AU governance Body APRM gets new CEO
By Special Correspondent, Addis Ababa – The Summit of Heads of State and Government participating in the African Union governance assessment Mechanism, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has announce its new CEO as the Programme grappling with challenges on improving governance in the Continent.
Announcing the appointment, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa who chaired the meeting named the new APRM Continental office boss to be Professor. Adebeyo Olukoshi who until recently was Director of the UN African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP).
A press statement from the APRM Communications office here described the new boss as “a Professor of International Economic Relations. Until March 2009, he was Executive Secretary of the Council for Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).”
Tanzania is among the African countries participating in the Mechanism which is fondly known as the jewel of Africa in fostering good governance, peer learning and adoption of policies and standards that aim to relief the Continent with prolonged conflicts, political instabilities and democratization challenges among some of its members.
The Summit also witnessed the nomination and acceptance by Kenya as the new Vice Chair of the APR Forum, a panel of experts advising APRM Presidents and announced the appointment of two new Panel Members, Honorable Brigitte Mabandla (South Africa) and Chief (Mrs) Chinyere E. Asika (Nigeria.)
The incoming Panel Members replace Miss. Baleka Mbete, the current Speaker of the South African National Assembly and Ambassador Professor Okon Edet Uya who passed away in April 2014.
“President Zuma conveyed his gratitude for the resilience of the Secretariat staff during a difficult period of transformation and is optimistic about how they will build on a foundation of innovation to succeed in the future,” said the statement.
The statement further said President Zuma congratulated and welcomed the newly elected officials and expressed confidence in their abilities to take the APRM to greater heights, considering their antecedents.
In another development the meeting announced that Republic of Cote d’Ivoire has acceded to the APRM on 29 January 2015. Cote d’Ivoire is the 35th African Country to accede to the APRM. Representing Chairperson of the APR Forum and President of Liberia, South African President H.E Jacob Zuma asked his colleagues join him in welcoming and congratulating Cote d’Ivoire for taking this commendable step of joining the APRM.
The APR Forum meeting was held on the margins of the 24th Summit of the African Union which was themed “2015 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063”.
The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an initiative of the African Union, was established in March 2003 by the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). It is an instrument for self-monitoring and good governance for Member States.
Currently the APRM has thirty-four (35) member states that have voluntarily acceded. Of these countries seventeen (17) including Tanzania have completed their self-assessment exercise and have been peer-reviewed by the Forum of Heads of State and Governments.
