PAN AFRICAN PARLIAMENT, 15 May 2019 – A delegation from the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), led by Bishop Dinis Sengulane, Member of the Panel of Eminent Persons, presented the African Governance Report (AGR), 2019 at the Pan-African Parliament, pursuant to the regulatory provisions of the Mechanism. It will be recalled that Paragraph 25 of the APRM Base Document (NEPAD / HSGIC / 03-2003 / APRM / MOU / Annex II) stipulates that “Six months after its consideration by the Heads of State and Government of the States Parties, the report should be presented formally and publicly to regional and sub-regional institutions, such as the Pan-African Parliament …” The APRM delegation comprised Bishop Dinis Sengulane, Dr. Messan Koffi Adorgloh, Coordinator of the event, Professor Migai Akech and Professor Jonathan Mayuyuka Kaunda.

In his presentation, Bishop Dinis Sengulane explained that the Africa Governance Report (AGR) 2019, was produced at the request of the African Union (AU). He mentioned that the Report, which was prepared by APRM, should be considered complementary to the voluntary self-assessment of Member States in the four thematic areas of governance covered by the Mechanism: Democracy and Political Governance, Economic Governance and Management, Corporate Governance and Socio-Economic Development. Bishop Sengulane emphasised that the AGR is expected to cover all the 55 AU Member States and not just the 38 participating in APRM. He stated that the purpose of the Report was to provide periodic and biennial assessments of selected priority areas such as transformative leadership, constitutionalism and the rule of law, peace, security and governance, the link between development and governance as well as the role of regional economic communities in governance. The Panel Member emphasised that the AGR is also an instrument for promoting universal accession to APRM by 2023, as envisaged by the African Union. Bishop Dinis Sengulane concluded his statement with a question: “What role can the Pan-African Parliament play in developing, popularising and disseminating the Africa Governance Report? “

The AGR generated much interest among the Members of the Pan-African Parliament, judging by the comprehensive exchanges that followed the presentation.

Parliamentarians from Botswana, Mauritius, Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Niger, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Burkina Faso took the floor to congratulate Bishop Dinis Sengulane on his presentation. They commended the African Union for initiating such a continental report and making it obligatory for each State to prepare a report and a national plan on governance. The question on the methodology adopted for the preparation of the AGR was raised, but issues concerning the strategy implemented or to be adopted by APRM in order to achieve universal accession dominated the debate. All the members of the APRM delegation intervened, by turns, to explain to the parliamentarians the strategies and measures undertaken by APRM to convince the AU Member States that are not yet participating in APRM to accede to the Mechanism.