Tlohang Sekhamane

"I very strongly believe that you should only give an important job to people who can do it."

"The way people are elected to parliament right now leaves a lot to be desired, vis-à-vis their ability to do what they have been elected to do. I think there’s a huge gap there."

"Just because somebody’s father was a good person in charge of burial societies or helping the elderly and so on, it doesn’t qualify that person to go to parliament. Some will say this man has a right to go to parliament because his grandfather was a great man who did so many things for the nation. Right now, many people get rewarded just like that. I don’t believe in that. I believe that the nation should move towards a space where everyone who is in parliament and is called an honourable member, truly deserves that title because of merit."

"Lately, I have seen an attempt in some quarters to sift through and try to pick people who are equal to the job. I think that should be encouraged."

"As a country, we have become very notorious for being careless people."

"We have a careless parliament by the way. We’ve been told of a missing M6, 1 billion, we’ve also been told of the theft of more than M50 million (by finance ministry staffers). These are massive amounts but you don’t hear parliament pronouncing itself strongly on these matters."

"The thing is that we have four estates, namely, parliament, the executive, the judiciary and the media. As the legislative arm of state, parliament makes laws, the executive implements the same laws while judiciary interprets them. And the media plays a watchdog role over the other three arms of state. The media can only shout and tell the nation that money is being stolen. It cannot do anything else. But parliament is the only institution charged with the oversight function. It has teeth and should be using them to bite, to act against the theft and misappropriation of public funds. Yet it is not performing its oversight function."

"Parliament must make laws and stop the theft of public funds. Right now, we are embarrassed that we were not able to pass the reforms bills. These things were expected of us by our people, SADC and our development partners. Everybody had expectations. It’s not an easy thing to pass laws. But then again, I have an appreciation of what needs to be done and how to talk to people so that they can deliver on their mandate."

"So, the 11th Parliament will make laws. Some of these laws are obsolete. There are many laws that have to passed or amended; laws to do with empowerment of women, to deal with gender-based violence. I’m determined to ensure that priority laws can actually pass in the 11th Parliament, without further ado,"

"There’s also the issue of parliament’s proximity to the people. Parliament is too far from the people. This is the people’s parliament, and it must go to the people. Parliament must go to Mokhotlong, it must go to Qacha’s Nek. The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker go there. MPs should go to the people to say what they are doing. How that will be organised, I don’t know but it will be organised under my leadership. We can’t have people who sit in Maseru and make laws for people who are at Sehlabathebe. Parliament must go the people."

"MPs should be learning a lot. We have a library at parliament building; we have access to SADC, the AU, the Commonwealth and other important bodies. Our people must benefit from such. When leaving parliament, MPs should not be the same as they were when they first came to parliament."

"I would like to say yesterday I was in another space and that was the political space. Today, I am in a different space, that of Speaker of the National Assembly. I’d be extremely worried if people were to perceive me as a member of a party or a section of society. I want my people to trust me to do a neutral job, without fear or favour to any side. I want MPs to trust me to provide guidance in terms of parliamentary processes to help the country and not any political party. I will strive to be a neutral Speaker and to facilitate the affairs of parliament in manner that benefits the people of this country."

"We are grateful that you honoured this meeting …..Today we are talking about media and parliament. Media is a strategic partner in governance. The main purpose of governance is to ensure that people’s lives are improved."

"To achieve that in a representative democracy, the role of MPs is to represent the people, legislate, allocate public funds and play an oversight role on the executive."

"Media doesn’t only inform but also exposes issues that the public would otherwise not know. You educate, inform, in a friendly manner that accommodates the educated, the illiterate, and the semi-literate."

"You process information, breaking it down in such manner that consumers understand issues. In the pursuit of improving lives, you expose issues that they would not otherwise know."

"When the watchdog just watches as the economy deteriorates, the crime rate escalates and people are plunged further into poverty, it then means we are all drunk. When a country is in that state, nothing can ever come right."

"We see it when you arrive at different events to provide coverage, how badly you are treated and made uncomfortable. Where people shun you. They don’t accommodate you when you attend events to cover issues affecting the people. You are usually forced to sit at the back, making it difficult for you to see as things unfold."

"We’re therefore here to pledge a partnership with the media to ensure that such things don’t happen."