Acting PAP President denies story on firing of Chief Charumbira as PAP President

The Acting President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), Hon. Lucia Maria Mendes Goncalves Dos Passos has expressed grave concern over the circulation of a fake story on various social media platforms alleging that the President of the Pan African Parliament, His Excellency, Chief Fortune Zephania Charumbira, has been fired from the Pan African Parliament on allegations of embezzling close to USD 1.2 million.

Hon. Lucia Maria Dos Passos stated this in a Press Release issued on Saturday 9 September 2023. The Press Release is reproduced verbatim below:

PRESS RELEASE ON THE FAKE STORY ON THE FIRING OF THE CHIEF CHARUMBIRA FROM THE PAN AFRICAN PARLIAMENT

The Pan African Parliament (PAP) notes with grave concern the circulation of a fake story on various social media platforms alleging that the President of the Pan African Parliament, His Excellency, Chief Fortune Zephania Charumbira, has been fired from the Pan African Parliament on allegations of embezzling close to USD 1.2 million.

The article bafflingly draws its conclusions from a Memo written to the Clerk of Parliament, Madam Lindiwe Khumalo, by the illegally appointed “Director of the Bureau”, Mr. Emmanuel K. Afedor, instructing the Clerk to initiate preparations for the convening of the Third Ordinary Session of the 6th Parliament of the Pan African Parliament and declaring vacancies in the Bureau.

The Pan African Parliament dismisses this fake story with the contempt that it deserves and would like to put it on record that:

      I.        H.E. Chief Charumbira is still the President of the Pan African Parliament until the plenary, and only the Plenary, decides otherwise. A power hungry, self-appointed Acting President does not have the power nor the authority to dismiss anyone at PAP, let alone the President.

    II.        After being sworn-in in the Parliament of Zimbabwe on Thursday 7th September 2023, Chief Charumbira is primed to return and assume his position as PAP President as a Returning Member of PAP and in line with the provisions of Rule 9(3) of the PAP Rules of Procedure. Therefore, there is no vacancy in the position of PAP President.

   III.        The allegations of embezzling USD1.2 million are nothing more than a malicious vendetta of vilification and character assassination driven by the shameless political ambitions of the 2nd Vice President, Hon. Dr. Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo, and his cohort. There is no substance at all to the allegations. In fact, Hon. Dr. Gayo and his team are frantically trying to ‘cook up’ evidence to back that claim and have been harassing staff in the PAP’s Finance Department to give them details of the missions that Chief Charumbira has undertaken since the beginning of the 6th Parliament as well as details of support staff hired during sessions in a desperate bid to find something that can stick.

  IV.        If at all any charges of misconduct had been leveled against Chief Charumbira, the PAP has adequate internal mechanisms to deal with such issues. For the avoidance of doubt, the removal of a PAP Member for misconduct is provided for under Article 8(2) of the PAP Rules of Procedure which specifies that the motion has to be decided by secret ballot and supported by a two-thirds majority of the Members present and voting.

   V.        No such motion has been brought before the Plenary and, in fact, no such charges have been proffered against Chief Charumbira because the whole charade is nothing more than an elaborate smear campaign fronted by shadowy social media activists sponsored by Hon. Dr. Gayo and his cohort.

  VI.        Hon. Dr. Gayo is not the Acting President of the Pan African Parliament. In line with Articles 12(4) and 12(7) of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan African Parliament (hereinafter referred to as the PAP Protocol) as read with Rule 19 of the PAP Rules of Procedure, the 3rd Vice President, Hon. Lucia Maria Mendes Goncalves Dos Passos, is the bona-fide Acting President of the Pan African Parliament in line with the principle of rotation and as appointed by the H.E President Fortune Charumbira on 21st August 2023.

 VII.        The PAP Plenary Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the Pan African Parliament. No individual has the authority to reverse the decisions of the Plenary, not even the substantive President himself. In that context, Hon. Professor Massouda Mohamed Laghdaf, the 1st Vice President, was duly sworn-in in plenary after all the necessary verification processes had been conducted by the Rules Committee. She is, therefore, the bona-fide 1st Vice President and representative of the Northern Caucus on the Bureau. There is no vacancy in the position of 1st Vice President.

