African unity emphasized at opening of the 10th session of Pan African parliament in Johannesburg

African unity emphasized at opening of the 10th session of Pan African parliament in Johannesburg


BY GEORGE KAGAME
Johannesburg


The Chairman of the African Union and President of Tanzania Jakaya Kikwete has dismissed the principle of non interference among African countries in their domestic affairs as being old and no longer acceptable.


Kikwete who was addressing the 10th ordinary session of the Pan African Parliament in Johannesburg South Africa said that Africa is on the move and the continent is currently undergoing tremendous changes in the rule of law and democracy, greater economic prosperity and deeper economic integration which meant that all countries on the continent have a collective responsibility to ensure this trend.



Kikwete further said that the organization and management of elections has improved noting that since the PAP was created in 2004, there have been elections in 45 countries on the continent.


Commenting on regional political and economic integration on the continent, Kikwete said that recently an agreement was reached in the Ugandan capital of Kampala for negotiations to merge the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, East Africa Community and the Southern Africa Development Cooperation and form one economic integration block to unite all countries in those blocks. Kikwete said that these were the first steps of creating one united Africa politically and economically.


He further added that in recent decades, Africa has had a 5 percent annual growth rate economically and if this was maintained, the continent has potential to be an economic powerhouse in the future. "the global interest in Africa is an opportunity we cannot afford to loose," Kikwete cautioned the members of PAP.


kIKWETRE said that he continent is benefitting from the emergence of "a new breed of leaders that have introduced appropriate measures to change Africa for the better." Kikwete added that in past decades, Africa was known as a continent of doom but today there has been improvement in changing this image, "there is greater awareness on the evils of corruption, democracy on the continent is becoming institutionalized except for outside cases." He named the outside cases as Darfur, Somalia, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Chad, Mauritania and Central African Republic.

Kikwete said the African Union needed strengthening so as to be effective in keeping stability on the continent, "the AU peace and security force needs to be further empowered in early warning mechanisms and the detection of conflicts." He also lamented the poor state of agriculture in Africa and advised that in order for the continent for the continent to be developed, the most effective measure to for African countries to have "unhindered access to the available technology in agriculture and markets, any effort to develop Africa must focus on agriculture," added Kikwete.

He said that these efforts must consider expanding irrigation and the use of fertilizers which are not widespread currently, Kikwete also lamented the poor state of infrastructure in Africa saying that because of its poor state, infrastructure does not provide sufficient linkages to spur development. "12 to 17 percent of the road network on the continent is paved and 12 percent of these are seasonal roads, this is reinforcing poverty on the continent and impedes inter Africa trade."

Opening the session earlier, Dr. Gertrude Mongella the President of PAP said that Africa needs to speak with one voice so as to face the new reality of world politics saying that the Pan African Parliament had established relationships with other continental bodies as the European Parliament and the Latin American parliaments which were represented by their respective presidents in South Africa.


Mongella said that the need for African unity was reinforced by the continent's dependency on richer nations which are currently undergoing financial crisis and this would affect African countries yet they are not part of the issues causing the crisis. The Pan African Parliament was formed in 2004 as a continent wide body to discuss government issues affecting Africa.

It aims to be an institution with full legislative powers whose representatives are elected directly by universal suffrage, it was one of the organs proposed by African leaders as they disbanded the Organization of African in 1999 and is seen as one of the first steps in creating a unified Africa politically and economically, it has 235 members representing all countries in the AU.


Rwanda is represented by 5 members elected from the both the senate and lower chamber of parliament