Maseru, Jan. 19 — The Parliamentary Chair of Chairs Mr. Mokhothu Makhalanye says the stable status of funds within Parliamentary Committees has contributed immensely towards effective delivery of services.
This he disclosed at the Committee of Chairs meeting held at the National Assembly on Monday.
Mr. Makhalanyane said the vehicles, which were bought, contributed towards good performance of Parliamentary Committees as the latter managed to go to the districts to deliver services.
He added that they are due to find government Ministries progress on mid-term budget, since its presentation in the National Assembly a few months ago.
However, he said Lesotho’s graph is continuously going down in terms of budget as compared to Southern African Customs Union member states, saying this is due to limited scrutinization of budget by committees.
He therefore urged the Chairpersons to ensure scrutinization of the Ministries budget for the economic development of the country.
“We cannot address the same challenges in one area annually ” he stressed.
Meanwhile, as part of the meeting, concerned citizens from different organisations lobbied the committee of chairs to consider the establishment of Lesotho Diamond-Backed Token LDBT) for economic growth of the country and job creation.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Teboho Matsinyane said the LDBT aims to convert Lesotho’s diamond wealth into Lesotho Sovereign Assets Trust, adding that there should be a local facility that will cut and polish diamonds to add value.
“Lesotho Diamonds Academy provides training for diamond cutting and polishing, we only need a facility” he said, indicating that this would add value to Lesotho’s diamonds.
However, the Chairpersons advised them to come back with legislative backed issues to specify where the existing laws governing mines and minerals could be amended to include the value addition as well as to specify whether the mining company should be the one which provides the polishing facility that would be regulated by the government or not.
Ends/LP/BM