The above points will be clarified in greater detail below.

THE ALLEGED FIRING OF THE PRESIDENT

The President of the Pan African Parliament is an elected official who enjoys the sacred trust of the PAP Members who voted for him. It is a matter of record that on his election on 29^th June 2022, H.E. Chief Charumbira received the affirmative vote of 163 out of the 191 Members present representing over 85% of the PAP Members. Therefore, only the appointing authority, in this case the Plenary Assembly, can dismiss the President.

Where a case of misconduct exists, Rule 8(2) of the PAP Rules of Procedure provides for the removal of any Member of PAP through a motion supported by a two-thirds majority of the Members present and voting. No such motion exists and no charges have been proffered by the Plenary. In fact, the majority of the PAP Members have expressed their confidence in the leadership of Chief Charumbira and the trajectory that the PAP has taken since the commencement of the 6th Parliament under his able stewardship. Chief Charumbira thus remains the President of PAP until the end of his tenure in 2025 and he does so with the full support of the majority of the membership of the Pan African Parliament.

ALLEGATIONS OF EMBEZZLEMENT OF FUNDS

Other than fabricated allegations on social media with no shred of evidence, there is nothing at all to prove that H.E. Chief Charumbira embezzled any money from PAP. Given the dire financial situation the PAP finds itself in, which even the African Union is aware of, attempting to misappropriate any funds from PAP would be akin to wringing water from a stone. It would not even be practically possible because there is no excess money to pilfer.

Additionally, the PAP President has no access to the PAP financial management system to be able to misappropriate any funds from PAP. Even for missions, specifically the mission to Cairo wherein the President is accused of using USD 45 000, it must be recorded that the budget for missions is prepared by the Secretariat and the funding is again disbursed by the Secretariat.

The budget for accommodation and transport is prepared by the Procurement Unit and the money is either paid directly to the hotel and/or the transport service provider by the Finance Department. Alternatively, a member of staff (normally from Finance or Protocol) will accompany the delegation and carry the money as Imprest which is accounted for upon return. This is a standing rule in the African Union. If any money was misappropriated, therefore, the responsibility lies with the Secretariat who prepares the budgets and disburse the money and not the President. The President, like any member of the delegation, was only given the DSAs that were due to him on the mission to Cairo and did not handle any other finances. He is prepared to commission a thorough investigation into this issue if there are any suspicions that money was misappropriated.

QUESTION OF ACTING PRESIDENCY

Vice Presidents are appointed Acting President by the substantive President based on ranking and rotation as provided for in Articles 12(4) and 12(7) of the PAP Protocol as read with Rule 19 of the PAP Rules of Procedure. In accordance with the principle of rotation, Hon. Lucia Maria Mendes Goncalves Dos Passos, the 3rd Vice President, was duly appointed as the Acting President on 21st August 2023, prior to the President’s taking leave of absence for the Zimbabwe elections.

The appointment was premised on the fact that both the 1st Vice President and the 2nd Vice President have duly acted before in the President’s absence and all Bureau Members have respected these appointments based on ranking and rotation. In fact, the 2nd Vice President, who is now claiming to be the Acting President, was the last to act in the same capacity as recently as March 2023 during the Committee Session when the President was away on official duty.

Secondly, the issue of rotational Acting Presidency was discussed and resolved in a Bureau Meeting convened on 10 May 2023 wherein Hon. Dos Passos indicated her availability for rotation from mid-August into September 2023. Hon. Dr. Gayo did not make any indication of his preferred dates for rotation. Therefore, in line with the principle of rotation and the decisions of the Bureau, the lot fell on Hon. Dos Passos this time to serve as Acting President. Even if the principle of rotation were to be ignored, which is an integral value of the African Union, and ranking only is used as the criteria, the 1st Vice President, Hon. Professor Massouda Mohamed Laghdaf, would be the most senior and, hence, the Acting President. So both in terms of ranking and rotation, Hon. Dr. Gayo is not the Acting President

STATUS OF THE FIRST VICE PRESIDENT

Article 5(1) of the PAP Protocol states that, “The Pan-African Parliamentarians shall be elected or designated by the respective National Parliaments or any other deliberative organs of the Member States, from among their members.” It is purely the sovereign and exclusive prerogative or, if you will, the responsibility of the National Parliament of a Member State to make such designation. The only restriction or disqualifying factor that is placed on Member States is found in Article 7 of the PAP Protocol which states that, “Membership of the Pan-African Parliament shall not be compatible with the exercise of executive or judicial functions in a Member State.”

