IN PARLIAMENT:  Broadcasting Corporation & Public Service Bill

Two important Bills, the Lesotho Broadcasting Corporation Bill 2004 and the Public Service Bill 2004 have been presented in Parliament in September 2004, according to a statement from the National Assembly. 

The statement said pursuant to the National Assembly’s standing orders, the Bills were distributed to all Members in order for them to study their general merits and principles before engaging in debates.

The main object of the Lesotho Broadcasting Corporation Bill 2004 is to make provision for the restructuring of the Department of Broadcasting in a direction geared towards full liberalization of the Department. This will be achieved by the establishment of an autonomous public Broadcasting corporation that shall be governed by a broad representative Board.

Currently the Government of Lesotho wholly owns the Department of Broadcasting and it is envisaged that the Government would initially finance the Corporation and withdraw such funding gradually, leading to the financial autonomy of the Corporation.  

The Public Service Bill 2004, on the other hand, seeks to repeal the Public Service Act 1995 which replaced the Public Service Order 1970. The 1995 Act was enacted to conform with the Lesotho Constitution of 1993 since Order 1970 was unconstitutional. 

The Public Service Act 1995 has been observed to be a replica of the previous legislation, leaving out a lot of issues regarding relationships that exist between the employer, public officers and the public officers’ representatives. 

Current challenges such as the size of the public service, its complexity, fiscal and work pressures that face the public service today have necessitated the improvement of government structures and harmonization of the public service legislation in which codes of good conduct practices or conduct and procedures for the guidance to the public officers have been introduced. 

The new Bill has been established with a view to improve quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the public service. It is also intended to conform with the Constitution, international standards and align with the public services of other SADC and Commonwealth countries. 

12 October 2004