A South African High Court in Gauteng on Thursday, dismissed the suit
filed by a member of Botswana delegation to the Pan-African Parliament
(PAP), Hon. Christian Greeff against the Clerk of the
PAP, Ms. Lindiwe Khumalo and the Chairperson of the Southern
Region Caucus, Hon. Pemmy Majodina. The suit sought to interdict the respondents from proceeding
with the Extraordinary Session of the Sixth Parliament of the Pan-African
Parliament scheduled to take place from the 20th to the 27th of
March, 2024.
Hon. Greeff also sought an order of the Court to direct the Southern Region
Caucus of the PAP to hold meeting for the purpose of nominating presidential
candidate before new members of the Parliament are sworn in.
This was disclosed on Thursday by the Acting President of PAP, Hon. Lucia Dos Passos during a press
conference on the Extraordinary Session of the Pan-African Parliament.
Hon. Lucia Passos disclosed that when the case came up for hearing,
the Clerk of the Parliament, Ms. Lindiwe
Khumalo through her lawyers raised preliminary objection to the suit based
on the lack of jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Her lawyers argued that both the PAP Protocol ratified by South
Africa and South Africa’s Home Country Agreement with the African Union (AU)
through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), made
it explicitly clear that Pan-African
Parliamentarians enjoy parliamentary immunity in South Africa and that a member
of the Pan-African Parliament shall not be liable to civil or criminal
proceedings, arrest, imprisonment or damages for what is said or done by him or
her within or outside the Pan-African Parliament in his or her capacity as a
member of Parliament in the discharge of his or her duties.
The Acting President also disclosed
that the Chairperson of the Southern Region Caucus, Hon. Pemmy Majodina was not in
court having not been served with the court processes.
Pundits believe that the dismissal of the suit has dealt a blow to
the presidential aspiration Zambian parliamentarian, Hon. Miles
Sampa who is believed to be the intended beneficiary of the reliefs
sought in the legal action. He and his supporters had banked on him being the
only candidate for nomination.
Dismissal of the suit clears the way for the opening ceremonies
expected to take place tomorrow Friday 22 March. New and re-designated members
will be sworn in to participate in the election processes.
Under the draft program for the session, regional caucuses will
meet after the opening ceremonies for the purpose of nomination of candidates
for President, First and Fourth Vice Presidents of the Parliament. A five
member ad hoc committee made up of elected representative from each regional
caucus in terms of Rule 16(3) will also be constituted to organize the election.
Parliamentarians who spoke to our correspondent after the court
judgment, expressed happiness that the matter was dismissed as it paves way for
the election, expected to restore normalcy to the PAP.
Members of staff of the parliament were jubilant when they heard
the news of the dismissal of the case. One of them remarked that the thought of
going through what they were put through between August 2023 and February 2024
when Hon. Ashebir Gay and Hon. Miles Sampa held sway at PAP was terrifying.
The work environment at PAP back then
was very toxic. “We went to work each day not knowing what to expect. They
command you to do things and when you try to advise them of the provisions of
the African Union (AU) staff rules, they threaten you with sack” said one of
them. “May we never see the day when PAP will be hijacked to advance selfish
personal agenda without regard to the image and integrity of the institution” said
another staff.
It would be recalled that Hon. Greeff was one of
the ten (10) members of the Southern Region Caucus of the Parliament who
forwarded a petition to the Chairperson of the Region, Hon. Pemmy
Majodina demanding that the region must hold meeting to nominate
candidate for president before new members are sworn in.
When that failed, he proceeded to initiate the legal action which
has now been dismissed.
The coast is now clear for the incumbent President from the
Southern Region, Hon. Chief Fortune
Charumbira who enjoys tremendous goodwill and support from the
parliamentarians, to clinch the nomination and complete his three-year tenure
which started with his election on 29 June 2022. He had only served for a year
and two months before he proceeded for election.
Although the Northern Region has resolved to allow the incumbent
First Vice President, Hon. Prof Messouda (Mrs.) to complete
her three year tenure so that the position would thereafter rotate to another
country in the spirit of intra-regional rotation, she will also have to go
through election.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Disclaimer: Comment expressed do not reflect the opinion of African Parliamentary News