The Conference Hall of the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia, where the 41st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union was being held, was in a celebratory and joyful mood when the report on the implementation of the Executive Council decision EX.CL/Dec.1128(XXXIX) on the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) was presented. The new Bureau of the legislative organ of the Union was formally and officially unveiled to African Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
The Executive Council described the recent elections of the Bureau of the PAP, and the subsequent resumption of Parliamentary activities as a triumph of African unity and Pan-Africanism. In what was a moment of celebration following the stalemate that caused uncertainty at the PAP, the Council welcomed the sense of responsibility and the spirit of compromise of Parliamentarians that prevailed during the elections, which saw the application of African Union values, rules, and regulations, including the principle of geographical rotation of the Bureau.
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs congratulated the newly elected leadership and all members of the PAP for acting in a manner that has redeemed the image of the Parliament as well as the image of the Union. A sharp contrast to the unfortunate incidents of May and June 2021 that led to the suspension of the activities of Parliament. The report, which hailed all the efforts deployed by all structures of the Union to restore calm and harmony at the PAP, was unanimously adopted.
Cameroon, DRC, Egypt, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Angola, Ethiopia, Saharawi Republic, Libya, Algeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cape Verde are some of the Member States who took turns to express the significance of the PAP as a continental Parliament and the extreme satisfaction with the outcome of the interventions by the AU to ensure a peaceful resolution to challenges faced by the Parliament in May 2021.
They called it a “moment of celebration for the continent”. According to the Executive Council, the ideals embodied by a continental Parliament and how these ideals contribute to a more integrated Africa, demand that all efforts be made to preserve the PAP.
The Executive Council was therefore adamant that it is time to focus on solutions that will make the Parliament more effective in delivering its mandate. These efforts must be deployed with the same resolve and urgency that delivered a new leadership at the PAP, following the impasse. As the first order of business, the Council unanimously and consensually agreed to the appeal made earlier by the new President of the PAP for more resources to be allocated to the Parliament.
On the opening day of the Ordinary Session, H.E. Chief Fortune Charumbira passionately and pertinently requested additional financial and logistical resources to enable the Bureau to effectively carry out its mandate for the 2022 operational year; and a review of the 2023 draft Operational Budget to allow the PAP to perform its functions effectively for the 2023 operational year.
A visibly humbled President of the PAP also intervened after the presentation of the report on the implementation of the Executive Council Decision of October 2021.
He expressed gratitude for the overwhelmingly positive response received by the Bureau and the PAP at large during the 41st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council. He showed the deepest appreciation for the manner in which the AU leadership including the Assembly, Executive Council and African Union Commission mobilised and provided guidance when the PAP needed it the most. The President of the PAP also expressed gratitude to South Africa as host country to the PAP for providing the usual logistical support and facilities for the successful conduct of the elections.
“As the Pan-African Parliament, we are humbled and proud of the way the AU as a whole has mobilised and rallied behind the PAP. I am accompanied to this meeting by other members of the Bureau to showcase the unity that has returned at the PAP. We are also here to reaffirm that the PAP is back to full functionality and is ready to carry on with its mandate of ensuring the full participation of the African peoples in the development and economic integration of our continent and advancing Agenda2063.
He added: “As the Bureau, our principal objective going forward will be to repair the image of the Parliament, and indeed the AU, whose image was also tarnished last year. We are now embarking on the process of restoring the confidence of the peoples of Africa in the PAP.”
H.E Mrs Aissata Tall Sall, Chairperson of the Executive Council and Senegalese Minister of Foreign said that the case of the PAP is a clear illustration of how African problems can find African solutions.
“Now the onus is on us to finish what we started by empowering the PAP. Even as we await the ratification of the Protocol giving it full legislative powers, the continental Parliament remains an important tool to keep all of us in check. Let’s work even harder to enhance the PAP’s oversight role given its mandate to defend and represent the interests of our citizens. We demand that the Permanent Representative Committee (PRC) works with relevant Sub-Committees to provide the PAP with the necessary resources as requested,” said H.E Tall.
H.E Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of AUC, who led from the front and successfully presided over a delicate election Session of Parliament last month, commended Parliamentarians for showing wisdom and putting Africa first. He echoed the sentiment that the PAP needs to be enabled to enter the next phase of its evolution.
“The key objective of the ongoing institutional reforms of the Union is to bring the AU closer to the citizens. We have come to the conclusion that a Parliament remains the only viable mechanism to achieve this rapprochement and carry the aspirations of the people. Now more than even ever, the ratification of the Malabo Protocol becomes an imperative. We also need to encourage AU organs and different institutions to subject themselves to regular engagements with the PAP, where plans and policies are presented to the representatives of our people. This exercise does not have to wait for the Malabo Protocol to be in place as we are still accountable to the citizens of Africa for the decisions that we take as a continental body.” Concluded H.E Faki.
Finally, the Executive Council of the African Union further resolved, among other things, to:
* Commend the leadership and personal involvement of H.E. Macky SALL in resolving the crisis in the PAP which has resulted in the successful organisation of the elections on 29th June 2022;
* Appreciate the leadership of H.E. Cyril RAMAPHOSA for having ensured the proper conduct of the elections held in Midrand, South Africa at the Headquarters of the Pan-African Parliament;
* Commend the Chairperson of the Commission for the participation and the leadership demonstrated during the election proceeding of the PAP Bureau.
* Recall its decisions EX.CL/Dec.979(XXXI), EX.CL/Dec.1018(XXXII) and EX.CL/Dec.1128(XXXIX) that reiterated the application of the African Union values, rules, and regulations in managing all activities of the organ, including the principle of geographical rotation of the Bureau including that of the Presidency of the Pan African Parliament and direct the Pan-African Parliament to apply the rotation formula outlined in the election Modalities for Election of Bureau Members of the Sixth Pan-African Parliament in all future elections of the Bureau;
* Direct the Office of the Legal Counsel in close collaboration with the Secretariat of the Pan-African Parliament to urgently review the Rules of Procedure of the Organ to ensure alignment with African Union values, rules, and regulations as well as established practices of the Union including the principle of geographical rotation;
* Encourage the Members States that have not yet done so to ratify the revised Malabo Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African Union relating to the Pan- African Parliament of 2014.
* Further recalls its decision EX.CL/Dec.1028(XXXII) that directed the PRC to hold a retreat with the PAP to address all the concerns that affect the delivery and operations of the Organ, therefore the need to urgently convene the said retreat and report back to its next Ordinary Session in 2023.
