PAP President Raises Budget and Reform Concerns in Meeting with AU Chairperson President Lourenço

Following the landmark bilateral engagements with the National Assembly of Angola and its leadership, the President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), H.E. Chief Fortune Zephania Charumbira, concluded his official visit with a high-level courtesy call on the President of the Republic of Angola and Chairperson of the African Union (AU), H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço.

This visit, held at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, was both symbolic and strategic, allowing the PAP President to address urgent institutional concerns directly with the current head of the African Union. The meeting was facilitated by the Speaker of the Angolan National Assembly, Hon. Carolina Cerqueira, and the Head of Angola’s PAP delegation, Hon. Manuel Domingos Augusto, both of whom were warmly acknowledged by Chief Charumbira for making the engagement possible.

Meeting the AU Chairperson: A Dual Appeal

Chief Charumbira noted that his visit to President Lourenço was significant in two distinct capacities: as Chairperson of the African Union, responsible for guiding continental policy; and as the President of a SADC Member State, the same region from which the PAP President hails.

The PAP delegation that accompanied Chief Charumbira included high-level advisers, among them a former Prime Minister of Mozambique and a former Angolan Foreign Minister and Ambassador, further underscoring the weight of the occasion.

The President of PAP made it clear that he was speaking on behalf of the entire Bureau of the continental Parliament which could not travel in full due to ongoing budgetary constraints and came with a focused agenda centred on three critical areas: the PAP budget, the recruitment crisis, and the direction of ongoing AU institutional reforms.

I. A Parliament Operating on a COVID-Era Budget

Chief Charumbira painted a sobering picture of PAP’s financial status. Despite having resumed full physical operations since 2022, the Parliament continues to operate on what is effectively a “COVID Budget,” capped at USD 10.5 million, a ceiling set during the pandemic and never reviewed upwards.

Currently, 75% of that budget is consumed by staff salaries, leaving just 25% for core parliamentary functions such as statutory plenary sessions, committee oversight, Bureau meetings, and continental missions.

“The Parliament is funded to exist but not to function,” Chief Charumbira told President Lourenço.

There is a staggering shortfall of USD 2.77 million required to fund the two annual plenary sessions and committee sittings as mandated by Article 14 of the PAP Protocol. Essential items such as interpretation services, member honoraria, and the Parliament’s participation in AU Summits remain entirely unfunded.

The PAP President requested the AU Chairperson’s intervention in ensuring a special budget allocation of at least USD 6.36 million for 2025 and, more importantly, in advocating for a review of the budget ceiling to at least USD 16 million a figure closer to pre-COVID levels.

II. Staffing Paralysis Due to Centralized Recruitment

Chief Charumbira next turned to the issue of staff recruitment, revealing that PAP currently has 24 vacant positions, including the Head of Finance, Head of Human Resources, and the Senior Internal Auditor.

These vacancies have been exacerbated by retirements, with key posts like the Acting Director of Administration and Finance and Senior Committee Clerk scheduled to vacate their positions by the end of 2025. Yet, the Parliament has no budgetary provision for recruitment, nor direct access to the AU's Merit-Based Recruitment System (MBRS) which is solely managed by the AU Commission in Addis Ababa.

This over-centralisation, Charumbira argued, has led to inordinate delays and severely hampered PAP’s operational capacity.

II. Reforms Must Strengthen PAP, Not Undermine It

In one of the most candid parts of the discussion, Chief Charumbira cautioned against AU institutional reforms that risk diluting the autonomy and effectiveness of the continental Parliament.

He rejected proposals for shared administrative services among AU organs, arguing that such a move was incompatible with the doctrine of separation of powers, especially for a Parliament tasked with budgetary oversight and representation of Africa’s citizens.

PAP, he stressed, has a legitimate oversight role that should not be subject to control by the very Executive structures it is expected to hold accountable. The current structure where PAP’s Bureau lacks financial control, while responsibility rests with AU Commission-aligned staff directly contradicts Article 12 of the PAP Protocol.

The President also warned against the erroneous restriction of PAP’s role to a single AU "Moonshot" (Africa’s integration) when, in fact, the institution’s mandate spans all seven key development goals, including peace and security, responsive institutions, and empowered citizens.

A Call to Action from the People’s Parliament

Chief Charumbira concluded his remarks by affirming that PAP is not seeking privileges, but demanding compliance with the PAP Protocol and the AU’s own principles of subsidiarity, transparency, and efficiency.

“We are not just a parliamentary organ; we are the voice of the African people. And a voice must be heard not muted by budget ceilings or bureaucratic hurdles,” he said.

President Lourenço, in turn, assured the PAP delegation of Angola’s and the AU Chair’s support in pushing for necessary reforms that respect the distinct and complementary roles of the Union’s organs. He welcomed the frankness of the engagement and promised to carry forward the concerns raised to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

Editor’s Note: This article is the third part of a three-part series documenting the official visit of the President of the Pan-African Parliament to Angola.