Pan-African Parliament

3rd Pan-African Parliament

History
Founded 18 March 2004
Leadership
Hon. Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi
(Since 2012)
Vice-presidents
Hon. Roger Nkodo Dang
Hon. Suilma Hay Emhamed Elkaid (Since 2013)[1]
Hon. Loide Kasingo
Hon. Juliana Kantengwa
Structure
Committees

Permanent Committees of the Pan-African Parliament

Meeting place
Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, South Africa
Website
pan-africanparliament.org

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union and held its inaugural session in March 2004. The PAP exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, lasting for the first five years. Initially the seat of the Pan-African Parliament was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but it was later moved to Midrand, South Africa.

On 28 October 2009, the second legislature of the Pan-African Parliament opened its first ordinary session and began a new 5-year mandate. South African president, Jacob Zuma, gave the opening speech and called for the PAP to be given full legislative powers and its members elected by universal suffrage.[2]

Structure

The Parliament is made up of three main bodies. There are also Ten Permanent Committees which were created to deal with different sectors of life in Africa.

Plenary

The Plenary is the main decision-making body of the Parliament. The Plenary consists of the delegates from the member states, and is chaired by the President. It is the body which passes resolutions.

The Pan-African Parliament has 235 representatives that are elected by the legislatures of 47 of the 54 AU states, rather than being directly elected in their own capacity.[3] Each member state sends a delegation of five parliamentarians to the Parliament, at least one of whom must be a woman. The composition of the delegation should reflect the political diversity of the member state's legislature.[4]

Bureau

The Bureau is the leadership group of the Parliament and consists of the President and four Vice-Presidents. Each member of the Bureau represents a different region of Africa. The current members of the Bureau are:[5]

Secretariat

The Secretariat assists in the day-to-day running of the Parliament, undertaking duties such as minuting meetings, organising elections and managing staff. The Secretariat consists of a Clerk, two Deputy Clerks and other support staff.[6]

The current members of the Secretariat are:[7]

History

The Abuja Treaty and Sirte Declaration called for the creation of a PAP. The former had simply listed the PAP among the organization's bodies and stated, "In order to ensure that the peoples of Africa are fully involved in the economic development and integration of the Continent, there shall be established a Pan-African Parliament. The composition, functions, powers and organisation of the Pan-African Parliament shall be defined in a Protocol providing thereof." The Treaty on the Establishment of the African Union and a Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan-African Parliament followed. Then there was the Constitutive Act of the African Union. The Protocol Establishing the Pan African Parliament was adopted in 2000 during the OAU Summit in Lomé, Togo. The Protocol is now open for signature and ratification. So far 21 member states have signed and three have ratified. Article 22 of the PAP protocol provides for the Protocol to enter into force after deposit of the instruments of ratification by a simple majority of the member states.

Objectives of the Parliament

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
the African Union

Politics portal

Powers of the Parliament

In one of its first actions the Pan African Parliament agreed to send a fact-finding mission to the Darfur region of Sudan.

Trust fund

A trust fund was established 26 May 2005. In the motion to create the fund, it was said the Pan-African Parliament Trust Fund will promote "good governance, transparency and democracy, peace security and stability, gender equality and development in the integration of African people within Africa and other nations. It will also support the fight against HIV/AIDS, hunger and poverty on the continent".[8]

Presidents of the Pan-African Parliament

President of the
Pan-African Parliament
Incumbent
Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi

since 2013
Appointer the Assembly
Term length Four years
Inaugural holder Gertrude Mongella
Formation 2004
Website www.au.int/en
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 present  Nigeria

See also

References

External links