The President of the Pan African Parliament, H.E Bethel Amadi has appealed to the global community to come to the rescue of West African countries devastated by the Ebola virus.
Speaking at the opening of the Fifth Ordinary Session of the Third Pan African Parliament, H.E Amadi said the global community must assist African countries in order to prevent the Ebola outbreak, which “has become the latest strain to the social-economic development of Africa, from turning into a global disaster.”
“On behalf of the Pan African Parliament, I call upon all people of good will to join forces with us and stand in solidarity with Africa to fight this common enemy that knows no boundaries,” H.E. Amadi stressed.
The Ebola virus has devastated Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone leading to the death of about half of the over 8,000 cases reported. Cases of Ebola have also been reported in Nigeria and the Congo. Several countries have instituted measures, especially at points of entry, to prevent infected travelers from entering their territories. At the Pan African Parliament headquarters in Midrand, hand sanitisers have been installed at various strategic points, with notices advising everyone to regularly use them.
“We cannot stand by and watch as it degenerates into a global disaster,” he said, adding that “The institutional capacity in the affected countries cannot contain the spread of the disease.”
Uganda’s delegation to the Pan African Parliament includes Hon. Onyango Kakoba (NRM, Buikwe North), Hon. Beatrice Barumba Rusaniya (NRM, Kiruhura district), Hon. Jacquline Amongin (NRM, Ngora district), Hon. Elijah Okupa (FDC, Kasilo) and Hon. Sam Amooti Otada (Ind., Kibanda).
The Opening Ceremony of the Fifth Ordinary Session was addressed by Mali President H.E Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, himself a former member of the Pan African Parliament.
PAP was established in March 2004, by the Constitutive Act of the African Union with a vision to provide a common platform for African peoples and their grass-roots organizations to be more involved in decision making. It was established in order to ensure the full participation of African peoples in the development and economic integration of the continent.