Chapter three: Democracy and good political governance of the desire of the Basotho to preserve the traditions, culture and values that unify the Basotho nation. 64 190. As regards the supremacy of the rule of law, stakeholders expressed the view that Parliament should have a greater role in oversight over the conduct of government. For example, the ombudsman, the auditor general, the DCEO and such other bodies ought to be reporting to Parliament (as the direct representative of the electorate) rather than through the executive. Parliament also does not have any say in ratifying the appointments of the key state functionaries and ambassadors, for the executive monopolises these appointments. The general consensus among stakeholders was that parliamentary oversight over the executive would be greatly enhanced by introducing changes in the reporting and ratification processes mentioned above. 191. Stakeholders stated that the executive is very dominant in the governance of the country. The National Assembly is weak and has limited countervailing mechanisms to check the executive effectively. Likewise, the Senate also cannot hold the executive to account and has limited effectiveness in exercising oversight over it. The Senate reviews bills emanating from the National Assembly, but cannot initiate such bills, and it moreover has a very limited role in the national budgeting process. Like the National Assembly, the Senate is also not involved in the scrutiny and discussion of treaties and international agreements before they are signed. 192. The Council of State is regarded as a key organ of governance, yet it comprises a number of public servants who are not elected officials. Stakeholders urged that this state of affairs be changed in favour of greater representation by elected officials and other nonstate stakeholders in order to reflect the realities of contemporary Lesotho. Decentralisation and popular participation 193. The CRM confirmed that there is quite a strong political will to implement decentralisation. The government has set up a specific directorate to deal with the decentralisation process in the MoLG, whose remit includes human resource development, land surveys, land use and physical planning, and engineering and construction. Currently, the Directorate is working on a Framework and Action Plan to guide decentralisation programmes. 194. Although the Local Government Act of 1997 provided for functions in schedules I and II of the Local Government Act 1997 (as amended) to be assigned to the district and community councils, the decentralisation exercise requires sustained efforts in order to become fully institutionalised. For instance, the local councils are vested with powers to generate revenue and impose levies and taxes, but they have yet to achieve this. The councils are supposed to be audited annually. However, this is yet to happen. Frequent comments were made about the shortcomings of the decentralised state structures and local government in the provision of services. A number of stakeholders pointed to the need for human-capacity development and for adequate resources in order to make a success of decentralisation initiatives. It was also evident from the consultations that, apart from participating in local elections, there was little stakeholder participation in the decentralised structures. What was notable was a stakeholder observation that, although the local elections of 2005 returned proportionately more women representatives to local councils, their levels of participation in deliberations in those councils had not improved, leaving men as the principal decision makers.