National Assembly Members Meeting At Sindola Lodge At Kanilai
  
Announcement can be misleading. This may be the reason why some national assembly members did  not attend the workshop held at the Sindola Safari Lodge  on Thursday 14th March 2002.  
The government under the auspices of SPACO NGOs/PAAG  organised  consultative/ sensitisation workshop on poverty reduction
National  governance programme at the Sindola Safari Lodge from 13th to 14th March 2002. The objective of the workshop is to involve the legislature in a consultative exercise prior to the holding of a workshop at a date to be determined by the Strategy for Poverty alleviation Co-ordibnating Office (SPACO). The objective is well intentioned. Roles were assigned to both members of majority and minority parties. However the venue was ill conceived.
It is difficult to understand why the organisers would fail to hold the meeting at the National Assembly building, the Friendship Hotel or the Rural Development Institute  at Mansakonko, if we wish to select a rural setting.
The organisers would have to explain why Kanilai was considered as a suitable venue to hold the meeting. In our view, after all the rumours that Kanilai is being transformed into a seat of government, to drag all National Assembly members there for a consultative meeting could only strengthen the rumour.
The integrity of the National Assembly could not be enhanced by public announcement that National Assembly members are holding a meeting in Kanilai at a time when a ten day wrestling context is being held there.
Organisers of such important activities should consult with the National Assembly authority in the future before coming to any concrete decision on  matters concerning National Assembly members.
The failure by some National Assembly members to attend was not a boycott but a way of defending the integrity of the National Assembly. There should be prior  consultation before a consultative workshop is organised for an important body like the legislature.Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

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