Kabula County MP, James Kakooza, has taken oath as the new Uganda’s representative at the Pan African Parliament.
Kakooza replaces Hon. Babirye Kadogo (Ind., Buyende district), following an earlier arrangement that the two independent MPs would each serve two and a half years out of the five-year term at the Parliament based in Midrand, South Africa.
Taking oath for new members was the first item at the start of the first sitting of the second session of the fifth Pan African Parliament on Monday, 6 May 2019. Other members who took oath were from Algeria, Comoros, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe and Seychelles. The session chaired by President Roger Nkodo Dang is meeting in Midrand, South Africa, 6 – 18 May 2019.
Hon. Kadogo has been one of the five Uganda’s representatives to the Pan African Parliament since the start of the 10th Parliament in 2016.
Hon. Kakooza swore to be faithful and bear true allegiance to the African Union and the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community, which also sets up the Pan African Parliament. He also pledged to promote adherence to good governance, peace, stability, democracy and international humanitarian law.
Uganda’s other representatives are: Hon. Jacquiline Amongin (NRM, Ngora district), Prof. Ogenga Latigo, Hon. Felix Okot Ogong and Hon. Anifa Kawooya Bangirana (NRM, Sembabule district).
At the opening ceremony, invited speakers asked PAP, politicians and national leaders to address the various issues that lead to refugees, displacement of people and conflict on the continent.
The President (Speaker) of the Federal National Council of United Arab Emirates, Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, said that her country was at the forefront in efforts intended to bring peace or resolve conflict on the continent. She cited various roles played in Mali, Egypt, South Africa, Mauritania and Libya, as well as facilitating and witnessing the signing of the reconciliation treaty between Ethiopia and Eritrea and ending over thirty years of conflict there.
Dr. Al Qubaisi said that although UAE sees opportunities in Africa in the areas of trade, food security, climate change, the continent needed to be made safe for development.
“We need to make Africa safe for its people, investors and neighbours. Security is the foundation of development, and the human being is the foundation of security,” she said.
“We cannot fight terrorism without policies that give tolerance a chance in our countries,” she said adding that “This is critical to the IPU [Inter Parliamentary Union], PAP and other organisations; we should work together to streamline legislation and policies to have global action against terrorism effective.”
She also requested that the UAE be granted observer status at PAP to help them have a better understanding of issues on the African continent and to better coordinate efforts and responses to common challenges and opportunities.
