01 Sep 2004: Statement: Defence Sector Programme Book Launch

DEFENCE SECTOR PROGRAMME BOOK LAUNCH

1 SEPTEMBER 2004

 

On Wednesday 1 September 2004 the Defence Sector Programme of the ISS hosted a book-launch at the Holiday Inn, Arcadia to introduce two new publications to the public. The first book that was introduced was "Guarding the Guardians", a publication on the challenges for SADC regarding parliamentary oversight and civil-military relations. This book is the product of a conference held in Arusha, Tanzania in July 2003. The second book that was introduced was "Civil-Military relations in Zambia" and gives a review of Zambia ’s contemporary civil-military relations history and challenges of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration from a Zambian perspective. This book is the product of a conference held in Ndola, Zambia in April 2004 and was accompanied by the conference report.

 

The guests of honour at the launch were His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Siteke G. Mwale, Special Envoy and National Co-ordinator of Zambia to the Great Lakes Region, the Honourable Major General D.S. Zulu, Chairperson of the Zambian Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Mrs Simba Sophia, MP from Tanzania and the Honourable Mr David Dlali, MP from South Africa. Also present from Zambia were Professor Mutale Mike Musonda, Vice Chancellor of the Copperbelt University of Zambia and Mr. Paul Lwando of the same institute as well as Ms. Lucie Kasanga of the Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation. These two institutions co-hosted the Ndola conference with the ISS. In all, twenty-seven people attended the book-launch.

 

Keith Muloongo, Deputy Director of the ISS, welcomed the guests to the event. He said that as publications are the major output of the Institute, launching a new book, or as in this case, two new books, is always a happy event. Len Le Roux, Head of the Programme, then gave a brief overview of the aim of the Defence Sector Programme and its focus areas. He defined the programme aim to be “to strengthen democracy and good governance of the defence sector in Africa and thereby contribute to human security and development” and the focus areas as enhancing democratic civil-military relations, efficient defence management and a collaborative defence community. This was done by conducting ongoing research on comparative aspects of defence sector reform in Southern Africa, commissioning research papers from the executive, legislature, armed forces and civil society on civil military relations and holding a series of workshops and seminars with representatives from the executive, legislature, armed forces and civil society engaged with defence sector reform issues. The end result of this was publications in written and electronic form. Len Le Roux then introduced Martin Rupiya and Naison Ngoma, the two Senior Researchers of the programme, who respectively introduced the two books to the guests.

 

 

Commentary by Dr. Martin Rupiya on “Guarding the Guardians” edited by Len le Roux, Martin Rupiya and Naison Ngoma

 

In July 2003, approximately 20 parliamentarians drawn from South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania gathered in Arusha together with academics, retired soldiers, media representatives and civil society representatives to discuss themes related to the democratic control and management of the armed forces in their countries in particular and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region in general. The event had been organized by the Defence Sector Programme (DSP) of the ISS in a project funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).

 

From the papers and discussion that ensued, a book has been compiled aimed at further disseminating the deliberations, recommendations and conclusions of the meeting.

 

The above-cited book has eight chapters organized under three themes. The first looks at inter-state relations focussing on matters of common security and regional integration and the role of the SADC Parliamentary Forum in advancing this agenda. The second thematic section seeks to throw light on the work of the elected parliamentarians concerned with the management of defence and security structures as well as the role and function of the executive and other government departments including the institutions of the armed forces themselves. Finally, the theme focuses on the conundrum of “who guards the guardians?” This analysis will simply select a single chapter from each of the themes identified in order to whet appetites and encourage readers to read the book and discover how some of the issues have been treated.

 

In the first thematic section, we have Dr Willibrod Peter Slaa writing on “Challenges for the SADC Parliamentary Forum: Experience and Contribution.” Slaa, a Member of Parliament from the Bunge (Parliament) in Tanzania, has been seconded by his country to serve as the SADC Parliamentary Forum representative based in Windhoek, Namibia. He therefore enjoys and presented a bird’s eye view of the parliamentary and legislative matters in SADC. At this level, 1 800 Parliamentarians representing more than 200 million people in SADC face particular challenges that do not necessarily manifest themselves at national level.

 

His chapter deals with the challenges of parliaments as they attempt to discharge their oversight responsibilities not only with the defence and security institutions but also with the executive branches as well as functioning in a transparent manner for the electorate. Slaa identifies several challenges faced and for purposes of this summation, only three have been isolated.

 

The first is to acknowledge how in SADC, the institutions in the region related to Defence and Security as well as the Parliamentary Forum have been ‘established as a prerogative of the executive.’ Consequently, most parliaments have only been “marginally involved except at the level of ratification” and in practice, tend to be marginalized as an important check and balance rung in the hierarchical ladder.

