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The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has mandated a team of eminent statesmen and officials from the region to ensure the implementation of political reforms in Lesotho. According to a statement released following the 42nd SADC Summit held in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, the regional grouping of 16 states “approved the establishment of an Oversight Committee comprising the SADC Group of Wise Persons (PoE) and the Reference Group for Mediation (MRG) to ensure continuity and oversight of the implementation of reforms in the Kingdom of Lesotho”. SADC has been seized since 2014 with efforts to find a lasting solution to the challenges in Lesotho, where political infighting has resulted in an unstable peace and security environment. As part of the recommendations, SADC called on the government of Lesotho to develop and submit a roadmap on the implementation of reforms, with concrete and clear milestones and outcomes. The 42nd SADC Summit approved the appointment of former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete as the SADC PoE Chair. His deputy will be former Mauritian vice-president Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory. Other PoE members are former Zimbabwean justice minister Patrick Chinamasa and former Botswana foreign minister Charles Tibone. Lesotho will be the first test for the PoE, which is a SADC structure with a mandate to facilitate the prevention, management and resolution of major inter- and intra-state conflicts and which is supported by the MRG. Members of the MRG are former Zambian Ambassador to Italy Lucy Mungoma, who chairs the group, Hellen Lwegasira, a Tanzanian mediator and negotiator (Vice-Chair), former Botswana Ambassador to Australia Molosiwa Selepeng, and the former Zimbabwean ambassador to Belgium, Andrew Mtetwa.

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