" [1]“Parliamentarians help increase ownership of NEPAD programmes. They are in their own right champions of NEPAD programmes.”
These remarks were made by Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) this week, when he paid a courtesy call to Mr Mathurin Nago, Speaker of the Parliament of Benin, at the Embassy of Benin in Pretoria, South Africa yesterday.
Mr Nago was on a brief visit to South Africa to attend the annual conference of speakers of African Parliaments at the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) in Midrand, near Johannesburg.
At the meeting, where various parliamentary issues were discussed, Dr Mayaki pointed out the important synergy between legislators, who are representatives of the people and NEPAD, mandated and committed to working for the people of Africa.
Mr Nago said he was pleased with the progress made by NEPAD and stressed the need for the Agency to engage more with parliamentarians to enhance visibility of its programmes on the ground. “As the direct representatives of the people, parliamentarians are key to fast-tracking the implementation of NEPAD programmes,” he said.
The two executives stated that NEPAD and the Parliament of Benin will work closely together through a NEPAD Parliamentarian Forum, to involve more political representation and promote NEPAD at grassroots levels. The Forum, based in Benin, will help strengthen parliamentary capacities for policy advocacy and adequate responses to governance issues.
Dr Mayaki welcomed this proposal and called it “inspirational” and a “timely request” with a view to the Republic of Benin, holding the chair of the African Union for a period of 12 months, and leading and shaping the future of NEPAD.
The Forum will help to assess and validate NEPAD progress in the implementation of its programmes at country level.
