By Benjamin Jumbe.
The Pan African Parliament has appealed to Ugandan legislators to push government to sign and ratify the Malabo Protocol that would give the continental institution full legislative powers.
The African Union Heads of State Summit sitting in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in 2014 approved an amendment to the Protocol that establishes the Pan African Parliament, which now requires ratification by at least 28 member states for it to come into effect.
The appeal was made during a meeting between the Clerk to the Pan African Parliament, Yusupha Jobe and the Head of Committees and Research, Nassir Galal, and visiting members on the House committees on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Government Assurances at the Pan African Parliament in Midrand.
The Leader of the Ugandan delegation, Clement Ongalo Obote, said there was need to follow up the ratification of the protocol with the relevant government department, and that there was need to protect PAP serving members to retain their seats in Midrand following national elections.