CPA NEWS AFRICAN SPEAKERS OF PARLIAMENT MEET IN NIGERIA TO DISCUSS ENHANCING POST-COVID ECONOMIC RECOVERY
The first Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments (CoSAP) was held in Abuja, Nigeria from 9 to 10 May 2022 on the theme of ‘Enhancing Africa’s Post-COVID economic recovery through parliamentary leadership’. The conference was initiated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the CPA Africa Region President (2021), Rt Hon. Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila MP. It was attended by Speakers of Parliaments across Africa including Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Cameroon, Senegal, Malawi, Algeria and South Africa. At the official opening ceremony, the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Prof Yemi Osinbajo, delivered the keynote address stressing the importance of the institution of Parliament in promoting democracy and fostering economic development. The Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Mr Jarvis Matiya also spoke at the conference to outline the Commonwealth’s shared values of development, democracy and gender equality as well as the CPA’s work across the Region. The Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments (CoSAP) is a new body that aims to facilitate improved deliberation, collaboration and cooperation between the Speakers and Heads of Parliaments and National Assemblies across Africa to foster the unity of the continent.
COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY CLERKS MEET FOR SOCATT AFRICA REGION WORKSHOP IN RWANDA Parliamentary Clerks from the CPA Africa Region’s Society of Clerks-at-theTable (SoCATT) have met in Rwanda. The Clerk of the Rwanda Chamber of Deputies, Amb. Jeanine Kambanda, who is also the Chairperson of the SoCATT Africa Region, officially launched the first Steering Committee meeting for 2022 which also reviewed the SoCATT Africa 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. In her opening remarks, the SoCATT Africa Chairperson recognised how the hard work of SoCATT members to fulfil their parliamentary responsibilities and also noted that the new strategic plan would help SoCATT Africa to have a long-term tool that will boost its activities. Clerks also discussed the 2022 SoCATT Africa Annual General Meeting which took place in the margins of the 52nd CPA Africa Regional Conference in Freetown, Sierra Leone in June 2022. The Society of Clerks-at-the-Table (SoCATT) Africa Region provides a network for the sharing of best parliamentary practice amongst the Commonwealth Legislatures in the region and its members include a wide range of jurisdictions across the CPA Africa Region including Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Eswatini, Namibia and Kenya.
AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARY PRESS NETWORK URGES AFRICAN PARLIAMENTS TO CREATE PRESS GALLERIES TO MARK WORLD PRESS DAY
CPA BALOCHISTAN BRANCH VISIT OLDEST PARLIAMENT IN THE COMMONWEALTH DURING STUDY VISIT TO THE ISLE OF MAN
To mark World Press Day 2022, the African Parliamentary Press Network (APPN) called for a more collaborative relationship between Parliaments and the media to further support democracy and media freedoms. The day, which is celebrated annually on 3 May by the United Nations and UNESCO, also provided an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedoms around the world and acts as a reminder of the need to commit to media freedoms. “A fruitful collaboration between Parliament and the media, would be further enhanced when various Parliaments on the continent are urged to encourage their parliamentary reporters to form press corps or press galleries as was recently demonstrated by The Gambian National Assembly,” said Olu Ibekwe, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the APPN, a network of parliamentary journalists in 24 countries on the African continent.
Members of the Balochistan Provincial Assembly have visited the Parliament of the Isle of Man at Tynwald to see best practice in the parliamentary process. The short study programme focused on procedure and practice with an emphasis on good governance in the legislative process. The visiting delegation also visited the CPA Scotland Branch at The Scottish Parliament to see parliamentary practices in the devolved Legislature. The Parliamentarian | 2022: Issue Two | 100 years of publishing | 111