PAP President Charumbira stresses the need for programmes and activities of PAP to be focused on results

The President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) H.E Chief Fortune Charumbira has stressed the need for all the programmes and activities of the Parliament to be guided by a single-minded focus on results.

He stated this in his opening remarks at a meeting of the joint Bureauxes of the Parliament and workshop on effective results-based management and strategic planning which took place on Saturday at the precincts of the Parliament in Midrand, South Africa.

According to the H.E. Chief Charumbira, “we have to be clear and unambiguous on what output we want to achieve, what outcome we anticipate and what impact we will make in the long run”.

He recalled that at the genesis of the Sixth Parliament of the Pan-African Parliament, a Strategic Re-orientation Workshop for Members of Parliament under the theme, “Revive, Renew, Reposition and Reinvigorate the Pan-African Parliament” was convened.

“One of the major objectives of this workshop is to refocus the Pan African Parliament from an activity-driven to a result – driven Parliament that spearheads the implementation of activities that are meaningful and impactful to the African citizenry that we serve.”

He observed that it is not a coincidence that the Results Based Management and Strategic Planning Workshop are being held concurrently with the Joint Bureauxes Meeting that will consider and approve the programme for the Plenary Session.

“This is a deliberate strategy intended to ensure that the lessons drawn from the workshop will be used in incisively analyzing the programme for the Session to ensure that it is focused on impactful activities that should deliver meaningful results.”

Chief Charumbira stressed that the Pan African Parliament “like the proverbial bees should move away from simply counting the bees that visit the flowers to enumerating those that actually collect the nectar.”

“Our programmes going forward should resonate with the seven (7) AU Moonshots. Even the activities that Committees carry out should be linked to specific AU Moonshots if we are to remain relevant in the continental governance matrix.”

Speaking on the objectives of the workshop, H.E. Chief Charumbira stated that the first main objective of this Workshop is to generate a high- level discussion amongst the leadership of PAP on the key elements that will form the strategic priorities and direction of the PAP for the next 5 (five) years.

“The second main objective for this Workshop is to draw the attention of Hon. Members of Bureau and Bureaux on the directives given to all AU Organs to align their strategic plans with the continental priorities of Agenda 2063, the Continental Moonshots of Africa (that set out the ambitious aspirations of the African people, as well as the 10 year Strategic Implementation Plan.”

“The third main objective for this Workshop is to focus the planning and reporting of all structures of the PAP, including all its Committees on RESULTS rather than ACTIVITIES.

The President stressed the need for PAP to repair her ruined image and reposition “ourselves in our programmes for PAP to regain its lost glory. Quite often we are asked the question, what has PAP done over the past 20 years? We must reposition ourselves so that people understand us in terms of our functions.”

He acknowledged that the persistent conflicts within PAP since its establishment has damaged the image of the institution in the eyes of an already skeptical citizenry and that PAP has a lot of work to do to repair this tainted image.

“PAP as an institution suffers from collateral damage every time there is a conflict within and among its membership. In that regard, the false and malicious allegations of misappropriation of funds and recruitment of a ridiculously large number of support staff levelled against him, gave the impression that PAP is a decrepit, lawless institution with ineffective administrative systems which can be easily run rough-shod by one person.”

“These malicious allegations, which were flaunted as fact in the public domain, backed by a shameless contrived audit were targeted at ruining the reputation of the President and diminishing his support among the PAP MPs and the public with the ultimate objective of unseating him. Unfortunately, by extension, they also ruined the public’s perception of the institution to the extent that one Foreign Minister bluntly said that PAP is perceived as “an institution of hooligans.”.

He reassured the Members that all the allegations were nothing more than malicious political character assassination and there is no substance to the accusations. As a result, the Bureau welcomes the forensic audit to be conducted by an Independent Auditor as an opportunity to clear his name and repair the checkered image of the PAP.