Put In Place Proper Mechanisms To Curb Terror Attacks On The Continent — VIP To CPA 

The Vice-president of the Republic of Ghana, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has tasked the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association(CPA) to put proper mechanisms in place to help curb terror attacks and threats of attacks in some areas of the continent.

According to him,  resent military interventions in countries such as Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Chad are evidences of decline in the national reconstruction efforts in the region.

Speaking at the 82nd Executive Meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association(CPA), Africa Region, Dr Bawumia urged members of the legislature not to loose sight of the fact that Africa continues to be weakest link  in the world economic order.

He said that the convergence of our currencies, at least on sub regional basis, and the easing of national border restrictions are some of the ways we can create a more homogeneous political and economic unit for our economies.

“It is this regard that I consider the opportunity offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) very unique for us to begin to adopt home grown policies to vigorously promote trade among ourselves. This agenda, if well pursued, would not only boost Africa’s trading position in the global market but also strengthen Africa’s common voice and policy space in global trade negotiation, a key factor which appears to be missing in our engagement in world trade and economic order.”

He stressed, “It is important to remind ourselves that, as political leaders, we have the responsibility to rebuild the confidence of our People in Democratic governance by demonstrating selfless leadership.”

The  Vice president  continued that the current composition of Ghana’s Parliament is not exclusively unique to us is certainly indicative of a voter population that desires consensus building for a unified political force, rather than the divisive, overly partisan, winner-takes-all intolerant political system which obtained and, unfortunately, still obtains in many African countries.

To him, this emerging trend close-to-party in numbers of seats in Parliament between majority and Minority parties as obtains also in Sierra Leone behooves us to perhaps, begin to adopt in our procedures and processes, new ways of doing business with focus on a collective approach to delivering the requisite public goods and services for which the citizenry have entrusted us with their mandate.

Touching on the women and the vulnerable, Dr. Bawumia said practices that affect women, children and the marginalized in society should no longer be considered as economic or social issues but as issues that have direct correlation with democratic government.

It is a democratic imperative that, we promote the representation of women and the marginalized in governance.

Accordingly it is heartwarming to note that the trend of under representation of women in legislature is changing across the global and this must be sustained.

In conclusion, the vice president of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, urged the CPA committee to continue to champion the resolution of the constitutional issues facing the CPA, including, in particular, the key issue of its status as a charity organization.

“It is my conviction that the resolution of this matter will pave the way for more flexibility in raising the necessary resources to run the affairs of this group. As a group of Parliamentarians, the CPA, Africa Region, is also in a unique position to contribute to the resolution of challenges on security and related currently facing the continent,” he said.

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