Gertrude Mongella Urges Stronger PAP as Boutbig Honours Her Legacy

PAP President Fateh Boutbig honours Gertrude Mongella in Tanzania as she urges the leadership to strengthen the Parliament and uphold its founding ideals.

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, 8 October 2026 — The inaugural President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), H.E. Dr Gertrude Mongella, has called on the institution’s current leadership to strengthen the continental Parliament and remain faithful to its founding purpose of ensuring the participation of African peoples in Africa’s development and integration.

Mongella delivered the message during a meeting with PAP President H.E. Dr. Fateh Boutbig in Dar es Salaam, where he honoured her pioneering leadership and distinguished service to the institution she led from 2004 to 2009.

The encounter brought together PAP’s founding experience and its current leadership ambitions, combining a tribute to Mongella’s legacy with discussions on building a stronger Parliament that Africans recognize and use as their voice within the African Union.

Honouring PAP’s pioneering President

Boutbig presented Mongella with a certificate of appreciation recognizing the enduring foundation she laid in shaping PAP as a voice for African citizens and an instrument of unity, integration and parliamentary democracy.

He described her as a pacesetter and trailblazer whose vision, dedication and sacrifices helped steer the institution through its formative years. He also paid tribute to her as a continental role model and an icon for African women and girls.

PAP was inaugurated on 18 March 2004 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Mongella’s presidency placed her at the centre of the effort to translate the ambition of continental parliamentary representation into a functioning institution.

Her contribution therefore extends beyond being the first holder of the office. Leading a new continental Parliament required helping establish its working practices, build relationships across different parliamentary traditions and give practical expression to the idea that African citizens should have a voice in continental affairs.

Boutbig stressed that institutions are shaped both by those serving today and by the vision, courage, fortitude and commitment of those who came before them. His tribute linked recognition of Mongella’s service to the responsibility of successive leaders to build on that foundation.

Mongella urges perseverance and fidelity to PAP’s founding ideals

Reflecting on the circumstances surrounding PAP’s establishment and the challenges encountered during her presidency, Mongella encouraged Boutbig and his Bureau to persevere in strengthening the institution.

She emphasized that Africans must recognize PAP as their voice and use it to pursue their aspirations for the continent. She urged the leadership to uphold its founding purpose: ensuring the full participation of African peoples in Africa’s economic development and integration.

Her message brings the discussion of institutional strengthening back to the people PAP exists to serve. A stronger Parliament must be visible, accessible and connected to citizens’ concerns, with its debates and recommendations contributing to the work of national legislatures and the wider African Union.

For PAP, this means that institutional development should be measured by its ability to bring parliamentary perspectives and public concerns into continental decision-making, as well as by the structures it creates.

Proposed university and legislative studies centre

Boutbig invited Mongella to remain actively engaged in strengthening PAP, saying her experience and institutional memory would be invaluable to initiatives being prepared by the Bureau.

These include a Centre for Legislative Studies, a Pan-African Parliament University, and conferences on women and youth planned for 2027.

The proposed centre and university point towards an ambition to strengthen the knowledge and skills supporting parliamentary work. Depending on their eventual design, they could provide opportunities for research, training and the exchange of experience among African parliamentarians and parliamentary staff.

Such initiatives could also help connect continental policy discussions with the practical demands of legislative work, including scrutiny, public consultation and the development of laws that respond to shared African challenges.

The release describes these initiatives as being prepared by the Bureau. Their detailed mandates, implementation arrangements and funding were not outlined.

The planned conferences on women and youth offer a further opportunity to widen engagement with PAP. Their value will depend on how effectively the perspectives raised translate into continuing parliamentary work and follow-up.

Preserving institutional memory

The meeting forms part of stakeholder consultations initiated by Boutbig to inform PAP’s priorities and ensure that its development benefits from the knowledge of those who shaped its foundations.

Engaging former leaders can help preserve lessons about what has worked, what has constrained the institution and which ambitions require renewed attention. For a Parliament bringing together members from different national systems, retaining and passing on that experience is an important part of building continuity.

Mongella’s invitation to remain involved gives the recognition of her legacy a practical dimension. Her experience could help guide the Bureau’s efforts to strengthen parliamentary capacity, participation and public confidence in the institution.

A symbol of unity and a responsibility to carry forward

In a symbolic gesture, Mongella presented Boutbig with a symbol of unity and called on him to unite the continent.

The gesture reinforced the connection between PAP’s representative role and Africa’s wider integration project. Continental unity requires institutions through which different national experiences, public concerns and political perspectives can be discussed and brought into a shared conversation.

Hon. Djidda Mamar Mahamat, PAP’s Third Vice-President, joined Boutbig in paying tribute to Mongella. Hon. Stephen Masele, a former First Vice-President who served from 2018 to 2021, was also present.

The Dar es Salaam encounter honoured PAP’s first President while placing a clear responsibility before its current leadership: to carry forward the institution’s founding ideals and make the Parliament a stronger, more recognizable voice for African peoples.