Churches form Parly watch committee

Moruakgomo
Moruakgomo

The Botswana Council of Churches (BCC) is in the process of establishing a Parliamentary watch desk whose mandate will be to monitor Parliamentary business and to engage and lobby parliamentarians on legislation and policy as it is developed.

According to the immediate past president of BCC, Reverend Mpho Moruakgomo, the church and the civil society have a big role to play in the development of Botswana but are mostly reactionary.

In an interview with Mmegi, Moruakgomo said the church sees it as important that they establish such a desk to create and foster a relationship of communication between the Church and Parliament and have a say on parliamentary issues as and when they happen. “This will mean that the church has a say in policy formulation and enactment of laws through debates and discussions,” he said. Parliamentary desks are usually formulated to promote peace and justice for the masses. Churches, came up with this idea after realising that for good governance, there was need to establish a relationship with Parliament to promote good governance for the common good. There are several roles of the Parliamentary Liaison Desk. One of them is to inform and advocate for the values, concerns and needs of the marginalised as well as serving the common good and facilitate public’s participation in public policy development. This also helps create awareness on the constitution, systems of governance and human rights as well as supports and encourages MPs in the promotion of good governance.

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