15 Jul 2026

Clerk of the National Assembly, Dr Gabriel Malebang has called for strengthened cooperation between Botswana and Zambia’s parliaments as the two institutions continue to share experiences and best practices aimed at improving parliamentary administration.

Dr Malebang made the remarks in Gaborone on Wednesday when he welcomed a delegation from the Parliament of Zambia, which is in the country for a benchmarking visit focused on enhancing institutional capacity and strengthening parliamentary processes.

He said the engagement reflected the shared commitment of both legislatures to strengthening parliamentary democracy, promoting good governance and improving public service delivery.

“Your presence here today is testament to the shared commitment of our legislatures to strengthen parliamentary democracy and diplomacy, enhance institutional capacity and promote good governance across our region,” he said.

Dr Malebang said benchmarking visits provided an opportunity for Parliaments to exchange experiences, compare practices and identify innovative solutions to challenges confronting modern legislatures.

He noted that both country’s Parliaments operated in an environment where citizens increasingly expected transparency, inclusivity and responsiveness from their elected institutions.

“Citizens demand transparency, inclusivity and responsiveness from their legislatures. It is therefore incumbent upon us as parliamentary staff to ensure that our institutions are equipped to meet these demands,” he said.

He said Botswana’s Parliament was undergoing transformation through reforms aimed at strengthening its legislative, oversight and representative functions.

Among the reforms being considered are the establishment of a Parliament Act, a Parliamentary Services Commission, a Code of Conduct and Ethics for Members of Parliament, a Parliamentary Budget Office, a strategic budget framework and a review of the institution’s organisational structure.

For her part, leader of the Zambian delegation, Deputy Clerk for corporate affairs, Ms Cecilia Mambwe said the benchmarking visit formed part of Zambia’s annual parliamentary improvement programme aimed at promoting learning and institutional development.

She said the Zambian Parliament deliberately included officials from different departments during such visits to ensure that knowledge sharing benefited the institution as a whole.

“We sort of mix and match, so we get officers from different departments so that the learning is not concentrated on one department, but across departments because we work as a team,” she said.

Ms Mambwe said the visit was not intended to determine which Parliament was better, but to learn from each other and adopt practices that could enhance parliamentary operations.

“We believe that there is always something that your sister Parliament is doing better than where you are, and it helps us to learn from other Parliaments,” she said.

She added that benchmarking visits also served as performance assessment tools, enabling legislatures to identify gaps, improve systems and implement changes upon returning home.

The engagement between the two Parliaments will focus on areas such as parliamentary administration, committees, public relations, research, editorial services and diplomatic relations. ENDS