A STANDING OVATION TO A GALLANT LEADER - THE NEW PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT STORY

 Story by Gilbert Borketey Boyefio

 

“Egwe” means chief in one of the Nigerian dialects, and he is indeed a chief, literally and figuratively. The above description is even not enough to capture the appellations, rousing standing ovation, and applauds Members of the Pan-African Parliament bestowed on their President, HE Hon Chief Fortune Charumbira, for his sterling leadership of the Pan-African Parliament.

 

Barely six months in office, Chief Charumbira’s administration has reinvigorated, rebranded, and strategized the Pan-African Parliament to take its rightful place among the African Union Organs.

 

Throughout the meeting of the First Ordinary Session of the Sixth Parliament, Members of Parliament keep touting and expressing admiration for the manner Hon Chief Charumbira directed and steered the affairs of the Pan-African Parliament. It was therefore not surprising that Members of Parliament gave him a rousing standing ovation during the closing ceremony of the First Ordinary Session of the Sixth Parliament.

 

Acknowledging the honor bestowed on him by the MPs, HE Hon Chief Fortune Charumbira, attributed his success to the Bureau. He appreciated them for their support in the discharge of his mandate as President. He entreated them to continue to maintain the spirit of teamwork to be able to deliver on the mandate of PAP.

 

“We need to lead according to the great expectation demanded of us by the African people. We have to move with a better image of this Parliament. Wherever we are, let us be true Ambassadors of the PAP”, he challenged the MPs.

 

He noted that this meeting has recorded one of the highest attendance and constructive contributions so far from members, and encouraged them to keep up the good work. He assured members who have shown commitment to the cause of the PAP that they will be rewarded.

 

“Despite the lack of legislative powers, this Parliament has managed to come out with model laws to address a lot of the issues facing the African people,” he observed.

 

One of the historical moments of this meeting was the adoption of the amendments to the Rules and Procedure of the Parliament, and the consultative, transparent, and politically mature manner it was done.

 

At the end of the First Ordinary Session under the theme of the African Union theme for 2022, “Building resilience in nutrition on the African continent: Accelerate the human capital, social and economic development”, nineteen (19) resolutions were adopted and passed by the PAP. These resolutions are the development of Model Legislation on Factoring in Africa; the development of a Model Law on Cooperatives in Africa; the formulation of a Model Law on Statelessness; the promotion of the African Union Ten-year Action Plan to eradicate child labor, forced labor, human trafficking and modern slavery (2020-2030); the formulation of a Model Law on Gender Parity in Africa; the formulation of a Model Law on Labour Migration in Africa; the promotion of ratification of the Protocol on Persons with Disability and the Protocol on Older Persons; and the elimination of harmful practices related to accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks.

Others are Model Police Law for Africa; the adoption of the Model Law on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa; the African Continental Free Trade Area; labor migration; the roundtable on advancing democratic governance through the implementation of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance (ACDEG) and enhanced citizen engagement; the ratification and implementation of the additional protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the rights of women in Africa (called the Maputo Protocol); and calling for the immediate end of the DRC conflict.

The rest are calling for the immediate lifting of unilateral economic sanctions imposed on the Zimbabwean government by the United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union; the Pan-African Parliament to support the East African crude oil pipeline project; solidarity and support to the government and the people of the Republic of Mozambique; congratulating the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and Tigray People’s Liberation Front on the signing of the peace agreement.