The African Parliamentary Press Network (APPN) extends its congratulatory message to the Pan-African Parliament for a successful election for the Sixth Parliament recently held in Midrand, South Africa.

The APPN congratulates His Excellency Senator Chief Fortune Charumbira, on his election as the fifth PAP President, and his Vice-Presidents, Hon. Prof. Massouda Mohamed Laghdaf from Mauritania, Hon. Dr. Gayo Ashebir from Ethiopia, Hon. Lucia Martia Memndes Goncalves dos Passos from Cape Verde, and Hon. Ango Ndoutoune from Gabon.

The Network associates itself with the call by Chief Fortune Charumbira for the PAP to “Put our African people forward and do away with unnecessary conflicts. Together we can achieve more, we will only develop our continent when united and this is an essential thing for our people to see and experience in our lifetime”.

The peaceful atmosphere and well-coordinated manner the just ended Ordinary Session was organized reflects the efforts and progress made by numerous stakeholders spearheaded by the African Union Commission.

The elections follow a stalemate that saw the legislative arm of the African Union failing to choose its leaders owing to differences on modalities of handling the election last year.

The deadlock was resolved by an Executive Council decision in October 2021, which reiterated the adoption of the principle of rotation when electing the leadership of the institution. The decision also charged the Office of the Legal Counsel of the Union to prepare modalities and conduct the elections of the new Bureau of the Pan-African Parliament.

The much-awaited election was presided over by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Chairperson, the Chief Executive Officer and Legal Representative of the African Union, H.E Moussa Faki Mahamat, who represented H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and incumbent Chairperson of the African Union, who was meant to supervise the Session on an exceptional measure guided by Article 14 (1) of the PAP Protocol. The said Article stipulates that the Plenary Session of the Parliament shall be presided by the Chairperson of the Union on the absence of the Bureau of PAP until the election of the President of the Parliament who shall thereafter preside over entire processes of the institution.

The APPN reiterates its commitment to work closely with the PAP to increase its visibility and spread the good work they are doing for all African citizens.

Signed

Gilbert Borketey Boyefio                                     Olu Ibekwe

Coordinator                                                            Chairman

APPN Secretariat                                                  APPN Steering Committee

+233243915206                                                     +234 803 407 7681                            

gboyefio@parliamentafrica.com                    oluchukwuibekwe@gmail.com