African Unification Front
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Assessing the Scope of National and Supra-National Parliaments to Form African Policies
Gertrude Ibengwe Mongella
President of the African Union
Introduction
I am delighted to be part of this high ranking international policy dialogue on good governance which has brought together speakers and parliamentarians. My sincere gratitude goes to InWent [Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung] and those who have made this dialogue a possibility. This dialogue will provide a venue for discussions and deliberations that will influence and bring a global and common understanding of critical development issues for Africa.
New political and economic momentum driven by what is happening in the world is emerging based on a concept of regional integration and unity in Africa. This is not totally a new idea altogether. The Pan African movement characterised the decolonisation process in the 1950s. Some of the founding fathers of the African Nations strongly believed that Africa could only achieve true democracy and meaningful development through a united Africa. Kwame Nkurumah of Ghana one of the champions of this course said:
"If we are to remain free, if we are to enjoy the full benefits of Africa's rich resources, we must unite to plan for our total defence and full exploitation of our material and human means in the full interest of our peoples. To go it alone will limit our horizons, curtail our expectations and threaten our liberty".
These ideals were shared by other African leaders such as Modibo Keita (Mali), Sekou Toure (Gunea) and Cheikh Diop (Senegal). They saw the continental union as the most effective vehicle for transformation of Africa. Julius Nyerere of Tanzania further defined development in terms of a struggle to eliminate poverty, diseases and ignorance by using land, people, good governance and leadership for self reliance. The seeds of good governance were already planted since that time; it is now that we are watering them.
The post independence period was dominated by national building, creation of national sovereignty and unification of national people from small entities of tribes and religious groupings, so much so that the vision of unity became obscure. Despite that, there have been efforts to create regional integration organisations such as ECOWAS, SADDC, East African Community and the African Union (AU).
Regional parliaments have been formed along with these organisations in order to give them a strong representational mandate from the people they serve and widen democratic process in Africa. ECOWAS parliament was established 2000, the East African Legislative Council was inaugurated on November 2001; the SADDC parliamentary forum was formally established in 1996.The Pan African Parliament (PAP) was established in 2004 as one of the organs of AU to ensure the full participation of the African peoples in the development and integration of the continent.
Parliamentary Mandate
All national parliaments have legislative powers. The regional and Pan African Parliaments have representational and advisory mandate in varying degrees according to the protocols that establish them. In the process of developing regional and Pan African Parliaments as democratic institutions, in the final analysis they should have the following powers:
-Legislative
-Advisory
-Policy shaping and influence
-Investigative oversight
-Budgetary oversight
-Enforcement of justice
-Promotion of good governance, democracy and regional integration
Scope
There are many parliaments in the continent of Africa at different levels. The effectiveness and efficiency of these parliaments will depend on a number of factors:
-Availability of resources both human, financial and technical
-Clearly defined relationships between parliaments of one level and another to avoid repetition of things
-Relationships of parliaments and the people they represent and institutions they relate to including the civil society
-Adequate democratic capacities to perform parliamentary functions
-Access to information and communication
Issues to be addressed
In order for various parliaments to achieve African development goals it is a responsibility of every parliament to address
-Increased Poverty
-Peace and security
-Economic policies for Africa (NEPAD and APRM)
Methodology
-Setting regional agenda and influencing global agenda; regional parliaments need to define their policies for their global partners
-Partnership and ownership of policies
-A participatory approach that involves the civil society
-Harmonisation of democracy and human rights dialogue at all levels
-Adequate and effective representation
-Capacity building to PAP, parliamentarians and staff reorientation
-Exercising effectively the oversight role
Role of the Pan-African Parliament
Article 11(7) of the Protocol to the establishment of PAP, states on the promotion of coordination and harmonisation of policies, measure programmes and activities of the Regional Economic Communities and the parliamentary fora of Africa. Also rule 77 of the PAP rules of procedure stresses on carrying out consultative role with national parliaments or any deliberative organs of the member states.
The Pan African Parliament at its 2nd session held in September 2004, discussed and debated the foundation of its future work. The parliament adopted the Rules of Procedure of the Pan African Parliament; examined and debated the African Union Vision, Missions and Strategic Plan; debated New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and African Peer Review Mechanism. It discussed and debated on peace and security within the continent and finally the parliament discussed its role within the framework of the African Union's vision and other major issues of African development and people's integration before drawing recommendations and resolutions.
The end of this session came with a list of commitments in terms of resolutions and recommendations to be turned into actions. The actions have to be directed and shaped towards meeting the objectives of the Pan African Parliament which include:
-To achieve greater unity and solidarity between the African countries and the peoples of Africa;
-To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its member states;
-To accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent;
-To promote peace, security and stability on the continent;
-To promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance; and
-To promote and protect human and peoples' rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other relevant human rights instruments.
Committees listed below have therefore been formed to address the objectives of PAP:
-Cooperation, International Relations and Conflict Resolution;
-Education, Culture and Human Resources;
-Gender, Family, Youth and People with Disabilities;
-Health, Labour and Social Affairs;
-Justice and Human Rights;
-Monetary and Financial affairs;
-Rules, Privileges and Discipline;
-Rural Economy, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment;
-Trade, Customs and Immigration; and
-Transport, Industry, Communication, Energy, Science and Technology.
-Functional of these committees depend on the availability of resources.
Way forward
-Change of mind set, image and policies on Africa
-An active role of Africa to inform and to implement commitments reached (NEPAD, APRM and Millennium Development Goals)
-Implementation of parliaments' commitments and development interventions
-Efficient management of available resources in Africa
-Establishing code of conduct for Peace and security
Thank you for your attention
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