Society

Yaounde braces up for remarkable Commonwealth African speakers confab.

Members of the technical secretariat hopeful of successful CSPOC confab

Cameroon is set to host a remarkable and first-ever conference of the Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding Officers, CSPOC.
The CSPOC, a body which brings together the Speakers and Presiding Officers of the national parliaments of the independent sovereign states of the Commonwealth, is aimed at maintaining, fostering, and encouraging impartiality and fairness on the part of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments.

It is also geared towards promoting knowledge and understanding of parliamentary democracy in its various forms and to develop parliamentary institutions.

Following the holding of the last CSPOC-Africa Region confab in Kigalli, Rwanda, Cameroon is gearing to host the august gathering from next Thursday July 13 to 22.

The 15th Conference to hold under the theme: “African Parliaments and

Agenda 2063”, has been placed under the patronage of President Paul Biya.

In a statement signed July 10, the Speaker of Cameroon’s National

Assembly, who doubles as 2023 CSPOC Chairperson, Rt Hon Cavaye Yeguie

Djibril, mentioned that the Speakers and Presiding Officers from some 21 countries will be in attendance.

The countries include Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Kingdom of Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.

While closing the June session of Parliament last Friday, the House Speaker urged the members of the Organising Committee, as well as all other parliamentarians of the country to work with dedication towards making the conference a success story.

To ensure a hitch-free conference that will last for over a week, the National

Assembly through a technical secretariat have been multiplying meetings to finalized preparation to ensure an eventful meeting especially for those to visit

Cameroon for their first time.

One of such meetings was staged on March 30th 2023. It was chaired by Hon

Mary Muyali Boya Epse Meboka.

She used the occasion to remind the members designated for the planning of the event, the importance for them to give in their all for the success of the conference.

It is worth noting that CSPOC, created in 1969, is an initiative of the then Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Hon Lucien Lamoureux.

The conference is said to be an independent group, with no formal affiliation with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Commonwealth Secretariat or the Commonwealth Heads of Government.

CSPOC operates on a two-year cycle, holding a conference of the full membership every two years, usually early in January, and a meeting of the Standing Committee at the same time the intervening year.

Since its inception, Canada has provided CSPOC with a secretariat to support its activities.