Janet samuel, Abuja
The newly elected speaker of the Parliament of Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Memounatou Ibrahima, has pledged to make the Community Parliament a respected and admired institution.
Ibrahima made the pledge in her speech after she was sworn in as the speaker of the regional parliament at the 2024 Second Extraordinary Session of the Sixth Legislature of ECOWAS Parliament in Kano, North West Nigeria.
She disclosed that for the parliament to be accorded its respect, it deserves a code of ethics, and good conduct needs to be initiated within the parliament.
According to her, “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.”
Ibrahima, who is the first female speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, also expressed her 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 organising rotational activities, bringing together Members of the ECOWAS Parliament and those of national parliaments,” Ibrahima explained.
On the parliamentary functions of the Community Parliament, Ibrahima said the regional parliament under her leadership will aim at concrete 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 fulfilment of our twofold parliamentary mission, namely 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.”
The speaker said the Parliament will initiate programmes to enhance the skills of women and the youth, help combat the radicalisation of young people, reduce the number of victims of illegal immigration, and make Parliament more visible and appreciated by the local population.
At the international level, Ibrahima said the Parliament’s activities will be pursued and intensified to enhance its reputation, accelerate regional integration, and contribute to peace on the continent and in the world.
She said: “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.
Ibrahima, from Togo, was elected the speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, in accordance with the provision of the alphabetical rotational speakership of the regional legislative body as stipulated by the Supplementary Act on Enhancement of Powers of the Community Parliament.
Her predecessor was Sidie Mohamed Tunis from Sierra Leone.
