African Unification Front
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Links: Slow Motion Coup d'Etat
12, June 2006
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE AFRICAN PARLIAMENT'S MONEY CRUNCH
South Africa Broke Promise to Cover All PAP Costs
Article by Dan Kashagama
When the Fifth Session of the African Parliament opened in May 2006, at Midrand, the media was fed a story that the PAP is "broke". At face value the claim seems to make sense, but the explanations being given for why the PAP is broke are false. The most prevalent claim is that the PAP is broke because the AU states are in arrears and have not paid up moneys supposed to run the PAP. This, however, is not the reason the PAP has a funding shortage.
The claim that the funding for the PAP supposedly comes from the AU Commission, which in turn depends on state subsidies, reveals a disturbing coverup of the reality. The AU Commission is broke, so therefore the PAP isn't getting funded, so the story goes. It seems plausible, except for the fact that the PAP is not supposed to be funded by the states. Moreover, ALL of the funds that go to the AU Commission technically belong to the PAP. So really, on this head, the issue is one of funding the wrong institution, not lack of funding.
Below: Africa's Head of State, Getrude Mongella, at the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government
The Commission formally exists as a secretariat of the PAP. The PAP is not supposed to beg the Commission for money, it is supposed to allocate money to the Commission. The fact that the situation has been reversed or turned upside-down indicates a serious power struggle. If the PAP is broke, it should reduce the size of the Commission and use those funds to run PAP sessions, not the other way around.
However, the Commission is not to blame this time, nor in fact are the AU states that are ignoring their duty to pay. So what is really happening? Why is the PAP intentionally suffocated, and who is doing it?
The problem falls squarely on the shoulders of the government of the AU state of South Africa...led by Thabo Mbeki. Thabo Mbeki alienated the other states when he decided to move the PAP from its natural home in Addis Ababa, and went about doing so by constructing an exclusive (and incredibly bizarre) funding arrangement for the PAP. Then when he had won his prize (moving the PAP to Midrand), he set about limiting its funds...and so in fact the PAP has all the money that Mbeki meant it to have. The fact that it wants more has to do with its ambition to function as a normal parliament would, but that is not what Mbeki had in mind. This is where the money issues stem from.
When the SA government made the decision to remove the PAP from Addis Ababa, in violation of every Pan African treaty and convention, the reason given was that only SA had the resources to cover the PAP's expenses entirely. The SA government instituted the fraudument bid, which it subsequently won, to move the PAP from Addis Ababa. The bid stipulated that the PAP could only be funded by the state hosting it, and that it should not be funded jointly by the AU states.
In its ill-conceived campaign to discourage competing bids to host the PAP, the SA government suppressed efforts by the African Leadership Forum and other Pan African groups to arrange funding to cover the cost of running the PAP, and discouraged shared AU state involvement in setting up a coherent funding system for the PAP.
After moving the PAP to Midrand, the Mbeki government then proceeded to arrange restrictions on PAP operations and limited its funds so that it could only have short sessions. To understand the logic behind Thabo Mbeki's crippling of the PAP go to Slow Motion Coup d'Etat.
The media, and the global Pan African leadership has been slow to comprehend the reality and relevance of the PAP to the struggle for Africa's future. All-Africa.com carried an erroneous story claiming that the PAP representatives are chosen on the basis of the population size of the state; the Economist also carried an incoherent story titled the "Poor PAP" that intentionally misstated facts about the functions and fundings of the PAP; the BBC as usual was its negative self, slapping together a hodge-podge of factually incorrect stuff about the PAP.
Not to be outdone in the race to defame the PAP, some African Union Commission bureaucrats have made illegal claims that if an AU state is in arrears its members in the PAP shouldn't vote in the PAP sessions (PAP members can and should vote, regardless of what their states are doing). In fact, only a resolution by the PAP can prevent a member of the PAP from voting. However, preventing a PAP member from voting or debating, because that member's home state administration is broke or indisposed towards the PAP, would violate the PAP's own mandate and independence. If penalizing PAP members is meant to pressure states to pay, it is a dumb tactic that will only hurt the PAP.
So what then is the PAP to do? The answer is simple. The PAP has a Trust Fund that is functional. That fund should be funded by taxation, but not by AU states. Taxation of corporations has already been suggested by President Gertrude Mongella. In addition, taxing segments of the general public and industry is the only long term solution for a steady supply of funds. The PAP should avoid asking for money from states or foreign governments. The only service it needs from foreign governments is profile and promotion, but not handouts. There are many taxation options available that could be managed entirely by the PAP Trust Fund.
Another solution for PAP funding is the creation of a single currency for Africa. This would be managed by an African Currency Board, or even directly by the PAP Trust Fund. Some of the single currency issue would be retained for use by the PAP to cover its own expenses.
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