Kadaga to host 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga. Photo/File

COMMONWEALTH

KAMPALA - The speaker of the parliament Rebecca Kadaga will host the 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) in Uganda from 22 to 29 September 2019. Kadaga who is also the president-designate (2018-2019) of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) will host the conference along the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Uganda branch.

According to a communiqué from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the annual event will bring together over 500 parliamentarians, parliamentary staff and decision makers from across the Commonwealth for the conference and networking opportunity.

The main conference theme for the 64th CPC is: ‘Adaptation, engagement, and evolution of Parliaments in a rapidly changing Commonwealth'.

"The conference offers the prospect of the coming together of the CPA's global membership to address the critical issues facing today's Parliaments," reads the communiqué.

Ahead of the 64th conference, the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Emilia Monjowa Lifaka, the deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Cameroon invited President Yoweri Museveni to become the Vice-Patron of the CPA during a planning visit to the Parliament of Uganda.

Since 1989, the Vice-Patron of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association has traditionally been the Head of State or Government of the CPA Branch hosting the coming annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference. Lifaka also met with Kadaga.

"With the ever-increasing focus on greater scrutiny of parliamentarians and the overall public trust deficit in parliaments, the CPA's annual conference offers the opportunity for members to benefit from professional development, supportive learning and the sharing of best practice with colleagues from Commonwealth parliaments together with the participation of leading international organisations," reads the communiqué.

During the 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, there will also be a number of additional conferences and meetings including 37th CPA Small Branches Conference; 6th triennial Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Conference; 64th CPA General Assembly; meetings of the CPA Executive Committee; and the Society of Clerks at the Table (SOCATT) meetings.

This year, the conference will hold elections for the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), the CPA Treasurer and the CPA Small Branches chairperson for new three-year terms. The conference programme will include conference plenaries and ten workshops for Parliamentarians, with some workshops focusing on gender, youth, and the CPA's Small Branches.

The following CPA Branches have hosted Commonwealth Parliamentary Conferences in recent years: 2017 Bangladesh; 2016 CPA Headquarters Secretariat in London, UK; 2014 Cameroon; 2013 South Africa; 2012 Sri Lanka; 2011 United Kingdom; 2010 Kenya; 2009 Tanzania; 2008 Malaysia; 2007 India.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), now in its 108th year, exists to develop, promote and support Parliamentarians and their staff to identify benchmarks of good governance and to implement the enduring values of the Commonwealth.