BEVERLY HILLS, CA, October 24, (THEWILL) – President of the Senate, David Mark, on Thursday decried executive interference in the function of the legislature.
He said undue executive interference remains the major cause of slow development of African legislatures.
Mark also said establishing democracy requires political institutions that should be able and willing to fully represent the interests and demands of the electorate.
However, he declared that the Africa Legislative Summit is being instituted as a means for legislators and stakeholders to achieve stated goals
These were the key points contained in his address as he unveiled the Africa Legislative Summit (ALS) official logo in Abuja.
According to Mark, effective legislature contribute to effective governance by performing important functions necessary to sustain democracy in complex and diverse societies.
“In emerging democracies such as ours, legislatures are making giant strides to exercise grater influence over government policies and carry out their oversight responsibilities more effectively.
“Emerging legislatures are under significant stress that include contextual issues such as under development, executive interference in some cases and also staff and resources deficit as managers and staff of parliaments struggle to meet the growing demands placed on them.
“Emerging legislatures need more skilled staff, better information systems, additional office space, and other capacities to help them carry out their representation, law-making, and oversight roles more effectively,” he stated.
Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who also doubles as the summit president, said the ALS will serve as a medium for legislators and stakeholders to deliberate on current issues and developments relating to the effective functioning of African parliaments, national economies and democracies.
According to him, “the summit should contribute to the deepening of democracies. There is a linkage between democracy and development and our deepening democracy can help strengthen the economy. It will be the largest gathering of expert on legislature in Africa. ”
The critical issues to be discussed, he added , are: “Institutional and human resources or effective legislation, limited capacity building for both legislators and parliamentary staff, inadequate access to research and information coupled with poor utilisation of research outputs, weak oversight capacity and poor public perception.
“Others are lack of understanding of work of legislature, overbearing and sometimes hyper-assertive executive arm of government, among others.”
