Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has supported proposed reforms to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, a constituent organization of the Commonwealth to make its status aligned to the interests of the contributing countries.
At the Association’s Executive Committee meeting held in Mauritius, where Kadaga is representing Uganda, the Speaker said the reforms are long overdue and should be urgently implemented.
“At the moment, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is a charity of the United Kingdom and in case of dissolution, the proceeds which are contributed by member countries would go to charities in the United Kingdom,” said Kadaga.
Kadaga said representatives agreed to present the position to their heads of state to process decision making on the matter during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April 2018.
“We really want to change the status so that it is more aligned to the interests of the contributing countries. So we have agreed that the issue of the status will be considered and a decision taken,” she said.
Kadaga is representing Uganda in Mauritius, at the CPA’s executive committee meeting which, among others, is reviewing the commonwealth values and strengthening collaboration between Parliaments.
The CPA is a constituent organization of the Commonwealth, bringing together all Parliaments of 52 member countries.
The executive committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is the implementing arm of the Association, which is tasked with following up on decisions taken by the association.
The meeting is hosted by Mauritius Parliament Speaker Santi Bai Hanoomanjee.
Kadaga said the meeting also resolved to extend internship opportunities at the prestigious CPA Secretariat to reflect the diversity of all the five regions represented in the Association.
“We discussed the need for inclusion on the internship of CPA and we have resolved that they should come from all the five countries of the commonwealth because there is a tendency of having them locally drawn from the United Kingdom,” said Kadaga.
The Speaker assured the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association of Uganda’s readiness to host the youth forum in April.