‘Give disabled a voice’

TELLING OFF: PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT TAKEN TO TASK ON REPRESENTATION

ANC chief whip takes aim at African ruling body for too few women in structures.

ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina has taken the fight for the women and disabled people to the highest level on the African continent – telling the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) to walk the talk and improve on its poor representation of people with disabilities, and of women, on its structures.

Majodina challenged the PAP to observe the provisions of article 4 (2) of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the PAP, which states that each state shall be represented by five members, with at least one of them being a woman.

She said the parliament must set aside a day of accountability to check on the progress made in the ratification of the AU protocol pertaining to human and rights of people with disabilities in the continent.

“I am deeply concerned that as Africans, we seem to be good in talking and crafting good laws and policies, but drag out feet in the implementation of those laws and policies.

“It is high time that we begin to walk the talk. We must ensure that our countries’ next delegations to the PAP include a person with a disability.”

Majodina highlighted that the PAP structures such as its bureaux had only one woman (out of the five), with the bureaux of committees, the leaders of country delegations and regional caucuses all dominated by men.

“Even within the PAP staff and officials from our national parliaments, there are no staff members