South Africa Hosts Second Pan
African Parliament
Tony Ekata,
Johannesburg
South
African President Jacob Zuma, has charged the Pan African
Parliament, PAP, to come up with specific resolutions and
recommendations to the African Union on ways of promoting
development, stability, human rights and democracy on the
continent.
President Zuma was speaking at the opening of the first sitting
of the second parliament of the PAP in Midrand, South Africa on
Monday.
Zuma said the PAP needed to demonstrate that it was not merely a
forum for debate, but an institution that forms an essential
part of the renewal of the continent.
He
called for greater attention to the economic integration of
Africa in order to harness the continent’s resources for the
benefit of the majority of Africans living in poverty.
The South African president pledged his country’s support for
the body, in its evolution from an advisory organ to a full
legislative parliament that would be able to set standards for
African governments.
He
expressed the hope that the 2010 World Cup tournament to be
hosted by South Africa would be used as a driving force for the
unity of Africa.
Roll call
Speakers of member countries’ parliaments are among the guests
attending the session.
The speakers of parliaments of eight member nations, including
Nigeria, gave solidarity messages at the opening.
In
his message, Nigeria’s Dimeji Bankole, urged national
parliaments to provide good governance with the support of the
PAP, to arrest the trend of abject poverty on the continent.
The President of the PAP, Dr. Idris Ndele Moussa, said in his
welcoming remarks that the 2010 World Cup, the review of
protocols, rules and procedures, climate change and financial
audit of the body were among issues to be deliberated on during
the sittings of the parliament, which ends on November 5.
Parliament members
Dr. Idriss Ndele Moussa, MP from Chad, elected in May this year,
is presiding over the sitting.
Honourable Ndele, together with four elected Vice-Presidents
form the Bureau of the PAP, which is the premier political body
of the institution.
The Vice Presidents are Bethel Amadi from Nigeria, First
Vice-President representing the West African region; Mary
Mugyenyi from Uganda, as Second Vice-President, representing
East African Region; Laroussi Hammi of Algeria, the Third
Vice-President- North African Region and Zimbabwe’s Joram Gumbo,
Fourth Vice-President for the Southern African Region.
Yinka