 

Secondly, Slaa identifies “inherent tendencies amongst the executive to surrender substantive powers to the legislatures resulting in most becoming rubber stamp institutions”. He, however, concedes that this phenomenon is not unique to SADC and exists even in well-established democracies. In support of his assertion, Slaa cites an interesting analogy with the House of Commons in the United Kingdom.

 

Finally, Slaa bemoans the lack of vibrant and far-reaching legislation in national parliaments that lead to the substantial regional integration. Working at the regional level, this development reflects a trend that actual integration will become a reality in the distant future.

 

The second chapter in the book for your attention is that by Thandi Modise, MP ( South Africa – at the time Chairperson of the Defence Committee). From this vantage point, Ms Modise shares with us the topic: “Parliamentary Oversight of the SA Department of Defence: 1994 to 2003.” To begin with, she is quite candid in admitting that the experience by cadres from the African National Congress (ANC) managing statecraft in the new SA has been a learning experience. She identifies several challenges and again we select only three as a template while inviting the readership to discover the full length of the arguments in the book itself. Challenges faced included:

• Limits of transparency related to defence and security issues while seeking to be accountable to the public.

• Questions and tension related to policy and operations being limits – sometimes undefined that demarcate the turfs for both politicians and practitioners.

• The difficulties by members to understand the dynamics of budgeting when it comes to this sensitive area that Ms Modise acknowledges is particularly complex.

The final paper that provides the diverse but related issues in the work is the chapter by Len le Roux, Head of Programme – DSP, ISS on the “Challenges for Defence Management in Africa.” As one of the retired senior officers previously intimately involved in the far-reaching Defence Review undertaken by the new South Africa after 1994, Len brings into the debate particularly significant elements of the struggles between policy and practice as well as idealism and cost(s). Len provides a useful diagrammatic model for defence management – graphically in colour – and amongst several other recommendations, we cite only three:

• The need to establish good governance under the country’s Constitution.

• Clear definition of role of the armed forces that takes into account the regional setting.

• The same important issue raised by Thandi Modise, budgetary realities and constraints.

Taken as a whole, the work on “Civil Military Relations: The Challenges for SADC” although being the first cut on the DSP Project, captures country experiences while identifying areas that will continue to pose challenges for emerging democracies in the Southern African region and elsewhere. This therefore makes the book a must-read for the rest of the continent and those seeking to intervene in a positive manner to enhance the continent’s CMR while deepening democracies.

 

 

Commentary by Naison Ngoma on “Civil-Military Relations in Zambia” edited by Gilbert Chileshe, Margaret Chimanse, Naison Ngoma, Paul Lwando and Tasila Mbewe

 

The Zambia book, entitled “Civil-Military Relations in Zambia: a Review of Zambia’s Contemporary CMR History and Challenges of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration” is a compilation of some of the papers presented at the CMR workshop held in Zambia from 19 – 23 April this year. The pictures on the cover of the book and their placing were deliberately chosen to reflect the importance of the people and parliament in relation to the military.

 

The book is in four parts: part 1 which focuses on civil-military relations, part 2 which looks at the impact the economy has on the relations, part 3 the challenges of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration and part 4 which itemises some policy recommendations.

 

Before taking a moment on some aspects of CMR, DDR and recommendations, a word about the authors of the book is necessary.

 

Contributing chapters to this book include a member of parliament and former inspector-general of the country’s police service; a retired commander of the Zambia National Defence Force and former minister of foreign affairs; a high ranking member of Zambia’s Central Bank and an equally highly placed member of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The high positions of these authors must surely reflect the level of engagement of the issues tackled in this book.

 

The first part of this book examines CMR from conceptual and empirical levels. The empirical level provides useful insights of CMR in Zambia and the SADC region in general. Together with the conceptual component, this part can in fact be applied to any other part of the Continent. The critical requirement of democratic civil-military relations is highlighted in part 1 of the book.

 

The second part of the book complements the first part by establishing a nexus between CMR and the economy in its focus on interrogation of a variety of competing national needs. The important principles that are generally advised in respect to the defence and security structures require that they are appropriate, adequate, affordable and accountable.

 

In discussing the challenges of DDR, the third part of the book begins with a conceptual discourse and a vivid examination of DDR challenges facing West Africa, the Great Lakes Region, Angola and of course Zambia. The urgency of the challenges posed by conflict and post-conflict environments cannot be over-emphasized. This part of the book therefore provides both a universal nature of the DDR challenges and highlights the manner the general refugee issue impacts on both the refugee and the society, which he or she is living in.

 

The vibrancy of the discussion during the Ndola workshop and the richness of the deliberations demanded that the book has a fourth part specifically itemising what the workshop participants felt were the appropriate recommendations to various stakeholders. To be read together with this part of the book, ought to be the workshop report which forms part of the literature being officially launched. The workshop report is particularly useful in that it contains other papers and group discussions, which are not contained in the book. It also provides a quick read for those who may want to have both a feeling of the workshop proceedings and rich nature of the discussions that took place.