Today
marks the PAP Day, which commemorates 18 years since the inauguration of the
first
Parliament
of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP)
on 18 March 2004 at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa. First launched in
2021, this year’s commemoration is held under the theme: “Empowering the PAP to amplify the voices of the African citizens”
The PAP Day celebration reignites a
conversation about the vision and purpose of the institution, which can be traced directly to
the Pan-African ideals of cooperation and unity among African states. These ideals inspired the signing
of the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (the Abuja Treaty) on 3 June 1991, and
the adoption of the Sirte Declaration of 1999.
The
latter called for speedy establishment of the institutions provided for in the
Abuja Treaty, and
the PAP
was envisioned as a platform from which the African peoples, and not states or
leaders,
could be
represented in the decision-making processes affecting the continent. Indeed,
the PAP
Protocol
enjoined the institution, among other things, to facilitate effective
implementation of the
AU’s
policies and objectives.
At its 39th
meeting in October 2021, the Executive Council of the AU called on Member
States that
have not
done so to sign and ratify the Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African
Union relating
to the
Pan-African Parliament (also known as the Malabo Protocol) adopted in 2014 by
the Assembly
of Heads
of State and Governments. The Malabo Protocol is intended to extend the powers
of the PAP into a fully-fledged
legislative organ. It requires a minimum of 28 countries to ratify it before it comes into force.
The
Republic of Niger recently became the 13th AU Member state to ratify the 2014 PAP Protocol. Niger joins Benin, Cameroon,
Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Sierra
Leone, Somalia and Togo as the African countries that have so far heeded the call to empower the
continental Parliament.
PAP is one of the nine organs of the AU with the
mandate to promote economic and social integration through making laws. As it stands, its
mandate extends to consultation, and playing an advisory and oversight role for all AU organs
pending the ratification of its protocol. The PAP Day
was launched to serve as a reminder to African citizens of the potential of the Parliament, intended as a
platform for people from all African states to be involved in discussions and decision-making on the
problems and challenges facing the continent. The day is also meant to remind African leaders of their commitment to
empower the
continental
representation
of the
peoples of Africa. Stakeholders, including Parliamentarians, Speakers of regional Parliaments, civil society organizations
and media representatives, gathered at the launch of
the PAP Day in 2021 were unanimous in their assessment that the integration of
the African continent will only be achieved through constant
interactions and involvement of the grassroots in the affairs of the AU.
Mr. Vipya HARAWA, Clerk of the PAP
says that formal celebrations
of the PAP
Day will
be held upon resumptions of Parliamentary
activities
underpinned by the upcoming elections of the Bureau
and Bureaux of the PAP. The
event will include, among others, the launch
of the PAP compendium of the 3rd Parliament
resolutions, recommendations and declarations disseminated.
Source: Mr. Jeffrey ONGANGA, Media
Officer,
Pan-African Parliament
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