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CHAPTER 5. the PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT Sani L. Mohamed 1

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CHAPTER 5. the PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT Sani L. Mohamed 1 CHAPTER 5. THE PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT Sani L. Mohamed 1. Introduction In all democratic systems, parliaments, as the directly elected bodies, are the institutions through which the people express their will and exercise their sovereignty. They are the primary constituencies that link the people to the government, represent and act on behalf of the citizenry. The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) is established for the same purpose, although it is not fashioned in the same form as those in the member countries of the Union. It is established “to give concrete expression to the common vision of a united, integrated and strong Africa and to act as a common platform for African peoples and their grass-root organizations to be more involved with discussions and decision-making on the problems and challenges facing the continent.”1 The idea of establishing a Pan-African Parliament could be traced to the dreams of the founding fathers of the African Nations, who contended that only a United Africa can achieve true democracy and meaningful development. The legal basis of the Pan-African Parliament is to be found in the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC),2 which enumerated it as one of the organs of the Community (Article 7). It further stipulated that its 1 Preamble of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to the Pan-African Parliament. 2 Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community, 3 June 1991, Abuja (Nigeria). A.A. Yusuf & F. Ouguergouz (eds.), The African Union: Legal and Institutional Framework. A Manual on the Pan-African Organization, 95-117. 96 Sani L. Mohamed composition, functions and powers and organization should be defined in a related protocol (Article 14). The Treaty also introduced the continental universal suffrage of the membership of the PAP (Article 6).3 The AEC Treaty, which was signed in Abuja, on 3 June 1991 and came into force in May 1994, was intended “to promote economic, social, and cultural development and the integration of the African economies.” It envisaged that the PAP would be established by the year 2000, but this did not materialize. In the meantime, the African States’ determination to move the continent forward towards integration resulted in the adoption of the Sirte Declaration in September 1999, at the Fourth Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU) held in Sirte, Libya. The Declaration provided for the establishment of an African Union (AU) and the speedy establishment of all institutions provided in the Abuja Treaty, including the Pan-African Parliament.4 The Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted at the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the OAU, held in July 2000, in Lomé, Togo. The Act provided that the Union is established “to promote and protect human and people’s rights, consolidate democratic institutions and culture, ensure good governance and rule of law, and achieve greater unity and solidarity between African countries and peoples.” The PAP is enumerated as one of the organs of the AU in Article 5 of the Constitutive Act which provided that its composition, powers and functions, and its organization shall be defined in a protocol relating thereto (Article 17). In furtherance of the objective of establishing the PAP, a historic meeting of African Parliamentarians was held in Pretoria, South Africa, in November 2000, which was attended by about 200 delegates from 41 OAU Member States. The delegates comprising Speakers, Deputy Speakers, Clerks and Parliamentary staff and other 3 The principle of popular participation had its foundation laid in The Arusha and Khartoum Declaration, as well as in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. 4 See the Sirte Declaration of 9.9.1999 of the OAU Summit, OAU Doc. EAHG/Decl. (IV) Rev. 1. .
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