Pan-African Parliament

Pan-African Parliament

international parliament

Year dem found am	18 March 2004
Position held by head of the organization	President of the Pan African Paliament, President of the Pan-African Parliament
Dey apply to jurisdiction	African Union
Demma headquarters location	Gallagher Convention Centre
Dema official website	https://pap.au.int/

De Pan-African Parliament (PAP), wey people too dey call de African Parliament, be de legislative body of de African Union. Dem hold ein first session for March 2004. De Parliament dey exercise oversight, plus e get advisory den consultative powers, wey last for de first five years. At first, de seat of de Pan-African Parliament dey Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but later dem move am go Midrand, South Africa. De goal wey dem get for start de parliament be to create one space where people from all African states fit meet, deliberate, den pass some policy on matters wey dey affect de whole African continent.

De Parliament dey composed of maximum five members from each member state wey ratify de Protocol wey establish am, plus say each Member State must get at least one woman. Dem select these members by deir member state plus deir domestic legislatures. De overall goal for de parliament be to turn into one institution wey get full legislative power, wey members go dey elected through universal suffrage, as South African President Jacob Zuma talk for ein opening speech to de first ordinary session of de second legislature of de Pan-African Parliament on 28 October 2009.

De Pan-African Parliament get three sections. De Plenary be de main legislative den deliberation section of de Parliament, where representatives dey meet regularly to talk about African issues plus possible solutions. De Bureau be de leadership section of de Parliament, wey dey made up of one president plus four vice presidents, all of dem elected by delegates insyd de Plenary. De last section of de Parliament be de Secretariat, wey be de organizational body of de Parliament, den e dey chaired by one Clerk, Deputy Clerk, plus Acting Deputy Clerk. All these structures together dey maintain den carry out de goals den protocol wey dem set to govern de Parliament.

For de Parliament ein 2022 elections, Chief Fortune Charumbira from Zimbabwe win as de new President, den Massouda Mohamed Laghdaf from Mauritania, Ashebiri Gayo from Ethiopia, Lúcia Maria Mendes Gonçalves dos Passos from Cape Verde, plus Francois Ango Ndoutoume from Gabon win as Vice Presidents.

Structure

De Parliament dey made up of three main bodies: de Plenary, de Bureau, den de Secretariat. Dem get Ten Permanent Committees too, wey dem create to handle different sectors of life for Africa.

Plenary

De Plenary be de main decision-making body of de Parliament. De Plenary dey made up of delegates from de member states, den de President dey chair am. Na dis body dey pass resolutions.

De Pan-African Parliament get 235 representatives wey de legislatures of 47 out of de 55 AU states elect, instead of say dem elect dem directly by demselves. Each member state dey send five parliamentarians go de Parliament, plus say at least one of dem must be woman. De way dem compose de delegation must reflect de political diversity of de member state ein legislature.

Bureau

Main article: Bureau of de Pan-African Parliament

De Bureau be de leadership group of de Parliament den consists of de President den four vice-presidents. Each member of de Bureau represents a different region of Africa. De current members of de Bureau are:

• President - Hon. Chief Fortune Zephania Charumbira from Zimbabwe.
• First Vice President -Hon. Prof Massouda Mohamed Laghdaf from Mauritania.
• Second Vice President - Hon. Dr Ashebiri Gayo from Ethiopia
• Third Vice President - Hon. Lucia Dos Passos from Cape Verde
• Fourth Vice President - Hon. Djidda Mamar Mahamat from Chad

Secretariat

De Secretariat dey help for de day-to-day running of de Parliament, take on duties like minuting meetings, organizing elections, den managing staff. De Secretariat dey consist of de Clerk of Parliament plus two Deputy Clerks – one of dem dey lead de Legislative Business Department, den de other one dey lead de Finance, Administration, den Human Resources. De Clerk of Parliament plus ein deputies too dey get support from other staff den functionaries when need come.

History

De Abuja Treaty of 1991 plus de Sirte Declaration of 1999 call for de creation of one PAP. De first one just list de PAP as one of de organization ein bodies den talk say, "To make sure say de peoples of Africa dey fully involved for de economic development den integration of de Continent, make dem establish one Pan-African Parliament. De composition, functions, powers den organisation of de Pan-African Parliament go dey defined inside one Protocol wey go provide dat." After dat, de Treaty on the Establishment of the African Union come, plus one Protocol to de Treaty Establishing de African Economic Community wey relate to de Pan-African Parliament. Then de Constitutive Act of de African Union come follow. De Protocol Establishing de Pan-African Parliament dem adopt am for 2000 during de OAU Summit for Lomé, Togo. As of 2022, de PAP get representatives wey come from 47 out of de 55 AU member states. Article 22 of de PAP protocol talk say make de Protocol enter into force after simple majority of de member states deposit de instruments of ratification.

