referred that the deployment of the OC is a great development and SADC has been looking forward to its operationalization for quite a while. He expressed confidence that OC will be a tool to support the Basotho nation in consolidating peace and political stability.
The Facilitator also emphasized the need of an inclusive process in addressing the challenges affecting Lesotho, hence the involvement and critical role played by stakeholders across various institutions such as the churches, NGOs, business communities, social formations, political parties, and Chiefs. The Facilitator stressed that in discharging its mandate, the OC must remain neutral in the process of addressing the political and security challenges in Lesotho.
In his remarks Hon. Justice (rtd.) Frederick Werema expressed gratitude for the briefing from the Facilitator and emphasised that the OC operates as a team to ensure that the SADC decisions on Kingdom of Lesotho are fully implemented.
The first deployment of the OC will take place from 20-25 November 2016. The Committee is expected to consult with all relevant stakeholders in Lesotho including Government officials, non-governmental/civil society organisations, and faith-based organisations with respect to the implementation of SADC decisions.
The OC was constituted by SADC Summit with the mandate to act as an overall monitoring body and early warning mechanism in the event of signs of instability, and intervene as appropriate in consultation with the SADC Facilitator. It will also lend assistance in the implementation of Constitutional and Security Sector Reforms.
