African parliamentarians had little say in negotiations for external loans and too much power was vested in the finance ministries of many African countries, legislators from the 14-member bloc said after a two-day meeting in Zimbabwe.

"Ministers of finance have excessive discretionary powers," Edith Nawaki, a Zambian legislator and former finance minister told journalists.

"We have concluded as a recommendation that parliament should be given powers, powers which should be used to make decisions on whether or not our governments should be involved in external loan agreements," Nawaki said.

Endowed with vast resources but home to many of the world's poor, Africa is saddled with about US$330 billion (N$2,178 trillion) in external debts and spends US$15 billion (N$99 billion) annually on debt servicing.

Nawaki said the SADC parliamentary forum would lobby governments for legislative and constitutional changes to allow legislators greater say in foreign debt negotiations, through various standing committees in parliament.

A survey conducted in five sub-Saharan countries had shown that external loan commitments had left most nations impoverished with most people barely living on a dollar a day, the legislators said.

The fact that most loan agreements were not open to scrutiny had opened up cases of corruption by leaders and government officials, Lesotho legislator Hlalele Motaung said.

Some African leaders and top officials have been accused of diverting funds for personal use.

In Zambia, former president Frederick Chiluba is facing charges of corruption during his term in office.

The legislators and participants from civic organisations said there was an imbalance in relationships between African governments and lenders such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Loans extended to African governments had not eradicated poverty, they said, adding that these institutions should cancel the huge debts accrued by governments on the continent.

-Nampa-Reuters

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