Gaborone, Botswana. 1st November 2017-The APRM Continental Secretariat held meetings with the SADC Secretariat to discuss inter-agency collaboration between the two institutions. During an introductory meeting held in inception of the collaboration, Mr Mubita Luwabelwa, Director of the Policy, Planning and Resource Mobilization (PPRM) Directorate at SADC, warmly welcomed the APRM team which was led by Mr McBride Nkhalamba, the Head of the Thematic Research and Coordination Division, accompanied by Ms Karabo Chadzingwa, a Junior Researcher at the APRM.

The two institutions agreed on broad potential areas of collaboration, and the need for a long-term formal agreement to guide the partnership. McBride Nkhalamba, highlighted that the meetings between the two Secretariats were commissioned by the heads of the two Institutions, the APRM Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Eddy Maloka and the SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Tax, on the sidelines of the SADC Summit in August 2017.

The meetings were proposed as a first step in the development of a roadmap for collaboration on governance in Lesotho, and the development of a framework for monitoring member states’ compliance with SADC regional instruments.

Subsequently, a joint technical planning meeting was held between APRM and SADC. Dr. Gabriel Malebang, Senior Officer-Politics and Diplomacy in the Directorate of the Organ on Politics Defense and Security Affairs at SADC, noted that collaboration on support to governance reforms in Lesotho would benefit tremendously from APRM processes, but that such efforts should be undertaken within the framework of the SADC Oversight Committee on Lesotho.

In furthering the discussions on monitoring of member states’ compliance to regional instruments, Mr Maxwell Mkumba, Senior Policy Research Advisor in the PPRM Directorate at SADC, indicated that the APRM would be responsible for devising options for the compliance monitoring mechanism to be employed by SADC.

In closing, the APRM Secretariat and SADC Secretariat agreed to collaborate on all areas of mutual interest under a long-term agreement to be fashioned within the framework of the African Union partnership with Regional Economic Communities.