The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Godfrey Ssali | THE INDEPENDENT | Kabula County Member of Parliament Enos Asiimwe Kinywamachunda is leading a high-level delegation of Members of Parliament that are representing Uganda at the 51st Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) – Africa Region Conference taking place in Abuja, Nigeria November 8th to 14th November, 2021.
Kinywamachunda who doubles as the Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Uganda Branch has already arrived in Abuja, Nigeria.
The team comprises of other CPA delegates including Kasambya County MPDavid Kabanda, Busujju County MP David Lukyamuzi Kalwanga, the National Woman Member of Parliament for People with Disabilities Laura Kanushu, the National Female Youth MP Phiona Nyamutooro and Kamuli Municiplaity Member of Parliament Kayanga Baroda Watongola.
The 51st CPA – Africa Region Conference is being held under the theme: “African Parliaments and the challenges of Covid-19 pandemic”.
The focus of the conference is on the role of Parliaments in spearheading integrated national efforts to fight the pandemic, share best practices and accelerate recovery interventions to restore people’s lives and livelihoods as soon as possible.
Speaking to journalists shortly after presiding over the inaugural meeting of Society of Clerks-at-the-Table, an organ of the CPA that houses Clerks to the Parliament or National Assembly of member states, the Clerk, Namibia Parliament, Lydia Kandetu said economic stability and security, amongst other issues, shall be discussed.
On his part, the Clerk to National Assembly of Nigeria, Amos Ojo Olatunde, said the conference would afford member states the opportunity to cross pollinate ideas on how to solve pressing issues in their countries.
Olatunde revealed that, the official opening of the 51st conference shall be done by the President of Nigeria, Muhammad Buhari on Thursday, 11th November, 2021.
The conference has a number of sub-themes that cover areas impacted by the pandemic that include: sharing best practices of Parliaments in combating it; its impact on women and children; economic recovery interventions; youth involvement and on efforts to accelerate the execution of the global 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Various Parliaments are assigned to lead engagements in workshops with presentations on each of the sub-themes.
The programme of the conference includes meetings of the Executive Committee of the CPA Africa Region, sub-committee meetings, the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Forum, the platform of the Secretaries of Parliament, the official opening of the conference and the Annual General Meeting where new leadership will be elected.
The CPA (Africa Region) is essentially the African Chapter of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. It brings together parliamentarians from across the Commonwealth member states in pursuit of mutually beneficial programmes including the strengthening of Parliaments’ capacity to play their constitutional roles that include oversight and accountability, law-making and meaningful participation of citizens in their own governance.
The African Region of the CPA, which comprises of the 63 national and sub national legislatures, held its 50th conference in Tanzania in 2019, but could not sit in 2020, due to the COVID-19 wave.
The CPA Africa Region was established in 1980 with its Secretariat headquarters located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and hosted by the Parliament of Tanzania.
Previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, the CPA was established 1st May 1944, as an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights.
It is made up of over 180 legislatures (or National Branches) that are clustered into nine geographic regions of the Commonwealth. The Regions of the CPA are: Africa, Asia, Australia, British Islands and Mediterranean (BIM), Canada, Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic (CAA), India, Pacific and South East Asia, as well as the United Kingdom.
