- Self-appointed Acting President fires President
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) is currently in a leadership crisis following the clash between first Vice President and second Vice President.
This comes after second Vice President Dr. Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo of Ethiopia appointed himself Acting President of PAP in the absence of PAP President Fortune Charumbira.
Charumbira was in Zimbabwe, where he had gone to participate in the country’s national polls. Dr. Gayo went on to announce that Charumbira has been fired as PAP president for embezzling the Parliament funds.
First Vice President who is currently Acting President Lucia Dos Passos stated in a communique issued to African Parliaments’ Speakers that they are concerned at the circulating news that Charumbira has been fired from the Pan African Parliament on allegations of embezzling close to US$1.2 million.
“The conclusions come from a Memo written to the Clerk of Parliament, Lindiwe Khumalo, by the illegally appointed, Director of the Bureau, Emmanuel Afedor, instructing the Clerk to initiate preparations for the convening of the Third Ordinary Session of the 6th Parliament of the Pan African Parliament and declaring vacancies in the Bureau.
“The Pan African Parliament would like to put it on record that Chief Charumbira is still the President of the Pan African Parliament until the plenary, and only the Plenary, decides otherwise.
“A power hungry, self-appointed Acting President does not have the power nor the authority to dismiss anyone at PAP, let alone the President,” Passos said.
She said after being sworn-in in the Parliament of Zimbabwe on 7th September 2023, Charumbira is primed to return and assume his position as PAP President as a Returning Member of PAP and in line with the provisions of Rule 9(3) of the PAP Rules of Procedure. Therefore, there is no vacancy in the position of PAP President, she added.
Passos indicated that the allegations of embezzling US$1.2 million are nothing more than a malicious vendetta of vilification and character assassination driven by the shameless political ambitions of the second Vice President, Dr. Gayo, and his cohort.
The Acting President told the Speakers that there is no substance at all to the allegations.
In fact, she said Dr. Gayo and his team are frantically trying to ‘cook up’ evidence to back that claim and have been harassing staff in the PAP’s Finance Department to give them details of the missions that Charumbira has undertaken since the beginning of the 6th Parliament, as well as details of support staff hired during sessions in a desperate bid to find something that can stick.
She added; “If at all any charges of misconduct had been levelled against Charumbira, the PAP has adequate internal mechanisms to deal with such issues.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the removal of a PAP Member for misconduct is provided for under Article 8(2) of the PAP Rules of Procedure which specifies that the motion has to be decided by secret ballot and supported by a two-thirds majority of the Members present and voting.
“No such motion has been brought before the Plenary and, in fact, no such charges have been preferred against Charumbira because the whole charade is nothing more than an elaborate smear campaign fronted by shadowy social media activists sponsored by Dr Gayo and his cohort.”
Passos emphasised that Dr. Gayo is not the Acting President of the Pan African Parliament. She explained that the President of the Pan African Parliament is an elected official who enjoys the sacred trust of the PAP Members who voted for him.
“It is a matter of record that on his election on 29th June 2022, Charumbira received the affirmative vote of 163 out of the 191 Members present representing over 85 percent of the PAP Members.
“Therefore, only the appointing authority, in this case the Plenary Assembly, can dismiss the President. The appointment was premised on the fact that both the first Vice President and the second Vice President have duly acted before in the President’s absence and all Bureau Members have respected these appointments based on ranking and rotation.”
This comes after second Vice President Dr. Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo of Ethiopia appointed himself Acting President of PAP in the absence of PAP President Fortune Charumbira.
Charumbira was in Zimbabwe, where he had gone to participate in the country’s national polls. Dr. Gayo went on to announce that Charumbira has been fired as PAP president for embezzling the Parliament funds.
First Vice President who is currently Acting President Lucia Dos Passos stated in a communique issued to African Parliaments’ Speakers that they are concerned at the circulating news that Charumbira has been fired from the Pan African Parliament on allegations of embezzling close to US$1.2 million.
“The conclusions come from a Memo written to the Clerk of Parliament, Lindiwe Khumalo, by the illegally appointed, Director of the Bureau, Emmanuel Afedor, instructing the Clerk to initiate preparations for the convening of the Third Ordinary Session of the 6th Parliament of the Pan African Parliament and declaring vacancies in the Bureau.
“The Pan African Parliament would like to put it on record that Chief Charumbira is still the President of the Pan African Parliament until the plenary, and only the Plenary, decides otherwise.
“A power hungry, self-appointed Acting President does not have the power nor the authority to dismiss anyone at PAP, let alone the President,” Passos said.
She said after being sworn-in in the Parliament of Zimbabwe on 7th September 2023, Charumbira is primed to return and assume his position as PAP President as a Returning Member of PAP and in line with the provisions of Rule 9(3) of the PAP Rules of Procedure. Therefore, there is no vacancy in the position of PAP President, she added.
Passos indicated that the allegations of embezzling US$1.2 million are nothing more than a malicious vendetta of vilification and character assassination driven by the shameless political ambitions of the second Vice President, Dr. Gayo, and his cohort.
The Acting President told the Speakers that there is no substance at all to the allegations.
In fact, she said Dr. Gayo and his team are frantically trying to ‘cook up’ evidence to back that claim and have been harassing staff in the PAP’s Finance Department to give them details of the missions that Charumbira has undertaken since the beginning of the 6th Parliament, as well as details of support staff hired during sessions in a desperate bid to find something that can stick.
She added; “If at all any charges of misconduct had been levelled against Charumbira, the PAP has adequate internal mechanisms to deal with such issues.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the removal of a PAP Member for misconduct is provided for under Article 8(2) of the PAP Rules of Procedure which specifies that the motion has to be decided by secret ballot and supported by a two-thirds majority of the Members present and voting.
“No such motion has been brought before the Plenary and, in fact, no such charges have been preferred against Charumbira because the whole charade is nothing more than an elaborate smear campaign fronted by shadowy social media activists sponsored by Dr Gayo and his cohort.”
Passos emphasised that Dr. Gayo is not the Acting President of the Pan African Parliament. She explained that the President of the Pan African Parliament is an elected official who enjoys the sacred trust of the PAP Members who voted for him.
“It is a matter of record that on his election on 29th June 2022, Charumbira received the affirmative vote of 163 out of the 191 Members present representing over 85 percent of the PAP Members.
“Therefore, only the appointing authority, in this case the Plenary Assembly, can dismiss the President. The appointment was premised on the fact that both the first Vice President and the second Vice President have duly acted before in the President’s absence and all Bureau Members have respected these appointments based on ranking and rotation.”
