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{
    "id": 247110,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/247110/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 201,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mrs. Mwendwa",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 275,
        "legal_name": "Winfred Nyiva Mwendwa",
        "slug": "nyiva-mwendwa"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was talking about the Committee in which I serve. We have 11 Committees in the Pan African Parliament. We try to ensure that at least one Member is in any one of the Committees. I sit in the Committee of Trade, Customs and Immigration. We are working towards harmonisation of trade, customs and immigration so that at the end of day we are going to have one African Chamber of Commerce. Here, we shall strive to ensure that trade is completely open in Africa. Of course, we shall seek to harmonise the currencies, immigration and trade. You can see that it is not going to be an easy task because already we have blocs of trading partners in North Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa and East and Central Africa. We are working hard to find a way of harmonising all these blocs. It is true that we are not at the same level in whatever activity we undertake. For example, in North Africa, countries such as Egypt and other Arab nations are more developed than us. Look at South Africa! It is not an African country! I can tell you for sure that when you go to South Africa, you will see a country which is in the Continent of Africa and with a lot of Africans, but virtually everything is done like in the developed Western world. There are no potholes on their roads. I have seen such roads in Germany, which is better than even the United Kingdom. They are very advanced. It is true apartheid was very bad for them. But the silver lining is that they now produce their own cars, their cars are washed by machines. We are trying to harmonise regulations so that trade in North Africa, Southern Africa, Eastern Africa and Central Africa can be equal. So, you can see how difficult this is going to be. But we are determined. The work of the Pan African Parliament is to bring Africa together, and at the end of the day, we will become one country, the United States of Africa. Therefore, issues of trade, customs and immigration are very important. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is interesting to sit in the Pan African Parliament with other Members and share experiences. But I would say I do not think that we are right there. This is because two-thirds of the bills are footed by South Africa, Libya and Nigeria, just like America spends more money than any other country in the UN. It is discouraging for us not to meet our little side of the bargain. We must do it for us to become a force to reckon with. If we do not do that, we will find it very difficult to develop alone as single states. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}