Clerks of Parliament meet to outline areas of collaboration

The Clerk of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Mr. Vipya HARAWA met with his counterpart, the Clerk of the Parliament of Malawi Mrs. Fiona KALEMBA to fine-tune areas of partnership between the two parliamentary institutions.

Both Parliaments are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster mutual interests in view to promote African Union principles; rule of law; respect for human rights; and capacity building. The Clerks met in the presence of their respective teams to finalise the MoU before it is submitted to the presiding officers of both Parliaments ahead of the signing ceremony this week.

In her welcoming remarks, Mrs. Kalemba hailed the existing strong working relationship between both Parliaments and hoped that the MoU would strengthen the bond and benefit both parties in the long run.

“We are honoured to receive the PAP delegation as part of its official visit to Malawi. We are further delighted that this visit will serve as an opportunity to consolidate our relationship with the PAP as we seek to engage more and better in enabling our institutions to achieve their respective mandates. We regard the PAP as an important partner and once approved and signed by the leadership of the two Parliaments, we are confident that the MoU will be a catalyst for a long lasting collaboration based on mutual benefit” says Mrs. Kalemba.

Mr. Harawa, Clerk of the PAP said that through this MoU, the PAP hopes to achieve a model partnership that can be replicated with other parliaments in the continent to consolidate this support it receives from the Malawian Parliament.

The Clerk of the continental Parliament also outlined the objectives of the ongoing official visit to Malawi and thanked his counterpart for the warm welcome and all the facilities put at the disposal of the PAP delegation.

“It is important to mark this official visit by the PAP with a formalized understanding with the Parliament of Malawi especially given the excellent rapport that exists. The Parliament of Malawi has a role to play in achieving the objectives and we are prepared to enter into a collaborative framework that can serve as a basis to strengthen partnerships with other legislatures,” said Mr. Harawa.

Source: PAP Media Office