De power of de Pan-African Parliament increase well after de 2017 AU-EU summit. Before 2017, de Parliament just get advisory den consultative roles. But de changes wey dem outline den pass for 2017 make de Parliament turn de legislative body of de African Union. Dis new change mainly give de Parliament power to draft more model laws for African countries, plus e change how elections inside de Parliament dey happen. Before 2017, each member state dey select 5 people to represent dem for de Parliament. But now, de delegates from each member state dey elected by deir national legislature, inside elections wey dey happen de same month for all member states across Africa.

Objectives

• Implement de policies den objectives of de African Union.
• Make human rights plus democracy grow well for Africa.
• Make sure say Member States dey follow good governance, transparency den accountability.
• Make de peoples of Africa know de objectives plus policies of de African Union so say dem fit integrate demselves continentally while still dey work insyd de framework of de AU.
• Promote peace, security den stability for de Continent.
• Support self-reliance plus economic recovery so say e go lead to better future for de peoples of Africa.
• Encourage cooperation plus development for Africa.
• Strengthen sense of solidarity den build one common destiny among de peoples of Africa.
• Create cooperation among Regional Economic Communities plus deir Members for Parliament.

Powers

• Examine, discuss or express opinion on any matter, whether by ein own initiative or by request from de Assembly or other policy organs, den make any recommendations wey e feel say fit, concerning things like respect for human rights, building strong democratic institutions den democratic culture, plus promoting good governance den de rule of law.
• Discuss ein own budget plus de budget of de Community, den make recommendations before de Assembly of de African Union go approve am. Work towards harmonisation or coordination of de laws of de Member States.
• Make recommendations wey go help contribute to achieving de objectives of de OAU/AEC, den draw attention to de challenges wey dey block de integration process for Africa, as well as de strategies to handle dem.
• Request officials of de OAU/AEC make dem attend ein sessions, bring documents or help in carrying out ein duties.
• Promote de programmes den objectives of de OAU/AEC insyd de constituencies of de Member States.
• Promote de coordination den harmonisation of policies, measures, programmes den activities of de Regional Economic Communities plus de parliamentary fora of Africa.
• Adopt ein own Rules of Procedure, elect ein own President, den propose to de Council plus de Assembly de size den nature of de support staff of de Pan-African Parliament.
• Perform any other functions wey e feel say appropriate to achieve de objectives wey dem set out for Article 3 of de Protocol.

For one of de first actions wey de Pan-African Parliament take, dem agree make dem send one fact-finding mission go de Darfur region of Sudan.

Challenges

Elections

General Elections

Even though de goal of de Pan-African Parliament be to hold free den fair elections, plenty factors dey wey limit de elections from meeting dis standard. Delegates dey elected by demma respective member states, den for Africa, election malpractice like intimidation of voters plus rigging of results no be rare. For some Member States, dis dey happen through Electoral Commissions wey dey join body plus political leaders to publish results wey no be authentic. De Pan-African Parliament fit only do small to make sure say elections dey happen in way wey create true democratic environment inside de Parliament, so dem dey limited by de member states to reach dis goal.

When Roger Nkodo Dang ein last three-year term end for May 2021, de Pan-African Parliament come meet to elect new president plus vice-presidents. But de meeting no yield result as de constituencies from western and central Africa no fit agree on who go lead de Bureau. Some lawmakers plus members of de parliament even fight physically, den some people even grab de ballot box itself. So de meeting end without clear understanding of who go lead de Pan-African Parliament for de future. De African Union come step in for November 2021 to provide support to de Pan-African Parliament make dem complete deir elections den bring de parliament back to order. Since then, Bouras Djamel get elected as de tentative leader of de parliament, but de rest of de election results still dey unstable till de plenary go reconvene for July 2022, where dem plan to complete de elections.

Language

Language be one major issue inside de Pan-African Parliament. De four working languages wey dem dey currently use be Arabic, English, French, plus Portuguese. But some people dey wish say make indigenous African languages too dey accepted as working languages. De argument behind dis be say three out of de four listed languages (except Arabic) be reminder of colonial roots plus de old order wey Africa pass through. Dis problem dey even show more clear through how representation dey happen inside de Parliament, as all countries, no matter de population size, dey represented by de same number of delegates.

Bureaucratic

Across Africa, plenty different types of formal den informal government systems dey, wey dey succeed in different ways. Many governments dey face de problem of "president for life," where African leaders no wan give up power. On top of dat, some governments get unstable structures wey dey change constitution constantly. For both cases, de contributions wey some countries fit make to de Pan-African Parliament dey limited, because dis kind situations make am hard to send delegates go de Parliament wey truly represent de citizens of deir member states. Corruption too be one wahala wey dey across de whole continent. Since de Parliament need ein member states to pay African Union den Pan-African Parliament subscription fees, if corruption dey insyd a member state, de subscription money fit end up for de pockets of government officials. Dis go affect de Parliament negatively, because e go get less funding, wey go make am hard for am to achieve ein goals as de budget go be smaller than dem expect.

