The 49th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region Elective Conference marks an end of an era for Ms Lindiwe Maseko, one of the modern architects of this body. It marks an end of an illustrious tenure during which she showcased her leadership and diplomatic capabilities that earned her admiration in Africa and in other CPA Regions outside the continent.
Speaking to her as an outgoing Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the CPA Africa Region about her eminent departure from office, on the side lines of the Regional Representatives and Programme, Planning and Finance Committee meetings, afforded one a purview of good memories and emotional bruises stemming from her fight to assert CPA Africa Region’s voice and the African agenda within the greater CPA.
The institutional memory she incurred over the 22-year service in different capacities as the first woman to be the Chairperson of the CPA Africa Region, the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) internationally, positions she occupied twice in a row, and the first treasurer of the CPA Africa Region cannot be surpassed or be wished away. It is a testimony to the arc of her history in this association.
As her tenure winds down momentarily, one is compelled to have a closer look at her achievements in her 22-year career in the CPA. Most of all, she is content that she is leaving behind a united CPA Africa Region that has a clear vision for the future and that is well capacitated to carve its niche within the CPA. Using her words, she is leaving behind a case for hope. Epitomised by her successor, the Speaker of the Kenyan Parliament, Mr Justin Muturi.
This, in turn, is reciprocated by what she has to say about him. “Our hopes in the region are pinned on him because he is passionate about the CPA. But also he has the requisite experience. He was our representative in the expert workshop that looked at the modalities of changing the status of the CPA.”
Moreover, she said it is his interest in strengthening the stature of the Africa Region in the CPA that made him the best candidate to lead the CPA Africa Region in these very challenging times. And he will hopefully leave his mark at the end of his tenure.
Of tremendous importance in her tenure is that she is now leaving behind a united CPA African Region. That can be attributed to the fact that she turned out to be a very effective lobbyist within the region. “Last year in Bangladesh, she recalled, “we were able to convince our African counterparts that we were advocates and ambassadors of the African agenda. It did not matter who said what, as the African block, we should maintain that Ms Emilia Lifaka, the Deputy Speaker the National Assembly of Cameroon, was our candidate for the CPA chairpersonship. As a result of our united stance and lobby for our candidate, she won and became the first African woman to be the Chairperson of the CPA. That was a true demonstration of the power of a united collective.”
To her, this unity of purpose and vision for the region is the hallmark of the collective efforts of the region that characterise her tenure in the CPA.
Given her modesty, she gave an equally modest but yet insightful account of the legacy of her tenure in the region. Most of all, she is content that the chapters of the CPA Africa Region, such as the Society of Clerks-at-the-Table, Youth Parliament and CWP have matured over time and have become the pillars of this African body. “The Society of Clerks-at-the-Table,” she recalled with a sense of reassurance, “has strengthened, it is now able to give us good advice and counsel on very pertinent constitutional and lawful matters that are critical in advancing the competency and legality of the body. That should be commended.”
In her tenure, she initiated the CPA Africa Region’s Youth Parliament and, using her words, “it has done well to profile the role of the youth in the developmental trajectory of the region. The Youth Parliament’s resolutions that will be tabled in this conference will definitely chart a new path that will determine the role of African youth in our parliamentary democracy on the continent”.
Given her track record as a gender equality activist in her own right, the CWP has always been the chapter that was closest to her heart. She recalled that, during her time in office, “the CWP Africa Region became the strongest in advocating for gender parity compared to other nine regions of the CPA”.
But she was quick to admit that the gender agenda within the CPA Africa Region is not without its own setbacks. “We are still having problems in countries like Botswana and Swaziland which still have very low women representation. In West Africa, Nigeria is also lagging behind in this regard. We tried on several occasions to initiate strategies and interventions there, but they have not worked well.”
She, though, took solace from the fact that the CWP’s gender sensitisation workshops continue to advocate for the need to give women a chance to campaign and stand for elections. “There is a tendency to think that during election time everybody, including women, are free and have a right to campaign. We tend to forget that often women have no resources to do so on equal footing with men because of the long history of gender discrimination in our workplaces, that denied women a right to a pay equal to that of men, even if they are holding the same positions,” she said.
“Moreover,” she pointed out, “women are constrained by culture and religion to stand as political candidates because in other cultures, women are not allowed to stand and address men. These are some of the impediments that women are faced with.”
Never the one to shy away from entering into political battles that make for successful and sustainable policy directives for the region, the hallmark of her time in office will be characterised by her pursuit to change the status of the CPA from being a “charity’ to it being a legislative entity that exercises accountability over the executive. So that it can be a recognised international organisation that has a diplomatic status in international forums. “There is nothing,” she maintained, “charitable in the CPA. And we cannot spend taxpayers’ money paying fees to a charity. Instead, the CPA should take steps to obtain statutory recognition.”
The agitation for the change of CPA’s status dates back to 1966, but this process was stalled. And it has resurfaced again. For it to change its status, she pointed out, Article 37 (2) of the CPA Constitution that underpins its charity status would have to be deleted. In view of this, in 2012, Africa, through the Gauteng Branch, decided to assist the process by moving a motion to delete the article and pave the way for the change of the CPA status.
“The motion was introduced in 2013 at the 59th General Assembly in South Africa, but was deferred due to some African branches pleading for time to fathom it.”
Last year, the 63rd CPA Conference in Bangladesh took a resolution to change the CPA status. “These resolutions will have to be implemented because they are binding. Let there be a new CPA that reflects the true essence of its members and that holds high the true principles of equal partnership for the greater good of the association.”
As an African block, she emphasised, we took this view in consideration of the fact that the CPA should not necessarily be myopic, it must also recognise that we have the AU (African Union) and Africa Agenda 2063. “In whatever we do, we must see to it that we enrich this institution and its agenda, which is a blueprint of Africa’s future. We cannot lose sight of that.”
If you think the end of her tenure in the CPA will put years of sleepless nights, stress and time away from her family behind her, think again. She expressed her willingness to be a resource person to the region whenever needed. Given her wealth of experience and love for Africa, that is not unexpected of her.
By Abel Mputing
16 August 2018
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