ECOWAS parliament: New speaker pledges to enhance ethical conducts

The newly elected Speaker of the Parliament of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Parliament), Memounatou Ibrahima, has pledged to reposition the body for greater recognition and admiration.
 
Ibrahima spoke after her swearing in as the Speaker of the regional parliament at the 2024 Second Extraordinary Session of the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament, which was held in Kano, North West Nigeria.
 
A Togolese, Ibrahima became the first female to be elected Speaker of the Parliament since its establishment in 2000. Before her appointment, she had served as the Third Deputy Speaker of the fifth legislature of the parliament.
 
The delay in electing a substantive speaker at the inauguration of the sixth legislature two months ago was occasioned by the zoning of the position to Togo, which was preparing for a general election.
 
Consequently, the first deputy Speaker, Nigeria’s Senator Barau Jubrin, became the Acting Speaker pending the arrival of the Togolese delegation to the regional parliament.
 
Recall that after Sierra Leone, the position of speaker was zoned to Togo pursuant to Article 24b of the Supplementary Act relating to the Enhancement of the Powers of the ECOWAS Parliament.
 
The article provides that the position of the speaker shall be allocated to member states by the authority in line with the established rotation system based on alphabetical order of states. 
 
Taking over the mantle of leadership, the new Speaker noted that for the parliament to get the respect it deserves, a code of ethics and good conduct needs to be initiated within the parliament.
 
“The first challenge is to continue to improve the image and functioning of our Parliament in order to make it a respected and admired institution.
 
“Indeed, we must succeed in inspiring respect, consideration and admiration through our individual and collective dedication, and through the quality and relevance of our work and resolutions.  
 
“With this in mind, we will be considering the possibility of putting together and implementing a code of ethics and good conduct within the Parliament because our people want to be proud of their parliament, whose members must demonstrate diligence, efficiency, objectivity and accountability,” she said.
 
Ibrahima also pledged commitment to strengthen relationships with national parliaments with a view to consolidating the basis for collaboration and fostering synergy in initiatives, actions and programmes.
 
“To achieve this, we intend to organise rotational activities, bringing together members of ECOWAS Parliament and those of national parliaments,” she added.
 On the functions of the Community Parliament, Ibrahima said her leadership would make concrete efforts at achieving results and giving priority to sessions dedicated to oral and written questions on major concerns of the populations.
 
“We will also place special emphasis on the effective fulfillment of our two-fold parliamentary mission – our right to propose amendments and to oversee the actions of Community institutions and agencies. In the same vein, the Sixth Legislature will strive, in accordance with the provisions of our Rule of Procedure, to be highly creative and will aim for concrete results by giving priority to sessions dedicated to oral and written questions on the major concerns of our populations,” she said.
 
The speaker said the Parliament would initiate programmes to enhance the skills of women and the youth, help in radicalisation of young people, reduce the number of victims of illegal immigration and make the parliament more visible and appreciated by the local population.
 
At international level, Ibrahima said the parliament’s activities would be intensified to enhance its reputation, accelerate regional integration and contribute to peace on the continent and in the world.
 
“I am delighted that significant progress has already been made in the area of inter-parliamentary cooperation. The participation of several heads of regional and international institutions and diplomatic representations at our sessions is evidence of this. This confirms our strong partnership and effective solidarity in the face of the many challenges facing the region and the world,” she noted.