VICE-PRESIDENT Kembo Mohadi has urged African parliaments to leverage on research, innovation, science and technology to drive development in their home countries.
Addressing the 12th Annual Conference of Speakers of African National and Regional Parliaments in South Africa, Mohadi said the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) had a critical role in promoting participatory democracy and integration.
“We fondly recall that our founding fathers endorsed the political relevance of this Parliament as the vehicle to consistently promote the full participation of our peoples in the development and integration of Africa,” he said.
He said PAP had the responsibility to drive development.
“This Parliament is charged with the critical role of debating the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which is an institution that is poised to transform the economic landscape of our countries,” Mohadi said.
“May you, the leaders of our parliaments, provide the guidance to eradicate poverty and initiate such policies so as to spur the development of our countries in a comprehensive manner.”
He said pandemics and conflicts as well as climate change remained constant threats to development.
“In our endeavour to achieve continental integration and prosperity, we remain alive to the unique challenges that confront us. We live in times when the effects of climate change have taken a toll on agriculture across the globe.”
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PAP president Fortune Charumbira said parliaments were essential institutions of accountability.
“We shall endeavour, therefore, to focus on current and relevant issues that not only resonate with our collective aspirations but also with the ideals, hopes and interests of the people whose sacred mandate we carry,” he said.
