PAP PRESIDENT HON. BETHEL AMADI PRESENTS ACTIVITY REPORT TO THE PLENARY

PAP PRESIDENT HON. BETHEL AMADI PRESENTS ACTIVITY REPORT TO THE PLENARY

The second day of the Sixth Ordinary Session of the Third Parliament of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) witnessed the presentation of Activity Report of the Parliament by PAP’s President, His Excellency, Hon. Bethel Amadi.

Presenting the report, Hon. Bethel Amadi highlighted the activities of the Parliament in the areas of Election Observer Missions, committee activities, regional and women caucuses, transformation of the Parliament, implementation of the approved structure, legislative business, administration and emerging issues in the execution of the Parliament’s mandate. The report also highlighted some of the challenges militating against its ability to achieve its full potential as a continental legislative body.

According to the PAP President, Hon. Bethel Amadi, PAP currently has advisory and consultative role which did not augur well for the effective execution of its mandate, particularly as regards the establishment of the legal framework for the implementation of the programs and policies of the African Union (AU).  Other constraints noted by Hon. Amadi include the high turn-over of parliamentarians as membership in the Pan African Parliament is tied to the tenure of the parliamentarians; secretariat staffing; visibility of the PAP on the continent; inability to carry out its own independent  election observations without undue political interference; and the inability of the African Union to renew its Host Country Agreement (HCA)  with the South African Government which was initially entered into in 2009. Hon. Amadi explained that the African Union, as the contracting party on behalf of the Pan African Parliament, is yet to enter into discussions with the Government of the Republic of South Africa with a view to renewing the HCA.

Speaking on the achievements of the Parliament, Hon. Amadi noted that PAP operated without an AU approved structure for the secretariat at a time that the transformation process and the amendment of the protocol was on the front burner of the parliamentary discourse. Hon. Amadi however noted with satisfaction, that the revised protocol was finally adopted by the Assembly of the Heads of State and Governments during the last AU Summit in June, 2014 at Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. When ratified, PAP will be empowered to develop the framework upon which Africa can begin the process of building strong democratic institutions that would deepen democracy, good governance, transparency and accountability which are prerequisites for development, peace and stability. Explaining further, Hon. Amadi stated that ratification by member states will also empower PAP to develop the trans-national policy frameworks based on AU shared values and on those AU policies, and practices whose benefits transcend national boundaries within the continent such as intra African Trade, transnational infrastructure, trans-border movement of people, goods and services. He explained that this way, the PAP can indeed become the voice of the voiceless peoples of Africa on the challenges of continental integration. While thanking the parliamentarians for their unwavering support and encouragement, Hon. Amadi noted the need for further advocacy for the ratification of the protocol by member states to give it legal force.

On its plenary, Hon. Amadi noted that the Third Parliament  has successfully organized six (6) ordinary plenary sessions all held  at the precincts of the PAP in Midrand to debate and adopt resolutions on important matters affecting the interests of African citizens which were forwarded to the appropriate policy organs of the AU. Continuing, Hon. Amadi noted that the opening sessions of each of the six ordinary sessions has been honoured by several heads of state and government  and their esteemed presence bore eloquent testimony that PAP under his leadership has enjoyed excellent reputation and confidence of the African leaders and then urged its sustenance by the incoming Bureau. Also, over 250 delegates from African Parliaments including speakers and presiding officers of national and regional parliaments and representatives of governments, civil society and delegates from international organizations attended the sessions. PAP also created platforms during the sessions for the women, the youths and civil society groups to engage with the parliamentarians on issues and challenges facing the continent.

Another area of achievement is the successful alignment of PAP Committees with Departments of the African Union Commission (AUC) to ensure relevance, synergy, legitimacy and effective implementation of the policies and objectives of the OAU/AEC and ultimately of the African Union. Hon. Amadi reported that the successful alignment has resulted in excellent relationships and full cooperation with the Commission and its departments, thereby making oversight functions easier.

On election observation mission, Hon. Amadi stated that the Parliament participated in all the AU Election Observer Missions in member countries and also carried out fact-finding missions to troubled spots in the continent to ascertain and investigate the prevailing conditions and as a result, made recommendations to the executive organs with a view to promoting peace and observance of human rights of citizens and to encourage good governance in the continent. The countries visited include Mali, Sudan and South Sudan, Central African Republic.

Reporting on its activities with respect to international relations and strategic partnership, Hon. Amadi reported that PAP engaged with the European Parliament (EP), the United Nations (UN), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) with regard to strengthening partnership to deliver more effective outcomes. He acknowledged the support of its partners such as the EC (30 million Euro) program which provided financial support through strengthening the human capacity of the PAP resulting in improved financial management, procurement, administration, internal controls, monitoring and evaluation systems, and also reported that GIZ played an important role in strengthening the institutional capacity of PAP through funding of various capacity development programs for both parliamentarians and staff of PAP. The support of the Government of India, through the Indian Technical Cooperation (ITEC) which provided for the training of five (5) members of which attended various short-term training was also acknowledged.

On resource mobilization, Hon. Amadi reported that with improvement in PAP’s financial systems, the development partners (EC, GIZ,OSISA) have expressed their willingness to continue to support the work of the PAP by providing financial resources to help fund parliament programs.