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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the objectives of the PAP are as follows:- (i) To achieve greater unity and solidarity between African countries and the people of Africa. (ii) To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of the African member states. (iii) To accelerate the political and social integration of the continent. (iv) To promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest in the continent and its people. (v) To encourage international co-operation taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (vi) To promote peace, security and stability on the continent. (vii) To promote democratic principles and institutions, and popular participation and good governance. (viii) To promote and protect human and people's rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and People's Rights and other relevant human rights instruments. (ix) To establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the global economy and international negotiations. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the PAP seat is in Midrand, South Africa. That was decided by the Heads of States in Addis Ababa in July, 2004. The PAP has ten committees. These ten committees do most of the parliamentary work. It is mandatory that hon. Members of that Parliament belong to at least a committee which chooses its own chairman, vice-chairman and secretary. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the PAP was inaugurated in Addis Ababa on 18th March, 2004, where it elected its own President, Hon. (Amb.) Getrude Ibengwe Mongella from Tanzania. It has four vice-presidents, each elected from each designated African region. There are five designated African regions that is, the North, South, East, Central and West. The President and the four Vice-Presidents from each designated areas, form the PAP Bureau, which has been vested with the power of administering the running of the Parliament. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the PAP sits for two sessions, each for 10 working days in March and October of every year. At the end of each session, the Parliament passes resolutions that are taken to the Heads of States' Assembly which is called the Summit for consideration and adoption, if possible. The Summit usually meets twice a year in January and July of every year. 1376 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 14, 2006 The PAP prepares its own budget, which is presented to the Parliament by the Chairman of the Monetary and Financial Affairs Committee. The PAP also discusses its own audit report. The audit report is also discussed at the plenary during the parliamentary session. Kenya is privileged to have the first Clerk of the PAP, Mr. Murumba Werunga. Since the inauguration of the PAP, there have been some achievements. Having been an hon. Member since the inauguration, I will be pleased to take this opportunity to mention some of the achievements of the PAP. They include:- (i) The PAP has been able to come up with its own rules and procedures. (ii) The PAP has been able to prepare its own strategic plan for the years 2006 to 2010. (iii) The PAP has been involved in conflict resolution on the continent and it has sent several missions to Darfur in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cote d'Ivore, Togo and Somalia. Because of conflicts on the African Continent, the international community is spending US$5 billion which is equivalent to nearly the entire Kenyan Budget. During the Third Session, some of the issues that were discussed which are detailed in the report that I presented in this House include:- We discussed the Budget of the PAP which now stands at US$25 million of which a half of that US$12.5 million is met by the African Union (AU) and the other half of US$12.5 million is met by the Member States directly through their national Parliaments. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the PAP, because of financial constraints, has been able to establish a trust fund, which is now in operational. This trust fund is for anybody who wants to support the cause of the PAP. During the Third Session held at Midrand, South Africa, we discussed peace and security issues in Africa. We received a detailed report on the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. We also discussed the UN Millennium Development Goals as they affect Africa. The issue of the UN Millennium Development Goals attracted a lot of interest. The hon. Members of PAP stated that African countries are unlikely to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals because of the following reasons:- (i) The imbalance in world power sharing. (ii) Lack of consensus among the great powers with regard to crucial issues in the world. (iii) The upsurge of conflict in more than 40 countries in Africa. In fact, there are more than 25 million displaced persons. (iv) In Africa we have over 12 million refugees. (v) In Africa we have the HIV/AIDS epidemic. (vi) Over 10 million people in Africa live below the poverty threshold on less than US$1 per day for subsistence. Lastly, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we discussed reforms of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, and the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) resolved that Africa as a continent should be allocated two permanent seats with veto power and two-year term renewable seats in the UN Security Council. The Members of the PAP agreed that the following issues be addressed if development goals have to be achieved. As you know, we are all looking at the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the way they affect this continent. It is important that we look at a solution that is African-based to ensure that, as a continent, we meet the MDGs. We also agreed that we need a fund because in the case of the Europeans and Americans, they pay their farmers a lot of funds in the form of agricultural subsidies, which is equal to the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the African Continent. We feel that provision of subsidies should be eliminated. In fact, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is pursuing this issue and such funds should be channelled to develop Africa as a continent. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are doing very little to ensure that Africa achieves the MDGs. They have June 14, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1377 imposed the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) on the continent without looking at the economies of the different countries or how these SAPs affect the continent. Developed nations use Africa as a dumping site for cheap goods, thus killing local industries. This should be discouraged. That is why we need a level playing field at the WTO. It is the consideration of the PAP that debt is a critical issue in the entire Africa and debt cancellation is vital if African States have to develop. Lastly, we looked at the rationalization of regional economic blocs. There are 14 RECS and you find the various countries belong to more than one economic bloc. In essence, there is a lot of duplication of resources. It is our request that the regional economic blocs should be harmonized so that instead of having 14 economic blocs, we should have at least five each covering the designated regions of Africa, namely: north, west, central, south and east Africa. Mr.Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, during the 4th Session of the PAP, we looked at the Strategic Plan for 2006 to 2010. At the moment, the PAP is an advisory and consultative organ. We are planning that by 2009, the PAP will become a full legislative organ. This is provided for in the Strategic Plan which was approved during the 4th Session of the PAP. We also discussed our budget, and as I have stated earlier, the PAP budget is US$25 million, out of which half of it is met by the African Union (AU) Commission while the other half is met by the member states individually through their national parliaments. We also discussed the Blair Commission as it refers to economic recovery for the African states. Lastly, Mr.Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we discussed peace and security in Africa. This issue is usually discussed in every session. The PAP also discussed the political events in Uganda relating to the arrest and trial of the opposition leader, Dr. Besigye. The PAP took appropriate steps through the Chairman of the AU to ensure that the Government of Uganda guaranteed the independence of the Judiciary in order to accord Dr. Besigye a fair trial in a civil court. During that session, we also discussed a coup that took place in Mauritania on 3rd August, 2005, when soldiers took the reigns of power instead of carrying out democratic elections to have that country under civilian rule. The PAP debated a report on the mission in Mauritania and resolved that democratic elections be held in that country within 18 months. The House also resolved that military coups should not be tolerated in the continent. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as a Member of the PAP, I have learned a few lessons which I need to share with this Parliament. The PAP has live coverage which is provided for by the Government of South Africa. That is a lesson to be learnt by us because that is a young parliament and it already has live coverage. So, it is important that even our Parliament here should have live coverage, maybe, that will increase the attendance of hon. Members in this Parliament. The other lesson I learnt is that the parliamentary budget is discussed on the Floor of the House. In this Parliament, I have never seen the Budget of the House. There, it is discussed on the Floor of the House. Even the report of the auditors of the Parliament is discussed on the Floor of the House to ensure that there is accountability and transparency in the expenditure of the Parliament. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, at the PAP, most of the work is done in the committees. Committees are crucial in the management of the Parliament as all Motions are discussed in the relevant committees and the reports are presented to the Parliament by the various committees through their chairmen. If we were to have an executive Parliament, we will need to strengthen committees. In the PAP, committees are well facilitated because that is where a lot of work is done so that by the time Motions come to the Parliament, Members have knowledge of what they are going to discuss. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as opposed to what we do here by standing to catch the Speaker's eye - sometimes you can stand here the whole day without catching the Speaker's eye - hon. Members record in advance, even a week in advance, indicating which Motion they are going to contribute on. The Speaker then just calls out your name and you stand up to contribute to 1378 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 14, 2006 the Motion. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to move. I would also like to request Mr. Mwancha to second the Motion."
}