Meetings

De Pan-African Parliament fit meet for ordinary session up to two times for one year, usually for March den August. These ordinary sessions be regular meetings where dem dey discuss African issues, den fit vote on den pass legislature to meet de needs of Africa as de members of de Pan-African Parliament see say e necessary, den e fit last up to one month. De permanent committees of de Parliament dey always meet twice every year for statutory meetings, den dem fit gather as often as dem feel say necessary during ordinary sessions of Parliament for non-statutory meetings. De Parliament too fit meet for extraordinary sessions if emergency or any serious situation come up.

During some of these meetings, dem dey hold elections to elect de Acting President den de Vice Presidents of de Bureau. These positions dey chaired by members of de Parliament wey come from de 5 regions of Africa: northern, central, eastern, western, den southern, with de Acting President fit come from any one of these regions. De candidates must first be ratified by de Plenary before dem fit cast ballots to vote who go actually enter de positions.

Legislative power

Before de changes wey dem make to de Pan-African Parliament for 2017, de Parliament no pass even one single law. But de changes wey dem outline for 2017 change de Parliament into one full legislative body wey represent de African Union, give am power to draft den pass Model Laws wey de member states fit adopt. Now, de Parliament fit receive, consider, den submit opinions on draft legal instruments, treaties, den other international agreements. Plus dat, de Parliament get power under de Financial Rules den regulations wey de African Union set, so say dem fit control dema own fund-raising activities through legislative action. Every legislation wey de Parliament propose must go to de AU Assembly for final ratification den approval.

Model Laws

Process

De Model Law development process insyd de Pan-African Parliament get three main stages: de initiation stage, formulation stage, den approval stage. De Model Law Formulation Initiative fit come from different channels insyd de Parliament. E fit come from: de Plenary, one Parliament committee, de Bureau, one individual Member of Parliament or group of Members, one thematic caucus, one AU Organ or institution, one Civil Society Organization wey register insyd one AU Member State, or from one citizen of a Member State or one juristic person wey register insyd one AU Member State. De Secretariat dey provide technical guidance to de political organs of de Parliament concerning dema decision to start de process of Model Law Formulation. After dat, de Bureau go select one permanent committee wey best fit de proposed Model Law to decide if de Model Law dey suitable, feasible, den effective by using opportunity test, legal test, den capacity test to check if de proposed Model Law meet these qualities. De results of these tests go then pass go de Plenary, wey go vote to decide whether dem go draft de Model Law. If dem approve am, then de Model Law go pass through one extensive drafting den adoption stage before dem finally submit am to de African Union for approval.

Passed Model Laws

One example of Model Law wey de Pan-African Parliament approve den de AU Assembly later pass be one law wey concern policing for Africa. Dis law dem approve am for de Parliament in 2018, den de AU Assembly fully pass am in 2022. De goal of de law be to change policing for Africa from wetin dem call "oppressive to one that respects and promotes democracy and peoples rights" into one system wey fit better control de "role, powers, conduct and discipline and conditions of employment of Police officers." De three main goals of dis Model Law be: democratic den civilian control of police; de rule of law; den policing standards wey comply plus human rights. De Law include contributions from plenty African policing experts den e reflect one "best practice" legislative model wey fit work across de different legal traditions den policing systems wey dey for de continent. De Committee wey work on de law recognize early say e go be important make dem use one participatory den inclusive method so dat de law go stay relevant for African policing governance, den also help make stakeholders know about am den use am.

Trust fund

Dem establish one trust fund on 26 May 2005. For de motion wey create de fund, dem talk say de Pan-African Parliament Trust Fund go promote "good governance, transparency den democracy, peace, security den stability, gender equality den development in de integration of African people within Africa plus other nations. E go support too de fight against HIV/AIDS, hunger den poverty for de continent."

Presidents of de Pan-African Parliament

Organization of African Unity
No	Name	Beginning of term	End of term	Country
1	Gertrude Mongella	2004	2008	Tanzania
2	Idriss Ndele Moussa	2009	2012	Chad
3	Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi	2012	2015	Nigeria
4	Roger Nkodo Dang	May 2015	April 2020	Cameroon
5	Fortune Z. Charumbira	April 2020	August 2020	Zimbabwe
6	Bouras Djamel	August 2020	June 2022	Algeria
7	Fortune Z. Charumbira	June 2022	incumbent	Zimbabwe

External links

• Official website
• Pan-African Parliament Design Competition Entry