Category: General

Leader of the Liberian delegation to the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS) Parliament, Edwin Melvin Snowe Junior has said young lawmakers and female representation should be given the needed attention.

According to him young and female representation in the Community Parliament from most of the countries is not impressive.

“Most countries came without female delegations, Nigeria with thirty-five delegates came with only two females, we are talking about thirty (30) percent representation, Ghana had just one female, same with my country and Gambia”, he lamented.

He noted that moving forward a second look should be taken at the female representation since they bring a lot of value to the table and seek the welfare of people. “So we hope we can work in attaining the thirty (30) percent threshold for females at the political level”, he said in an interview.

Meanwhile, in a related development he further noted that direct representation in the Community Parliament is a process which is going to take time and has major financial implications and when addressed, it can be taken care of.

“Secretary-General, John Azumah has experience in parliamentary matters, he has suggested an Ad Hoc Committee start looking into direct elections to see how best we can move from the current nomination level to election position like the European Union (EU) Parliament”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com/Niger

According to the Speaker, Community lawmakers pledged to represent the entire West Africa population and not to succumb to pressure from any Member State.

“We are expected to promote integration, unity, solidarity and togetherness as representatives of the people, the only way we can build a strong institution with enviable ideals”, he said at the closing of the inauguration of the fifty parliament in Niger.

He further urged MPs to minimize nationalism and promote regionalism for the betterment of the Community citizens and its children yet unborn as posterity would judge their performance.

In addition, at the start of the fifth legislature, he indicated his desire to head an institution that has a clear defined focus and understand where it is going and anticipate results.

“Here I am referring to my desire to have a functional strategic plan to define the vision, mission, and goals of the institution as the Secretary-General who informed me that a draft is in work and would be submitted to parliament during the first ordinary session in Abuja in May. I am eagerly awaiting the draft which should be people oriented”.

Again, it is not enough to draw a strategic plan. We must collectively resolve to adopt the plan and ensure it is implemented, he added.

“I realised the extent to which a lot of bargaining was done, leading to the final conclusion of the work. I entreat you all to imbibe the culture of compromise, believing that as an integrating Parliament, there are no winners or losers. Indeed, as one people, governed by a common destiny, we should regard ourselves as winners, even if our expectations were not fully met”.

As we are nowhere near where we wish to be as a parliament, the Supplementary Act has provided us with enough impetus to function and show that we are relevance as a Community Parliament, he emphasised.

The Speaker has directed that briefing and orientation progammes be organised for all members during the first Ordinary Session for them to understand the workings and interrelation with other ECOWAS institutions.

“If we work harder, we have the potentials to make it even stronger, Institutions become stronger, when they maximally tap into their potentials and effectively collaborate with other similar Institutions”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com/Niger