The Pan African Parliament (PAP) wants other sources of income to ensure its independence and intends to establish a Trust Fund as an additional source of funding its activities.

Gertrude Mongella, the Tanzanian president of the PAP, says the body operated without a budget during its first year of existence last year. She was speaking at the opening of the third session of the PAP in Johannesburg, South Africa, on March 30.

While the AU is funding the Parliament - to the tune of about R30 million this year - a substantial amount of that money will be used to create 37 positions which the Parliament needs to drive its work. To make PAP independent, they will have to look into alternative sources of funding, Mongella says. 

The present session will focus, among other things, on how the African Parliamentarians will ensure that African leaders are held accountable and are leading from the front, when it comes to issues such as HIV/Aids, and good governance.

30 March 2005