Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Elects New President and Vice Presidents

JOHANNESBURG, South-Africa, May 29, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) today elected a new President. He is Hon. Bethel Nnaemeka AMADI, MP from Nigeria, former First Vice President to Hon. Dr. Moussa Idriss Ndélé, the outgoing President. Hon. Amadi was the only candidate for the position after Hon. Hon. Béchir Chammam from Tunisia withdrew.

In his farewell speech, the outgoing President, Hon. Ndélé congratulated Hon. Amadi on his election and praised him for his hard work and dedication, further assuring the House that he had no doubt in his ability with the experience gained while he was Vice President.

Hon. Ndélé then called upon the President-elect to take the oath of office, after which he handed over the Presidency by the symbolic act of presenting him with the flag of the PAP.

In his acceptance speech, Hon. Amadi paid tribute to the outgoing President, Hon. Idriss Ndélé, MP from Chad, for his proficient leadership during the past three years praising him for “leading by example”. He also paid tribute to the first President of the PAP, Gertrude Mongella, from Tanzania, for putting a solid foundation for the PAP.

Hon. Amadi said that he did not believe in the colonial divide of linguistic groups in Africa, adding that he will speak “only one language, that of Pan-Africanism”.

Four Vice-Presidents were also elected today. They are:

 Hon. Roger Nkodo Dang, MP, First Vice-President, from Cameroun representing the Central African Region.

 Hon. Moustafa El Gendy, MP, Second Vice-President, from Egypt, representing the Northern African Region

 Hon. Loide L. Kasingo, MP, Third Vice-President, from Namibia, representing the Southern African Region.

 Hon. Juliana Kantengwa, MP, Fourth Vice-President, from Rwanda, representing the Eastern African Region

Together, the five Hon. Members will form the Bureau of the PAP, during its Third Parliament, which will extend for a period of three years.