The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, having lasting for the first five years. Initially the seat of the Pan-African Parliament was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but was later moved to Midrand, South Africa. The goal in establishing the parliament was creating a space where people from all states of Africa could meet, deliberate, and pass some policy on issues that affect the entire continent of Africa.

The Parliament is composed of a maximum of five members per member state that have ratified the Protocol establishing it, including at least one woman per Member State. These members are selected by their member state and their domestic legislatures. The overall goal for the parliament is to be an institution that has full legislative power whose members are elected through universal suffrage, as stated by South African President Jacob Zuma in his opening speech to the first ordinary session of the second legislature of the Pan-African Parliament on October 28, 2009.

The Pan-African Parliament is composed of three sections. The Plenary is the main legislative and deliberation section of the Parliament, where representatives meet regularly to discuss issues in Africa and potential solutions. The Bureau is the leadership section of the Parliament, made up of a president and four vice presidents, all of whom are elected by delegates in the Plenary. The final section of the Parliament is the Secretariat, which is the organizational body of the Parliament and is chaired by a Clerk, Deputy Clerk, and an Acting Deputy Clerk. Together, these structures maintain and carry out the goals and protocol set out to govern the Parliament.

At the Parliament's 2022 elections, Chief Fortune Charumbira from Zimbabwe was elected as the new President, and Massouda Mohamed Laghdaf from Mauritania, Ashebiri Gayo from Ethiopia, Lúcia Maria Mendes Gonçalves dos Passos from Cape Verde, and Francois Ango Ndoutoume from Gabon were elected as Vice Presidents.

Structure The Parliament is made up of three main bodies: the plenary, bureau, and secretariat. There are also Ten Permanent Committees and one ad hoc one, whose mandates and functions are set out in the PAP Rules of Procedure.

Plenary The Plenary is the main decision-making body of the Parliament. The Plenary consists of the delegates from the member states, and is chaired by the President. It is the body which passes resolutions.

The Pan-African Parliament has 235 representatives that are elected by the legislatures of 47 of the 55 AU states, rather than being directly elected in their own capacity. Each member state sends a delegation of five parliamentarians to the Parliament, at least one of whom must be a woman. The composition of the delegation should reflect the political diversity of the member state's legislature.

Bureau

The Bureau is the leadership group of the Parliament and consists of the President and four vice-presidents. Each member of the Bureau represents a different region of Africa. The current members of the Bureau are:

President - Hon. Chief Fortune Zephania Charumbira from Zimbabwe First Vice President - Hon. Prof Massouda Mohamed Laghdaf from Mauritania Second Vice President – Hon. Dr Ashebiri Gayo from Ethiopia Third Vice President – Hon. Lucia Dos Passos from Cape Verde Fourth Vice President – Hon. Djidda Mamar Mahamat from Chad

Secretariat

The Secretariat assists in the day-to-day running of the Parliament, undertaking duties such as minuting meetings, organizing elections and managing staff. The Secretariat consists of the Clerk of Parliament and two Deputy Clerks – one of whom leads the Legislative Business Department, the other the Finance, Administration, and Human Resources. The Clerk of Parliament and their deputies are also supported by other staff and functionaries when needed.

History

The Abuja Treaty of 1991 and Sirte Declaration of 1999 called for the creation of a PAP. The former had simply listed the PAP among the organization's bodies and stated, "In order to ensure that the peoples of Africa are fully involved in the economic development and integration of the Continent, there shall be established a Pan-African Parliament. The composition, functions, powers and organisation of the Pan-African Parliament shall be defined in a Protocol providing thereof." The Treaty on the Establishment of the African Union and a Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community relating to the Pan-African Parliament followed. Then there was the Constitutive Act of the African Union. The Protocol Establishing the Pan African Parliament was adopted in 2000 during the OAU Summit in Lomé, Togo. As of 2022, the PAP has representatives hailing from 47 of the 55 AU member states. Article 22 of the PAP protocol provides for the Protocol to enter into force after deposit of the instruments of ratification by a simple majority of the member states.

The power of the Pan-African Parliament increased significantly following the 2017 AU-EU summit. Prior to 2017, the Parliament only had advisory and consultative purposes. The changes outlined and passed in 2017 effectively made the Parliament the legislative body of the African Union. These changes primarily allowed the Parliament to draft more model laws for African countries as well as altered how elections within the Parliament functioned. Prior to 2017, each member state selected 5 individuals to represent them in the Parliament. Now, the delegates from each member state are elected by their national legislature in elections that occur in the same month for all member states across all of Africa.

