Members
of the Pan-African Parliament have developed a Plan of Action that will guide
the Parliament in fulfilling its mandate and living up to the expectations of stakeholders
and the African people.
This
was one of the outcomes of the Strategic Reorientation Workshop for the members
of the Pan-African Parliament which ended on Tuesday. The Parliamentarians also
came up with a Performance Management Framework as a tracking tool to assess
whether PAP is on course in delivering on its mandate.
The workshop
with the theme “Reviving, Renewing, Repositioning and Reinvigoration the Pan-African
Parliament” had presentations from officials of various African Union agencies
and departments.
One
could notice that there is a breadth of fresh air as members showed enthusiasm
and uncommon interest and zeal in not only participating in the workshop but making
meaningful contributions during deliberations, not minding the many
presentations they had to sit through in a day.
The workshop
turned out to be a season of intellectual harvest for the parliamentarians who a
determination to chart a new course for the parliament following the ugly
incidents of 31 May to 01 June, 2021 which led to the suspension of
parliamentary activities. Encomiums were heaped on the President of the
Parliament, H. E. Chief Fortune
Charumbira and members of the Bureau over what the parliamentarians
described as a very novel workshop.
The parliamentarians expressed
optimism that the
paradigm shift in the parliament’s relationship with the AUC, RECs and other AU Policy Organs will begin a process of reinvigorating
and strengthening the linkages between
the PAP and AU organs in achieving the objectives of the PAP and the Union
President
of the Parliament, H. E. Chief Fortune
Charumbira set the tone for the workshop in his keynote address when he
said “Quite often we take it for granted that we all understand the mission and
purpose of the Pan African Parliament. We can even recite the mission and
functions of the Pan African Parliament as captured in the Rules of Procedure
eloquently, but do we truly understand and appreciate why we are here? Do we
comprehend the intentions of the founding fathers in establishing the Pan
African Parliament? If so, are we living up to those intentions and
expectations? That is the sobering question that confronts us today as we meet
for our first official engagement since the historic June 29 elections”.
He
informed the parliamentarians that the workshop will seek to embark on the
difficult process of honest self-introspection to interrogate how the public
perceives the Parliament and what can be done to rebrand the Pan African
Parliament, renew its image in the eyes of the African citizenry and reposition
it in the continental governance matrix.
The
workshop had a session on Enhancing Africa’s Post COVID-19 economic recovery: The
Role of National and Regional Parliaments, facilitated by the Second Vice
President of PAP, Hon. Dr. Ashebir W.
Gayo with a presentation by Dr.
Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Acting Director of Africa CDC, AUC.
The
parliamentarians were updated on Agenda 2063 Special Project: Evaluation of the
First Ten-Year Implementation Plan and the Development of the Second Ten-Year
Implementation Plan by Mr. Tichawona
Shumba, Acting Director, Office of Strategic Planning and Delivery (AUC).
The
next session was on Strengthening the linkages between the PAP, the AUC, RECs
and other AU Policy Organs in achieving the objectives of the PAP and the African
Union and had the following presentations: Facilitating the implementation of
the policies and programmes of the Union and overseeing their effective
implementation by the various AU Organs by H.
E. Dr. Nerdos Bekele-Thomas, CEO, African Union Developments Agency (AUDA)-
NEPAD; Promoting Continental Integration, socio-economic growth and development through trade and the
pursuit of a common economic recovery strategy by H. E.Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, The African Continental Free
Trade Area; African Governance Architecture (AGA) by Amb. Sala Hammad, Head, AGA Secretariat; Promoting Peace, Security
and Stability on the Continent by Dr.
Litha Ogana, Commissioner, African Union Commission on Human Rights;
Consolidating democratic institutions and the democratic culture by a
representative from the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security.
Dr. Guy Fleury Ntwari of the Office of
Legal Counsel, AUC addressed the workshop on the Status of ratification of the
Malabo Protocol and AU Legal Instruments and the role of PAP in expediting the
process.
Then
came a break-out session where the five regional caucuses deliberated on Repositioning
the Pan African Parliament in the Continental Governance Matrix and how the
parliament could be repositioned to achieve its goals. The feedback from the regional
caucuses were later presented to the plenary by their respective facilitators.
Yes …. The workshop had great objectives as Africans we only hope that our leaders are inspired further to implement all these. We are behind you. Chief Fortune is a great leader!
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