For the avoidance of any doubt, the relevant Rules of Procedure of the Parliament are reproduced below:

Rule 6:  Verification

1.    After the election or designation of a person to be a Member of Parliament by a Member State, the National Parliaments or any other deliberative organ of the Member State shall notify the Clerk of Parliament of the new Members elected.

2.    The Clerk of the Pan-African Parliament shall invite in writing the National Parliament or any other deliberative organ that has elected or designated the person to be a Member of Parliament to provide the secretariat with information about the person relevant for the verification of membership by the Clerk.

3.    Where there is any doubt regarding the credentials of the elected or designated Member, the Clerk shall refer the information obtained under this Sub-Rule (2) to the Permanent Committee on Rules, Privileges, Ethics and Discipline for verification in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of the Protocol.

4.    Where the information availed for verification of a person under Sub-Rule (2) is not compatible with membership of Parliament, the person elected or designated by the Member State shall not be sworn in as a Member of Parliament and the President shall inform the relevant National Parliament or any other deliberative organ accordingly.

5.    Where the National Parliament or any other deliberative organ of a Member State notifies the Clerk that the status of the elected or designated Member has become incompatible with membership of Parliament, the Clerk shall notify the Bureau and the President shall declare before the House that the membership of the person has been terminated.

6.    Where the President makes a declaration under this Sub-Rule (5), the Clerk shall inform the relevant National Parliament or deliberative organ of the Member State in writing that the person is no longer a Member of Parliament.

The Plenary, at the May 2021 Session of PAP, was faced with a similar issue of the swearing- in of the South Sudan delegation who were all new to the PAP. A Member objected to their swearing-in on the grounds that they were recently appointed into the South Sudan Parliament and had not been sworn-in as Members. The Member noted specifically that the South Sudan Parliament had not been inaugurated with leadership in place. The objecting Member stated that it would be wrong to swear-in the delegation at PAP in the absence of any evidence that they were indeed parliamentarians from their national parliament. The objection was overruled, and plenary approved their swearing-in because the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline had cleared them as required by the Rules and it was agreed that PAP cannot look beyond the requirements of Article 5(1) once a National Parliament makes the designation. Unlike the South Sudan delegation that involved new Members being sworn-in, the Mauritania delegation consisted of returning members of the Pan-African Parliament and all the verification processes were duly complied with. Hon. Professor Massouda Mohamed Laghdaf is thus the bona-fide 1st Vice President as approved by Plenary. Hon. Dr. Gayo cannot reverse that decision without moving a motion in plenary.

CONVENING OF AN EXTRAORDINARY SESSION

Under Rule 17(c) of the PAP Rules of Procedure, it is the Bureau that determines the draft agenda and programmes of the Sessions of the Parliament. For the avoidance of doubt, Article 12.5 of the PAP Protocol states that the Bureau shall consist of the President and four Vice Presidents representing each of the five regions of Africa. Accordingly, Hon. Dr. Gayo acting alone has no authority to unilaterally convene a session of Parliament.

Secondly, a session of the PAP cannot last for two days unless it is an Extraordinary Session. When a session is called for a single purpose, as indicated in Mr. Afedor’s Memo, then it becomes an Extraordinary Session and triggers Rule 29 of the PAP Rules of Procedure which states that convening such an Extraordinary Session requires written notice signed by two- thirds of the PAP Parliamentarians. In other words, Hon. Dr. Gayo has no authority to call for an Extraordinary Session either without the formal endorsement of a two-thirds majority of the PAP Parliamentarians. The Memo and the purported declaration of vacancies are, therefore, null and void.

ISSUED BY THE ACTING PRESIDENT