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.
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