The Pan African Parliament (PAP) has made significant progress in its transformation process from a consultative and advisory organ of the African Union (AU) to a legislative body in clearly defined areas as envisaged under Article 2 (3) of the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community signed in Abuja in 1991, which provides that the ultimate aim of the PAP shall be to evolve into an institution with legislative powers. This transformation process, which started in 2009 with the convening of the committee of government experts and stakeholders, was approved without reservation by the meeting of Africa’s Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General.
Although there have been reservations raised by some Member States concerned about their respective country’s sovereignty, there’s been an equally growing recognition by a majority through several advocacy missions launched by the current Bureau, that a PAP with legislative powers will strengthen Africa’s democratic institutions, promote continental integration and boost intra-African trade by its ability to develop model laws.
We hope that the reviewed protocol will be approved by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government Summit in January 2014 when it will be re-tabled for adoption.
The PAP has established a significant framework for deepening democratic governance, sustaining Africa’s democratic ideals and promoting peace and security by deploying its members to election observation missions and participating in fact-finding missions. The PAP is instrumental in promoting the speedy ratification and subsequent domestication of AU legal instruments that relate to democracy, governance and fundamental human rights.
The PAP continues to make progress in many areas, such as health, as evidenced in our partnership with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) calling for strategic partnerships to advance sustainable responses to HIV as well as addressing key human rights challenges in Africa.
We have also strengthened our ties with Regional and National Parliaments and pursued programmes aimed at integrating the African continent within the framework of the establishment of the AU as more recently manifested in the annual conference of Speakers of African National Parliaments. Through this conference, Regional and National Parliaments are sensitised on existing AU legal instruments, the need to achieve speedy ratification and the mechanism of application of those legal instruments in the enforcement of basic human and legal rights across Africa.
These reflections would not be complete without paying tribute to the memory of my predecessor in office and former President of the PAP, the Hon Dr Idris Moussa Ndele, who passed away recently following a road accident in the Republic of Chad at the age of 60. He provided transparent and accountable leadership and approached Africa’s political challenges with unbridled resilience and consistent determination to building continental unity. We will surely miss his strident advocacy for the PAP and his impeccable political acumen and sound counsel.
Hon Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi, MP
President of the Pan African Parliament
