South Africa set to ratify the PAP Revised Protocol

Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of the Republic of South Africa, Hon. Minister Ronald Lamola has said that South Africa will soon ratify the Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African Union relating to the Pan-African Parliament adopted by the Twenty-Third Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on 27 June 2014.

The Revised Protocol, also known as the Malabo Protocol has to be ratified by twenty eight member states of the African Union to come into force. But so far, only fourteen countries have ratified the Protocol.

Hon. Ronald Lamola made the announcement while officially declaring open, the First Ordinary Session of the Sixth Parliament of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP).

Lamola who represented H.E President Cyril Ramaphosa commended the PAP Bureau for organizing the Session which is being held under the African Union (AU) theme for 2022 “Building Resilience in nutrition on the African Continent: accelerate the human capital, social and economic development.”

Addressing the parliamentarians who converged at the seat of the Parliament in Midrand, South Africa, Minister Lamola said the theme of the Session could not have been more appropriate given the challenges that Africa is facing which include hunger and lack of food security.

“The current geo-political context characterized by uncertainty, nationalism and polarization, and compounded by the impacts of climate change, among which our continent is the hardest hit, continues to present challenges for food security and nutrition. As you well know, healthy and well-nourished citizens and modern agriculture for increased productivity and production are some of the key goals included in the African Union Agenda 2063, the Africa We Want.”

“I believe that the Model Law on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa discussed during the Committee Sittings held August 2022 provides guidance on how best to align these functions of food security and nutrition which tend to be located in the Ministries of Agriculture and Health respectively,” said Minister Ronald Lamola.

Underscoring the importance of the ratification of the Malabo Protocol, Hon. Lamola encouraged the Bureau of the Parliament to undertake advocacy missions for the ratification of the Protocol.

“Furthermore, in order to strengthen the mandate of the PAP such that it becomes a legislative organ of the African Union as envisaged in the 2014 Malabo Protocol, I would like to appeal to all Parliamentarians to continue the advocacy work for the ratification of the afore-mentioned 2014 Malabo Protocol so that it may enter into force as soon as possible.”

On the Host Country Agreement (HCA), Hon. Lamola disclosed that all the obstacles that militated against the building of a permanent secretariat had been resolved adding that very soon, construction would soon commence at the site which will also house other AU organs and institutions in South Africa.