His Excellency Mr. Kalala Mayiba Constantin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola, on behalf of His Excellency Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, signed the Agreement amending the SADC Treaty to transform the SADC Parliamentary Forum into a SADC Parliament. The Agreement was signed at the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana on 11 July 2024. The Democratic Republic of Congo became the 12th SADC Member State to sign the Agreement.
The Agreement Amending the SADC Treaty was adopted by the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government at its meeting held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo on 17 August 2022. The Agreement establishes SADC Parliament as one of the Institutions of SADC under Article 9(1) of the SADC Treaty.
Following the signature by the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Agreement Amending the SADC Treaty entered into force on 11 July 2024. This means that SADC Parliament is legally established as one of the SADC Institutions under Article 9 (1) of the Treaty.
The following SADC Member States have signed the Agreement Amending the SADC Treaty: Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kingdom of Eswatini, Kingdom of Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The composition, powers, functions, procedures and other related matters governing SADC Parliament shall be prescribed in a Protocol to be adopted by SADC Member States. The SADC Parliament will commence its operations after the entry into force of the Protocol on SADC Parliament, after which SADC Parliamentary Forum will cease its operations.
The SADC Parliamentary Forum, which is situated in Windhoek, Republic of Namibia, was established as an institution of the SADC, in accordance with Article 9(2) of the SADC Treaty on 8 September 1997, by the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Blantyre, Republic of Malawi.
The Parliamentary Forum, which provides a platform for dialogue among the Parliaments from SADC Member States on issues of regional interest and concern, has a membership of over 3500 parliamentarians from the following countries: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kingdom of Eswatini, Kingdom of Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, United Republic Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
