Africa-Press – Uganda. Uganda’s Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa has been elected member of the bureau to represent East Africa to the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) – European Union General Assembly.
The Ruhinda North MP was elected during the 64th session of the OACPS Parliamentary Assembly and Constitutive Sessions of the OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assemblies happening in Luanda, Angola between February 17 and 21.
Mr Tayebwa will be representing Mauritius, Seychelles, Djibouti, Comoros, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
Key among others, Mr Tayebwa said he will focus on the implementation of the Samoa Agreement which has replaced the Cotonou Agreement that had been running for over 20 years.
“We shall be engaging strongly with the European Union coalition’s to deal with climate change, gender parity, energy transition, human rights, Peace and Conflict Resolution, and democracy which are cornerstones of the international framework,” he said.
He pledged to be a voice of the Global South, focusing on the unfair trade practices including unfair trade restrictions by the European Union.
“We shall engage the EU on energy issues and renewable energy. We must be able to exploit our resources without damaging the environment, but also Africa, which is contributing only 3% of global emissions cannot be the one paying the price and receiving the heaviest penalties, when it comes to energy transition,” he added.
“We are going to be five members from Africa that are going to be negotiating with the European Parliament on these issues, and I hope that if we can remain focused from a pan Africanist perspective, then we should be able to engage the European Parliament and achieve much more,” he added.
The OACPA-EU Assembly brings together an equal number of elected MPs from the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and Members of the European Parliament.
Opposition Chief in the Ugandan Parliament, John Baptist Nambeshe said Tayebwa’s election comes with huge opportunities for Uganda and the region.
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