Opposition leaders McHenry Venaani and Julius Malema have called on the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) to grow some teeth in order to function effectively as an oversight body instead of a conglomeration of delegates from different countries.
They want the PAP to act as an oversight body that holds executives on the continent accountable.
Venaani also took issue with their West and North African counterparts over their perceived dominance over the PAP, African Union (AU) and other institutions on the continent.
They made the remarks at the ongoing PAN ordinary session in Midrand, South Africa where 120 new members are expected to be sworn in and new leadership elected.
The issue of Africa’s continued disunity along colonial lines – the Francophone (French-speaking) vs Anglophone (English-speaking) vs Lusophone (Portuguese speaking) countries – was a hot topic of discussion, with Namibia’s Venaani accusing the Anglophone and Francophone nations of using their numerical advantage to suppress their southern African counterparts.
He continued: “No leader can argue that a rule must first be adopted for it to be implemented. No person can argue that something good must first be enacted as law before it is implemented as good practice or policy.”
Venaani emphasised the need and the principle of rotation for the PAP presidency, saying it is not about sharing power, but uniting the continent.
“[There is] a disunity between the Western caucuses, especially led by languages, the Francophone and Anglophone are biggest problems and if we don’t harmonise those two groups, there won’t be unity,” he said.
This was met with resistance, with a female MP shouting in the background: “This is not correct. This shouldn’t be allowed. Point of order. Point of order. This is not true!”
The Popular Democratic Movement leader was unperturbed.
“If we want to have peace, we must have a principle of rotation of power. It can’t be you [leading] all the time and think that unity will come automatically. Give others a chance to lead the African Union too,” he said.
Malema, who leads South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) told MPs that, if they are concerned about the unity of the continent “and are not serving the interests of colonialists and imperialists, they will not have a difficulty with a principle that will unite Africans”.
The EFF leader went on during the live-streamed session yesterday: “Certain people think they have power over others. We must first understand the purpose of rotation, and if you have a problem with the candidate that southern Africa is presenting, for instance, you will rather say we agree with the rotation, and therefore we’ll suggest that the north must take it.”
The ultimate aim is for the PAP to be an institution with full legislative powers, whose members are elected by universal suffrage. But until such time, the PAP has consultative, advisory and budgetary oversight powers within the AU.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
