Ghana’s MP press for the election of Pan African MPs

By Ebenezer Hanson

In order to make the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) directly accountable to Africans, it has been argued that members of PAP should in future be elected directly by their respective nationals.

The proponent of the idea is the Minority Spokesperson on Defence, Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor.

Dr. Kumbuor told Public Agenda that the current arrangement of nominating representatives from national parliaments to PAP does not make members accountable to the electorate, nor does it address the concerns of the people at the grassroots.

The Fifth Ordinary Session of the PAP, currently underway in South Africa began on May 2 and ends on May 12. Ghana’s Parliament is represented by Abraham Ossei-Aidooh, Deputy Majority Leader, Malik Alhassan Yakubu, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Hilda Addo, MP for Kwadaso, all from the Majority side, while Edward Doe Adjaho, Deputy Minority Leader and John Mahama, MP for Bole and Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs are from the Minority side.
Representation at the PAP is based on a quota system using, the populations of countries as the base determinant. Thus, the larger a country’s population the larger its representation.
“In future it should be possible to delineate Ghana into zones, for example four or five and Ghanaians be made to vote for candidates”, Dr. Kumbuor who is also the MP for Lawra/Nandom further explained.
The PAP is presently a deliberative body without legislative powers. It focuses primarily on issues that affect the development concerns of Africa as provided for in the recent treaty that transformed the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to African Union (AU).
Addressing the official opening of the Fifth Ordinary Session of PAP, the Speaker, Ms. Gertrude Mongella, lamented the limited financial and human resource of PAP and indicated that she had brought the issue to the attention of the Assembly of Heads of State and governments.
“I pleaded for their (the Assembly) approval of the PAP budget during the Fourth Session. The Assembly resolved to review upwards our current allocation of US 5.8 million dollars.”

To mitigate the financial constraints facing the PAP, a Trust Fund meant to serve as the resource mobilization agency has been established and is in its final stages of registration, she further disclosed.

The Fifth Ordinary Session is addressing subjects such as Peace and Security in the Great Lakes, Darfur, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo DR and Chad; linkages between Parliaments and civil societies in enhancing the effective implementation of the policies and programmes of NEPAD and APRM; and the rationalization of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa.

During its Fourth Session, PAP adopted a Strategic Plan representing the direction it will follow for the next five years, and activities which will help PAP to attain its objectives. So far PAP committees had been involved in the developing work plans that are in line with the strategic plan.

The work plans were worked out in the series of sittings of the 10 committees of PAP held during March and April this year. Towards the end of the Fifth Session, the work plans will be formally presented for debate and adoption. The next stage will be to develop the financial plan to be completed before the Sixth Session, Speaker Mongella told the plenary.
On behalf of PAP and her own behalf, Ms. Mongella congratulated President Dennis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville for his election as the Chairman of the African Union. She also paid tribute to the outgoing AU Chairman President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria for his “demonstrated commitment and dedication to serve the African continent” during his tenure.
But Mongella’s glowing compliment to Obasanjo has been dismissed by some political analysts as sheer platitude, citing the latter’s eloquent silence on determined moves by some members of his political party to give him a third term . The Nigerian constitution provides for a two-year term for a president.