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By Iddi Yire/Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, July 28, GNA – Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker and Leader of the Delegation of Ghana’s Parliament to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), Friday, briefed the Parliamentary Press Corps on the activities of PAP.
The meeting was to enable the Delegation report to Ghanaians on the Second Ordinary Session of the PAP, which was held in Midrand, South Africa, from 15th May to 2nd June 2023.
This Second Session of the PAP’s Sixth Parliament was held under the African Union (AU) theme for 2023: “Accelerating the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
Other Members of Ghana’s Parliamentary Delegation to the PAP include Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Majority Chief Whip and New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyiri and Madam Ophelia Mensah Hayford, NPP MP for Mfantseman.
The rest are Mr Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Asawase and Mr Collins Dauda, NDC MP for Asutifi South.
Mr Osei-Owusu, who is in his second term as a Member of PAP, said the PAP was set-up by the African Union (AU) to ensure the participation of the people of Africa in the economic integration of the Continent.
He said it was believed that through PAP, the representatives of the people of Africa would participate at a forum in which major decisions relating to the vision of the African Union would be taken.
He reiterated that the PAP’s aim was to foster the development and economic integration of the African Continent.
Mr Osei-Owusu said as opposed to the Organisation of African Union (predecessor of the AU), which was rather more of a political Union, the AU was set-up largely to encourage and to promote the Continent’s economic integration.
He said it was out of the vision of the AU that the AfCFTA was born, and that Ghana was lucky to host the Secretariat.
He said Ghana had ratified the PAP Protocol, also known as the Malabo Protocol, which intends to extend the powers of the PAP into a fully-fledged legislative organ.
He noted that it required a minimum of 28 countries ratifying the Protocol before implementation and that now only 15 African countries had done so.
Touching on military interventions in Africa during question time, Mr Osei-Owusu said it was hampering the works of the PAP.
He noted that the AU had issued a strong worded statement condemning the recent military takeover in Niger.
Mr Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, a Member of Ghana’s Parliamentary Delegation to PAP and Chairman of PAP Committee on Finance, said it was sad that since 2004, when the idea came for having a Continental Parliament, they had still not been able to get 28 countries to ratify the PAP Protocol to enable it to become a fully-edge Continental Parliament.
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