New PAP President Charumbira, In Unity Challenge For The Assembly
Senator Chief Charumbira called for unity among the members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), as it has been a divided house especially when it comes to selecting leadership.
Addressing the members of the parliament for the first time as its President, Chief Charumbira said:
“I want us to come together; we need to immediately right and destroy the division caused by these foreign languages in Africa imposed on us by outside continents and resulted in us identifying one another as Anglophones, Francophones and Lusophones…”
President Charumbira told the members who had gathered at the PAP parliament which is located in Midrand, South Africa to forget about the boundaries that were created by the colonizers and focus on solving the problems faced by the Continent.
Chief Charumbira who became the first Southern African member of the Pan African Parliament to be elected as its Head, told the members of the PAP that during his tenure he is also going to investigate the reason why the PAP hasn’t been conducting much of its duties.
The PAP in the past has faced castigations from the citizens within Africa of becoming like it’s Head Organization, the African Union which is not playing any major role in solving African problems.
Chief Charumbira took over the presidency position at a time when, Southern and Northern African countries had joined hands in advocating for ‘no rotation, no vote’.
The campaign of ‘no rotation, no vote’ made the motherboard of the PAP which is the African Union to place the African Parliament on hold and discuss on whether the policy of Presidential rotation should be introduced in PAP, just like any other organs of the African Union.
The Presidency of the African Union since its establishment has been in the hands of the Western African countries, due to those Western countries have the majority of members in the PAP.
Each country is expected to have 5 members who will join the PAP, with at least some members deriving from the opposition parliamentarians within that member state.
In addition, within those 5 members one of them should be a female representative.
Out of the 203 votes, Chief Charumbira was elected by 79 percent of votes from the PAP members (161) ,31 abstained and 11, votes were spoiled.
Chief Charumbira’s Presidency in the PAP is not only expected to solve problems of bringing unity within the PAP only but he is also expected to solve some of the challenges that the Continent is facing which are lack of youth and women empowerment is some areas of politics; terrorism, hunger, health crisis and migration To Europe.
Chief Charumbira has held the following positions: the acting President for PAP last year for three months, the former Vice President of the PAP and has chaired a couple of committees of PAP.
Back home the President of the Chiefs Council.
