The Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu has charged members of the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States on the need to champion the promotion of transparency and accountability in the region.
Kalu said it was the responsibility of regional Parliament to carryout oversieght functions on the activities of Programme
implementing ECOWAS Institutions and Agencies and adopt appropriate Resolutions.
He gave the charge at the opening of the ongoing meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committee on Administration, Finance, Budget, Public Accounts, Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, on Monday, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
The meeting has as theme “the main theme: ‘‘The Role of the ECOWAS
Parliament in Community Budget Formulation and Monitoring’’.
He said: “As Representatives of the people of the region, we must
champion the promotion and practice of transparency and accountability.
“The Community Levy should be utilised to impact on every individual in
the society, especially those on the lowest strata.
“Thus, in line with our
Supplementary Act, Parliament is required to regularly carryout
oversight functions over the activities of Programme
implementing ECOWAS Institutions and Agencies and adopt appropriate Resolutions. “In other words, ‘oversight’ is an indispensable
parliamentary tool that should be effectively deployed to secure the
accountability of the Executive to the Parliament and the citizens in
general.”
The Deputy Speaker who is also a co-chair at the meeting stressed the importance of budgeting, saying that institutions like ECOWAS, budgeting is a key
skill for ensuring Community institutions have the resources to execute
programs, projects, and activities.
He also added, that Budgeting is not only important because it involves number-crunching, it
is crucial because it requires attention to details, and making informed
strategic decisions about fund allocation.
He said: “Subsequently, within the Parliament’s mandate and specifically under
Articles9 (1a) and 11 of the Supplementary Act A/SA.1/12/16 Relating to
the Enhancement of the Powers of the ECOWAS Parliament, Mandatory
Referral of the Community Budget and Parliament’s Opinion is required.
“Therefore, the objective of the Joint Committee meeting is to enable
Representatives to understand the ECOWAS Parliament’s role in the
Community Budget Formulation and Monitoring, and to equip Members
with the requisite knowledge and skills to ensure prudent management of
community resources.
“This can only be achieved through meaningful engagements with key
stakeholders, especially, the ECOWAS Commission and the Administration
and Finance Committee (AFC), which is a statutory technical
committee
under the supervision of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers.
“The Parliament has a critical duty to ensure that public resources
are utilised responsibly and for intended purposes, by the Executives.”
