JOHANNESBURG – President of the Republic of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita yesterday urged African nations to work together to find solutions to challenges and problems plaguing the African continent.
He was addressing African lawmakers who yesterday convened in South Africa for the opening of the Fifth Ordinary Session of the Third Pan African Parliament (PAP).
During the session, which will run for the next two weeks. Parliamentarians are expected to tackle issues plaguing the African continent.
Keita, a former member of the Pan African Parliament, reminded the lawmakers the continent continued to face a myriad of challenges hence Africans need to work together to find solutions for African problems.
“The continent continues to be faced by armed conflicts and other peace threatening activities. We can only overcome these challenges if we work in unity at a continental level,” said Keita.
Keita singled out North Africa as the area where terrorism and unrest is high.
“Terrorist continue to carry out attacks to destabilise peace on the continent, our objective should be to combat these acts,” he said.
On the agenda
In a widely expected move, the World Health Organization (WHO) will today [Tuesday] brief MPS on the Ebola epidemic which continues to wreck havoc in western Africa where it has already killed over 3000 people in countries such as Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
They will also have a debate on the 2014 Mo Ibrahim Index on the State of Governance and leadership in Africa.
MPs will also debate a proposal made in the past to align the committees of the Pan African Parliament with the departments of the African Union and the establishment of the Public Audit Committee of the Pan African Parliament.
During yesterday’s sitting 20 new MPs from Guinea, South Africa, Malawi, Mauritania, Sudan and Swaziland were sworn-in. These countries recently held their national elections.
Members from Botswana and Mozambique are not in attendance because those countries are holding their national elections.
The Namibian delegation in attendance include Pan African Parliament Third Vice President and Deputy Speaker of the Namibia National Assembly, Loide Kasingo, Professor Peter Katjavivi, Arnold Tjihuiko, Bernard Sibalatani and Evelyn Nawases-Tayele.