Alhagie Mbow calls on Colleagues to Help Ratify Free Movement of People Protocol to enhance AfCFTA Implementation

The Chairperson of the Western African Caucus of the Pan-African Parliament and Senator in the Gambia Parliament, Hon. Alhagie Mbow, has urged his colleague Members of the Pan-African Parliament to ensure the ratification of the Protocol on Free and Safe Movement of People, and Goods and services across the continent in their various countries to justify their role as representatives of the African people.

According to him, this falls in line with the African Union Theme for 2023, “Accelerating the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which has also been adopted as the headline theme for the ongoing Second Session of the Sixth Parliament of the Pan-African Parliament which is being held from May 15 to June 2, 2023, in Midrand, South Africa.

“If you look at the protocol to the Treaty establishing the African Community relative to the Free Movement of Persons and the right of residence under the right of establishment, you would realize that actually 32 countries have signed but we have only 4 that have actually ratified it.

“You know ratification is the part that the Members of Parliament would have to do before it becomes effective. So, I think the Members of PAP have a crucial role to play, especially when we are talking about the AFCTA where we need to have people who are free to move from one country to the other and where they can also have the right to reside,” he indicated.

The Caucus Chair made the call on the APPN-PAP Virtual Media Brief platform where members of the African Parliamentary Press Network (APPN) engaged him in a discussion on some of the activities in the ongoing PAP session.

Hon. Alhagie Mbow emphasized the need to also ensure safe movement and not only a free movement of people from one African country to the other. Because according to him, “If you look at the migration pattern that is ongoing on the continent, particularly in Western Sahara and West Africa itself, we are seeing something which is really undesirable.”

Another area that he indicated needed to be worked on is silencing the guns. “Last year and the year before, you’ve seen some things coming up in Western Africa dealing with coup D’états which is something we don’t want to see on the continent. And again, we see what is happening in Eastern Africa in Sudan. Those things are things that are not desirable on the continent at this point in time.”

“I think we are trying to turn the corner where we can work together as Africans, where we create our own market, where we move products and services from one country to the other, where we trade among ourselves which we think is for the betterment of the African population,” he indicated in the media briefing.

The PAP Virtual Media Brief which is streamed live to the world on the internet, is an initiative of the APPN Secretariat hosted in Accra, Ghana by the Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica).

The objective of the Daily Virtual Briefing exercise is to: Bring the larger membership of the APPN up to speed on the various subject matter areas of the ongoing Session of the Continental Parliament to facilitate accurate reportage; Provide a platform for the officials of PAP to give first-hand information to the Parliamentary journalist across the continent and the general public about their work at PAP, and clarify thorny issues that may have arisen during plenary discussions; and Create a rapport and a working relationship between the actors at the Continental Parliament and the Parliamentary journalist under the umbrella of the APPN to deepen their publicity agenda towards the Pan African Parliament.

The APPN is a network of Parliamentary journalists and Communication Officers from the various Parliaments and National Assemblies across the continent who are dedicated to leading advocacy and the dissemination of Parliamentary information to the ordinary people on the continent and beyond. The network currently has a presence in 28 African countries.

By Clement Akoloh