PAP Bureaus of Permanent Committees and Caucuses spotlight 6th Parliament Committee Sitting

Addressing the meeting at the PAP Precinct in Midrand, South Africa today, Chief Fortune Zephaniah Charumbira, the President of the Pan African Parliament, said the meeting was to share the business that will be transacted during this committee session running from 18-28 February 2025.

“And in terms of the rules, we need to consult you, and that is the purpose of this meeting, We will exchange views as to how it will best deliver. The bureau is obliged, by the rules of procedure, to consult the bureaucracies of Permanent committees and caucuses on the program of each session. In this session, it helps us to have collective leadership with the institutional ownership of the program. It also makes us become a team, and each one knows what is happening. And I quote the professor here, the system is never the sum of its parts. It is a product of their interaction.

“So, this interaction will help us create a system of cooperation. And we go back, always, what are we doing from 2025? We are saying that as an institution and organ of the people of this continent, there are expectations by the citizens of this continent. People want to see the AU perform. And we are one of the organs of that AU expected to make it perform, for people to see that the African Union delivers. So, we are doing our part as an element. So, the mandate we have as causes is to meet in the committees. We generate and discuss issues at the committee level. We prepare the reports reflecting on the challenges of this continent – be it youth, women, men, food, health, and everything so that we then meet again in plenary with the committee’s prepared reports to inform it about the issues raised,” Chief Charumbira said

He urged the Parliament to make decisions on some imperatives on the continent on various challenges affecting it, adopt them, make recommendations, and propose solutions.

“We then take them forward, upwards, up to the heads of state. So, we are gathering to identify at the committee level the issues that are facing this continent and how we can make and add value to the whole architecture. And that’s why we are here. You know the mandate…We remind ourselves that the establishment of PAP, in terms of mandate, was said in one sentence to ensure the full participation of the African peoples in the economic development and integration of the continent.

“So the question to ask always, in your committee, are you ensuring as a committee the full participation of the African peoples in the economic development and integration of the continent? As a committee, what are you doing? What are you doing in terms of actual functions that will facilitate the implementation of policies of the AU objectives and programs as committees? Are you sure you are contributing to committees?As a committee in health? As a committee in transport? As a committee in gender? Agriculture? Are you sure that you are facilitating those policies? And that you oversee the implementation, the effective implementation by the various organs of the union? Are you sure as a committee that you are overseeing the effective implementation of various organs of the union? Are we doing it? Al;l I can say is that every committee should do that.

“And we promote human rights. This year one of our functions is to promote human and people’s rights, consolidate democratic institutions and democratic culture and good governance, transparency, and the rule of law by all organs of the union, regional economic communities, and other states. Are we sure that at at committee level, we are doing that? Then it says PAP’s function is to participate in the creation of awareness among the peoples of Africa on what the AU stands for, its objectives, policies, and programs. When we talk about equality and the principle that our

is per Article 11.3 of the budget. Do we have time as a committee to look at the legislative text of the member states and how they ensure coordination and harmonization?” Chief Charumbira quipped.

He urged the promotion of the coordination of policies, measures, programs, and activities of regional economic communities and their respective legislative bodies.

“I think this dimension is always missing. Are we sure that we are promoting the coordination of policies and programs among the regional economic communities and their respective legislative bodies? Are we working with the ECOWAS? Are we working with the SADC? Is your committee ever seeking to work with regional economic communities? I know most committees may not quite answer. As the regional caucus for West Africa, let’s interact with the ECOWAS Parliament. As the gender committee, and the youth, are you also interacting with the youth bodies at these regional levels and sharing programs and working with them?” Chief Charumbira added.

He emphasised the need for PAP to examine and adopt its budget and rules of procedure as well as focus on addressing conflicts on the continent.

“So despite our previous theme of silencing guns on the continent by the year 2030, it appears more guns now are firing than before. And if you look at the eastern DRC, there is an escalation of conflicts when we are expecting peace. The PAP sent a delegation or a mission to DRC through the Committee of Cooperation and International Affairs and Conflict Resolution, I believe they will be delivering a report at an appropriate time. So we could do more because when they left, the conflict even escalated. So what they can talk about now is almost already outdated. When they left, the conflict got even worse. So we need to revisit even our report itself on DRC.

“And then the issue of Sudan. The Sudan issue is pathetic. More than 15,000 have died. Millions are homeless and are refugees. So the PAP, I know we have no money, but we can sit and say we have no money. We can just say what we can do.”

Chief Charumbira added that the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), is key to trade and expand African economies without depending too much outside.