The 54th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region Conference closed in Banjul on Friday with the election of a new Chairperson of the Executive Committee and the adoption of bold resolutions to advance democratic governance, economic resilience and climate action across Africa.
At the Annual General Meeting, Rt. Hon. Fabakary Tombong Jatta, Speaker of the National Assembly of The Gambia, succeeded Rt. Hon. Catherine Gotani Hara, Speaker of the Parliament of Malawi, as Chairperson of the CPA Africa Executive Committee.
Accepting his new role, Speaker Jatta pledged to serve with “unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment to our collective goals”, urging delegates to sustain the spirit of collaboration and shared purpose fostered in Banjul.
Outgoing Chairperson Hara reflected on her three-year tenure, highlighting the successful “Women in Leadership” initiative, which achieved 30% female representation at CPA conferences in line with constitutional reforms.
The Banjul conference also adopted a comprehensive set of resolutions targeting key challenges, including stronger asset-disclosure laws and procurement reforms, local-content mandates and removal of intra-African trade barriers, sovereign green bonds and “polluter pays” enforcement, legislative quotas and universal accessibility standards, universal health coverage legislation and retention of medical professionals, and codes of practice and capacity building for parliaments.
Delegates endorsed Hon. Nontembeko Nothemba Boyce of South Africa as Africa’s sole candidate for Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) International Chairperson, committing to a continent-wide lobbying effort ahead of the global vote.
Resolutions from the Banjul meeting will be presented at the 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Bridgetown, Barbados, this October.
