Kampala — THE Speaker of Parliament, Edward Sekandi, has been elected as chairperson of the bureau of the Executive Committee of the African Parliamentary Union (APU).

Oyam north MP, Ben Wacha (Independent) and Bududa District Woman MP, Olive Wonekha (NRM) were also elected to the committee.

The elections were held at the end of the 31st APU Conference held at the Commonwealth Resort, Munyonyo on Sunday.

The executive committee is one of the three organs of APU and its chairperson must be a speaker of a national parliament, according to the Union Statutes and Rules.

The other two organs are the Conference of Speakers of National Parliaments and the General Secretariat.

Accepting the new role, Sekandi said one of the new team's responsibilities was to identify allies and make APU more vibrant.

Wonekha, is also to represent Uganda as rapporteur for the Committee of Women Parliamentarians.

"Parliaments of Africa have a fundamental role to play in making the lives of Africans better," the Prime Minister, Apolo Nsibambi, said at the closing.

He said the Government would study and adopt some of the conference resolutions.