Vipya Harawa endorsed as new Clerk for the Pan-African Parliament

Malawi’s legal practitioner, Vipya Harawa, was on Monday endorsed as the new Clerk of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP).

Also endorsed was First Deputy Secretary General of Chad’s Parliament, Gali Massa Harou as Deputy Clerk (Legislative Business and Conferences) of the same body.

Harawa and Harou were endorsed during the plenary sitting of the continental parliament that was held at PAP Headquarters in Midrand, South Africa. The two candidates have been endorsed to take up the two senior positions that have been vacant for close to a year.

The endorsement of the two candidates followed a report presented before the plenary presented by PAP’s First Vice President, Honourable Eduardo Joaquim Mulembwe of Mozambique.

Honourable Mulembwe informed the House that presentation for endorsement of the two candidates by the plenary was in accordance with Rule 17, Sub-Rule (f) of the Rules of Procedure of the Pan-African Parliament that were adopted in September 2004 and amended in October, 2010.

He said PAP went through a recruitment process of the Clerk and Deputy Clerk of PAP following the resignation of the previous holders of the positions in 2016.

“We initially advertised for these vacant positions in February 2016 but the process could not proceed as it was declared null and void and PAP had to re-advertise between between November and December 2016,” Honourable Mulembwe said.

The PAP First-Vice President said the PAP Bureau appointed the Second and Third Vice Presidents, to oversee the shortlisting and interview process of the candidates that applied for the two positions adding that the Parliament also recruited an independent consultant that was mandated to ensure that all recruitment procedures were adhered to.

“An interview panel comprising of PAP senior officials and other top officials from the Southern African Development Bank and Deloitte was set up and it conducted the interviews between January and February, 2017,” Honourable Mulembwe said.

He said the PAP Bureau then met on March 2 and March 3, 2017 and considered the recommendations of the interview report and endorsed Malawi’s Harawa for the position of Clerk and Chad’s Harou for Deputy Clerk position.

The PAP is currently holding its Annual Committee Sittings of the 4th Parliament, which started on March 2, 2017 and will run up to March 11, 2017.