PAP President on Official Visit to Cuba

By Jeffrey ONGANGA

The President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), the Rt. Hon. Roger Nkodo DANG has arrived in Havana, Cuba on a week-long official visit at the request of the Speaker of the Cuban Parliament, the Rt. Hon. Esteban Lazo HERNANDEZ.

PAP President kick-started the engagement by paying homage to Cuba’s National Hero with a wreath-laying at the Jose Marti Memorial on Revolution Square in recognition of his role in the liberation of his country.

President Nkodo DANG says honouring this invitation is historic and of particular benefit to the continental Parliament as it provides an opportunity for the PAP; currently on the journey to transform into a fully-fledged legislature to appreciate Cuba’s constitutional reform process. A referendum was held in Cuba in February 2019 and the reforms were approved with a 90% of valid votes cast in favour.

“Key on this Mission will be a lecture I will give on the Pan-African Parliament. We have come a long way as the African people’s legislature, and it is relevant and pertinent for us to ensure that we are well understood by the world we interact with. We need to harness the benefits of our long-lasting relations with our stakeholders as we strive to shape and realize our continental aspiration; #TheAfricaWeWant; summed up in the African Union’s blueprint known as the #Agenda2063”, President Nkodo DANG says.

Among others, the President will have audiences with the Speaker of Parliament, the Foreign Minister, the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, African Students in Havana and visit some of the Communities.

Upon arrival, the PAP President was received at the Jose Marti International Airport by Hon. Maria Yolanda Ferrer GOMEZ, Head of the Foreign Affairs Commission and member of the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The PAP President is accompanied by Hon. Yahfadouh BENMBAREK, PAP Member from the Kingdom of Morocco.

The official visit follows a series of courtesy calls on the PAP President by different Ambassadors of the Republic of Cuba to the Republic of South Africa. Ambassador Rodolfo Benitez VERSON extended an invitation to the Rt. Hon. Roger Nkodo DANG during a visit to the PAP in August 2019.

Jeffrey ONGANGA is Media Officer at the Pan-African Parliament