Commonwealth lawmakers seek to break 'charity' chains
President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Africa Region (ACP - AR) Anne Makinda greets Ghana delegate, Mary Salifu Boforo, before a meeting of the technical committee of the association in Arusha yesterday. PHOTO| BUNGE
What you need to know:
CPA International has been registered as a charitable organisation under Charities Act of the UK, prompting the Africa region to argue that the status was inappropriate and reflective of 'colonial' dependency.
Arusha. Delegates of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association – Africa Region (ACP - AR), are up in arms over the contradiction surrounding the status of the association.
The CPA International has been registered as a charitable organisation under Charities Act of the United Kingdom, prompting the Africa region to argue that the status was inappropriate.
“We want to move it out of being a charity organisation as was suggested by the colonialists at that time,” Mr Elijah Okupa, a regional delegate from Uganda said in an interview.
“Basically I expect that we will redefine our position as Africans as we prepare for the international conference in Cameroon on the issue of status.”
“It has been an issue for a long time now and we want to see it behind us,” Brigadier General (Rtd) Moeng Pheto, a delegate from Central Africa also said in an interview.
Legal implications of the ‘lopsided’ status, according to them, include compelling many branches to pay subscriptions into a foreign registered charity.
At the weekend, the CPA regional representatives vowed in a plenary held in camera here to table a motion during the forthcoming 45th CPA International Conference slated for October 2 – 12, this year, in Cameroon, in a bid to improve the status.
Representatives from East, West, Central and Southern Africa said they were currently preparing for the Cameroon conference.