Objectives

Implement the policies and objectives of the African Union. Cultivate human rights and democracy in Africa. Make sure Member States adhere to good governance, transparency and accountability. Let the peoples of Africa know what the objectives and policies of the African Union are so that they might be able to integrate themselves continentally while still working within the framework of the AU. Engender peace, security and stability on the Continent. Promote self-reliance and economic recovery so as to lead to a more prosperous future for the peoples of Africa. Engender cooperation and development in Africa. Strengthen a sense of solidarity and build common destiny among the peoples of Africa. Create cooperation among Regional Economic Communities and their Members in Parliament.

Powers

Examine, discuss or express an opinion on any matter, either on its own initiative or at the request of the Assembly or other policy organs and make any recommendations it may deem fit relating to, inter alia, matters pertaining to respect of human rights, the consolidation of democratic institutions and the culture of democracy, as well as the promotion good governance and the rule of law. Discuss its budget and the budget of the Community and make recommendations thereon prior to its approval by the Assembly of the African Union. Work towards the harmonisation or co-ordination of the laws of the Member States. Make recommendations aimed at contributing to the attainment of the objectives of the OAU/AEC and draw attention to the challenges facing the integration process in Africa as well as the strategies for dealing with them. Request officials of the OAU/AEC to attend its sessions, produce documents or assist in the discharge of its duties. Promote the programmes and objectives of the OAU/AEC, in the constituencies of the Member States. Promote the co-ordination and Harmonization of policies, measures, programmes and activities of the Regional Economic Communities and the parliamentary fora of Africa. Adopt its Rules of Procedure, elect its own President and propose to the Council and the Assembly the size and nature of the support staff of the Pan-African Parliament. Perform such other functions as it deems appropriate to achieve the objectives set out in Article 3 of the Protocol.

Between 2006 and 2019, the Parliament carried out fact-finding missions on peace, security and conflicts in the areas of the Great Lakes, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur in the Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Mali, Libya, South Sudan, Burundi and Niger.

Challenges

Elections

General Elections While the goal of the Pan-African Parliament is to hold free and fair elections, there are many factors that limit elections from meeting these qualifications. Delegates are elected by their respective member states, and malpractice in elections such as intimidation of the electorate and the rigging of the election results are not uncommon in Africa. In some Member States this takes the form of Electoral Commissions colluding with political leaders and publish inauthentic results. There is only so much that the Pan-African Parliament can do to ensure that elections are being conducted in a manner that creates a truly democratic environment in the Parliament, and thus they are limited by their member states in accomplishing this goal.

2021 Bureau Elections When Roger Nkodo Dang's latest three-year term ended in May 2021, the Pan-African Parliament met to elect a new president and vice-presidents. The meeting proved to be unfruitful as the constituencies from western and central Africa did not come to a consensus on who would lead the Bureau. There were even physical altercations between lawmakers and members of the parliament, with some people even grabbing the ballot box itself. As such, the meeting adjourned with an unclear understanding of who would head the Pan-African Parliament in the future. The African Union stepped in during November 2021 to help provide aid to the Pan-African Parliament to complete their elections and return the parliament back to order.  Bouras Djamel served as tentative leader of the parliament.

2022 Bureau Elections Fortune Charumbira was elected President of the Pan-African Parliament on 29 June 2022 during the Parliament's Ordinary Session in Midrand, South Africa.

2026 Bureau Elections At the Extraordinary Session of the Seventh Legislature, held from 28 to 30 April 2026 at its headquarters in Midrand, South Africa, a new Bureau was elected to lead the institution for the next three years. The Hon. Fateh Boutbig, Algeria, was elected as president.

Language There is a fairly significant issue of language in the Pan-African Parliament. Arabic, English, French and Portuguese are the four working languages currently in the Parliament. However, there is some desire for indigenous languages to be accommodated as working languages. The argument behind this is that three of the four listed above (excluding Arabic) are a reminder of the colonial roots and old order in Africa. This problem is further emphasized by the representation within the Parliament, as all countries regardless of population are represented by the same number of delegates.

Bureaucratic