POLITICS-AFRICA: The Continental Legislature Puts Down Roots

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

JOHANNESBURG, Sep 16 2004 (IPS) - It was a telling incident. While several religious leaders were invited to say a prayer at Thursday’s opening of the Pan-African Parliament’s second sitting, an imam was not amongst them.

"Please accept our sincere apologies. It was an oversight," an organiser announced at the event, which was transmitted life to viewers around the continent. Nonetheless, the matter highlighted the challenges confronting a legislature that embraces a wide variety of cultures and religions.

Some 427 million people, or 59 percent of Africa’s population, are adherents of the Muslim faith.

"An error was made from the beginning. A Muslim prayer was not said. So I’m asking that a Muslim prayer be said before I begin my speech," said a visibly upset Thabo Mbeki.

The South African president was speaking at the opening ceremony, which marked the first occasion on which the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) was convened at its permanent seat.

This is located at Gallagher Estate, a venue just outside the commercial hub of Johannesburg – although the PAP is scheduled to move elsewhere in five years time. The legislature was inaugurated in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, in July.

The lack of translators also irked the president. "I was also trying to find out from the president of the Pan-African Parliament (Tanzania’s Gertrude Mongella) why we didn’t have simultaneous translation," Mbeki noted.

Abdulrahman Kinana, the speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, interrupted his address in Kiswahili to apologise for the absence of translations – and assure delegates that an English copy of the speech would be distributed to them.

The African Union (AU) decided in July, during its annual summit, to make Kiswahili one of the official languages of the body – along with French, Arabic, Portuguese and English. The East African Legislative Assembly was amongst the regional organisations invited to participate in Thursday’s ceremonies, as was the Southern African Development Community.

Indian President Abdul Kalam and Japanese head of state Chikage Oogi were also on hand.

In its first five years of existence, the 265-member PAP will mainly serve in an advisory and consultative capacity to the AU. However in 2009, the parliament will be given teeth: the power to make laws.

So far, 46 African countries have ratified the protocols of the assembly. Each of the AU’s 53 member states is obliged to send five representatives to the PAP, including at least one woman. These legislators are drawn from national parliaments.

While the creation of a continent-wide legislature is undoubtedly historic, it has yet to elicit universal support in Africa.

Scepticism about its chances of success and a fear of being subjected to well-meaning intervention from the PAP may go some way towards explaining why the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Guinea Bissau, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Somalia and Sao Tome and Principe have yet to ratify the PAP protocols – and nominate representatives to the body.

Morocco, for its part, remains outside AU structures – citing the body’s recognition of the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara, which Rabat claims is part of its territory. This situation dates back to Morocco’s exclusion from the AU’s predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, in 1984 after the body recognised Western Sahara.

"It’s unfortunate that the issue of Western Sahara has remained unresolved," Mbeki noted.

He said Africans were looking to the parliament to resolve their problems: "This includes putting an end to unnecessary wars which force Africans to live as refugees in their own countries."

At present, the continent is pock-marked with conflicts. The actions of Arab militias against three ethnic groups in the Western Sudanese region of Darfur have perhaps garnered the greatest amount of media attention recently. But, the situation in Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Ivory Coast, Burundi, Rwanda, the DRC and northern Uganda is also fraught.

"A wind of change is blowing across Africa. But the challenges are daunting," Julia Doily, an AU representative, told the assembly.

Although Zimbabwe is not experiencing outright conflict, the political and economic crisis in that country also made itself felt at Thursday’s ceremonies.

Up to 300 Zimbabweans demonstrated outside Gallagher Estate, and handed a petition to the PAP highlighting human rights abuses in their country.

"Yes, we handed the petition to an official at the parliament. They told us that they will discuss Zimbabwe and let us know," Jerry Mashamba, a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told IPS.

In the petition, the MDC says that for Africa to flourish and for the objectives of the AU to be achieved, there needs to be a collective effort to address problems of governance wherever these exist.

"In Zimbabwe there is currently a chronic democratic deficit. We have been stripped of our basic freedoms; freedoms we fought a liberation war for," notes the document, in reference to Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation war against white minority rule in the then Rhodesia.

"Only through a free and fair election can we restore the political stability, and kick-start the economic recovery, that will enable those of us in the four-million strong Diaspora to return home," it adds.

Mbeki, whose approach of "quite diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe has come in for criticism, said Africa had embarked on irreversible journey with the creation of the PAP.

"Our continent has decided where to go. And we have established the institutions to take us to this destination. These include this parliament and NEPAD," he noted.

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), a blueprint for the continent’s reconstruction, seeks 64 billion dollars in foreign investment annually in return for good governance.

But Africans are also divided over the virtues of NEPAD, with certain civil society groups claiming they have been excluded from its formation.

Thursday’s opening featured an array of musical performances, including one by South Africa’s legendary Miriam Makeba. Once the champagne glasses have been drained, however, it will be hard work all the way.