Johannesburg - The First Ordinary Session of the sixth Pan-African Parliament (PAP) opened on Monday in Johannesburg, with new members swearing in during the opening ceremony.
President of the PAP Fortune Charumbira took the floor to deliver opening remarks.
“On behalf of the Bureau of the Pan-African Parliament, I extend a warm and fraternal welcome to you to the First Ordinary Session of the sixth parliament of the Pan-African Parliament, which is being held under the African Union theme of the year, ‘Building resilience in nutrition on the African continent: accelerate the human capital, social and economic development’,” said Charumbira.
The session will end on November 11.
Charumbira said Africa faces challenges of civil wars, unconstitutional change of governments, food insecurity, poverty, hunger, a growing energy crisis and natural disasters. He called on African countries to address the challenges. A total of 257 members of parliament are members of the PAP who are meeting to deliberate on issues affecting the African continent.
“We call for the silencing of guns and breaking of the cycle of conflicts and insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and northern Mozambique, including through promotion of inter-community dialogues and projects, as well as fighting impunity for serious crimes,” Charumbira said.
He urged African countries who have not yet ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement to do so. Charumbira requested African countries to “urgently remove trade tariffs and other barriers” to facilitate the free movement of people and goods on the continent.
In the opening ceremony, representing President Cyril Ramaphosa, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of South Africa Ronald Lamola called on African countries to improve infrastructure, shun corruption and embrace innovation to have prosperity in Africa.