FJC elected to high position

The speaker of the National Assembly, Hon Fatoumata Jahumpa-Ceesay, has been unanimously elected as the president of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region, at the recent 54th CPA Plenary Conference held in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, for 2008- 2010. 

Speaker Jahumpa-Ceesay’s candidature was proposed by the speaker of Zambia and seconded by the speaker of Lesotho. With no other opposing candidate, the Gambian speaker got elected with acclamation as the spokesperson of the biggest group in the 57-member CPA, thus, making her the 1st African woman speaker to hold such a position for over 40 years.

This position has always been held by male speakers from Africa in the CPAs 100 years of existence. Amongst her immediate assignments are to bring back the Zimbabwe Parliament to the CPA family; lead the campaign of the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) Presidency to be held in Geneva in October, 2008, at  the 119th IPU Conference, where Africa is putting up the speaker of Namibia as its candidate.

The CPA Executive Committee, which Hon Jahumpa-Ceesay is a member of by virtue of her role as the regional representative for Africa and the current president of the CPA Africa Region, held two committee meetings before the official opening to consider the activities and budget of the CPA Secretariat for 2009 and the Audited Accounts for 2008, among others.

Under her leadership for the Africa Region, Hon Fatoumata Jahumpa-Ceesay led the campaign team of the Malaysia Minister of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage, Datuk Seri Abdul Shafie Apdal who defeated Lord Paul of Marlebone, United Kingdom for the position of chairperson of the CPA.

The Kuala Lumpur conference which brought together over 800 parliamentarians, legislators, observers, clerks, secretaries-general/ secretaries of legislatures, invitees, spouses and accompanying persons from the Commonwealth of nations, included delegates representing regional and state branches.

Presently, the CPA branches exist in 169 national states, provincial and territorial parliaments, with a total membership of approximately 17,000 parliamentarians.

The main theme of the 54th CPA Plenary Conference was “Expanding the Role of Parliament in Global Society, Environment, Development and Security”.

The conference saw three plenaries and seven workshops, with Speaker Jahumpa-Ceesay moderating the seventh group on the theme: “Parliamentary and Civil Society Engagement for Better Policy Making”.

The Malaysian deputy prime minister, Hon Dato Sri Mohol Bajib Tun Razak, addressed the guests and delegates during the opening of the conference, on behalf of the prime minister of Malaysia.

The Gambian delegation also participated during the session and highlighted that parliamentary democracy in The Gambia is not only sustained but is expanding by the day as evident by the vibrant participation of members in the International Parliamentary Forum and increased manner of the National Assembly in pursuance of its parliamentary oversight function.

“This accordingly, was re-enforced by our open, popular, transparent and accountable system of governance to its citizenry through regular holding of free and fair elections that are second to none and The Gambia’s successful hosting of the 2006 AU Summit,” the delegation remarked.

In a press release sent to the Daily Observer, Hon Jahumpa-Ceesay thanked President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh for the trust and confidence bestowed on her by appointing her as the speaker. She also thanked the president for his unwavering support to the National Assembly and noted that her election to this high office is a credit to President Jammeh and a landmark achievement, which is very laudable because of his adopted policies of gender and women empowerment.

The speaker was accompanied to the conference by Hon Ousman Bah, Hon Ebrima Jammeh and the acting clerk of the National Assembly, Momodou A Sise.