The
Chairperson of the Pan African Parliament’s Committee on Monetary and Financial
Affairs Hon. James GONY, has emphasized
on the important role of the Committee in ensuring that the budget allocated to
the work of the Parliament is adequately executed to cater for the agenda of
attainment of integration of Africa.
Hon. GONY
stated this at the opening of its two-day working Session with Management of
the Secretariat ahead of the expected resumption of statutory meetings of the
legislative arm of the African Union (AU).
The
session, which is being held virtually, is meant to review the financial
statements, budget allocation and execution for 2020, the PAP 2021 budget
framework and budget proposal for 2022. The meeting is also expected to
finalise the Committee’s 2021 workplan and agree on a way forward. The meeting
will pave the way for upcoming statutory meetings of the PAP, which were
disrupted in 2020 by the ongoing global health crisis.
“Our statutory activities were heavily
impacted in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is time to get back to work and
carry on our mandate on behalf of the peoples of Africa. This working session
is therefore crucial as it reviews the resources available to enable the
Parliament to function efficiently, allow Members of the Committee to track the
implementation of programmes and monitor the budget execution rate, which we
would like to see improve,” says Hon.
Gony.
Addressing the Committee, Mr. Vipya HARAWA, Clerk of the PAP said that the current context
has led to drastic changes in terms of budget allocation at the AU level. This
“new normal” forces the PAP to adapt and operate differently, in line with
austerity measures put in place to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic. Mr. Harawa also appealed to the Committee on Monetary and Financial
Affairs to consider an expansion of its mandate to include an oversight on
financial matters of the entire AU, as intended by the Protocol to the
Constitutive Act of the AU Relating to the PAP.
Vipya Harawa
“The
message from the AU is clear. It cannot be business as usual especially as the
continent fine tunes its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how economies can
overcome the damage. The current situation also offers an opportunity for the
PAP to fully play its role as the continental Parliament. My submission to the
Committee is for members to deliberate on how its oversight role can
effectively be extended to other organs of the AU. The Secretariat stands ready
to provide the required support,” says Mr. Harawa.
Committee
Members embraced the session with emphasis on the need for the PAP to put plans
in place to commence reviewing the budget of the African Union, as required by
its mandate; a practice that was in place years ago. A presentation by the AU
Commission on budget principles and an engagement with the Bureau of the PAP is
scheduled to take place on the second day of the meeting of the Committee on
Monetary and Financial Affairs. The ongoing virtual meeting is the first
statutory meeting of the PAP since March 2020.
Source:
Media Office, Pan African Parliament
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