Parliament is shirking its oversight responsibility during the lockdown
5 April 2020
A response from National Assembly Deputy Speaker, Lechesa Tsenoli, to my letter requesting the establishment of an ad hoc committee demonstrates a gravely worrying suppression of oversight and the gagging of parliament during the Covid-19 lockdown.
In his refusal to establish the committee, Mr Tsenoli states that my request is “so broad and of such a nature that it would not be feasible to expect a single ad hoc committee to perform”, further stating that the work “must be done by all existing parliamentary committees and Members of Parliament”.
What Mr Tsenoli fails to realise is that the National Disaster declaration, and the subsequent lockdown, have led to the establishment of a National Command Council creating a unique scenario in which wings of government are rolling out programmes which are out of the ordinary and thus cannot be effectively held to account by Parliament’s existing committees.
In its oversight role, Parliament is supposed to mirror government in order to exercise oversight comprehensively. Because the structure of government has adapted to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak, so must Parliament adapt its oversight capacity to oversee it. This is precisely why I have called for the establishment of an ad hoc committee.