Chapter three: Democracy and good political governance Best practice 3.1: Security sector reforms Security sector reforms involved the establishment of civil control of the military and the police, in line with the re-establishment of a democratic order from 1993. A 1996 constitutional amendment gave the head of government, the prime minister, powers to determine the operational use of the LDF, operational command was vested in the commander of the LDF, and the appointment and removal of the commander of the LDF were vested in the king as head of state and constitutional monarch, acting on the advice of the prime minister. The LDF Act of 1996 rationalised the governance of the military in line with the evolving democratic order, clarified the command, control and administration functions of the commander, and emphasised civil control of the military. Appropriate training of soldiers accompanied these reforms, with the aim of depoliticising and professionalising the LDF. The reform of the police also started in 1996 and the Police Service Act of 1998 provided for the organisation, administration and discipline of the police service. The Act established a Police Authority, which would be accountable to Parliament, established a Police Directorate and required the commissioner of police to develop and keep under review a five-year strategic development plan. The police service is currently implementing the Strategic Plan for 2006–2009, the Crime Management Strategy 2007–2009, a Communications and Media Strategy, and a Service Charter, which sets out the minimum standards of service delivery. The police service has also established the Child and Gender Protection Unit. Source: CRM Findings. iii. Recommendations 171. The APR Panel recommends that Lesotho: • Develop a comprehensive national peace architecture that includes structures and institutions for managing national-, district- and community-level conflicts. This should include the local churches, traditional authorities and other nonstate actors. (Government of Lesotho, traditional leaders, political parties, IEC) • Strengthen the capacity of chiefs for modern leadership and conflict management, taking into account the efficacy of traditional conflict management systems. (Government of Lesotho, traditional leaders, political parties, IEC) • Initiate strategies and training in order to build capacity and mainstream women and the youth in conflict prevention and management. (Government of Lesotho, traditional leaders, political parties, IEC) • Strengthen the capacity of political parties for managing conflicts, and develop strategies and deepen capacity for interparty dialogue, negotiation and consensus building. (Government of Lesotho, traditional leaders, political parties, IEC) 59