Story by Memory Chamisa
ZANU PF Chief Whip, Honourable Pupurai Togarepi and three other Zimbabwean legislators have been sworn in as Pan-African Parliament legislators in Midrand, South Africa.
The extraordinary session of the Pan-African Parliament has ended with newly sworn-in legislators reaffirming their commitment to working in defence of the interests of the African continent.
The legislators who include Honourable Elizabeth Masuka, Tafanana Zhou and Jabulani Hadebe, are raring to go as their objective is to develop and advocate for peace and stability on the continent.
“Not only does war create chaos, but it risks destabilising an already fragile continent, with all the consequences this may have on the people. We must then, on this aspect too, unite our efforts, and agree on the actions to be implemented, to convince the warring parties to reach a ceasefire and to favour the negotiations, for a happy and rapid outcome of this crisis,” said Honourable Togarepi.
“Linking to grassroots in Africa is even more imperative for the PAP which was undoubtedly established with this very objective in mind. A parliament is not a parliament if it is remote and inaccessible to the people. A parliament is not a parliament if its agenda does not respond to the people’s hopes, ideals and aspirations,” said Honourable Masuka.
Honourable Zhou said Africa is endowed with natural resources that need to be value-added for economic benefit, hence there is a crucial task ahead.
“Our continent is indeed full of many natural resources, with the potential to become one of the largest markets in the world in the years to come if we create the appropriate conditions to promote socio-economic development for a sustainable economy. We have succeeded in setting up the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and it has become our continental priority.”
“We agreed to refocus the PAP’s attention on impactful deliverables that affect our citizens. We agreed that whatever we do as a continental parliament ought to be for the greater good of our people,” said Honourable Hadebe.
Other new members of the PAP are from Benin, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Mauritania, the Saharawi Arab Republic, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
The PAP has up to 275 members representing 55 Africa Union member states, with five representatives from each country, including at least one woman.
