Zanzibar — ZANZIBAR President Hussein Mwinyi on Tuesday challenged African legal counsels to parliaments to spearhead operationalisation of parliamentary regulations in their respective countries.
"Having parliamentary regulations is one thing and implementing them is quite another thing; you are obliged to ensure regulations are put in practice in our parliaments," Dr Mwinyi told the sixth Africa Colloquium of Legal Counsel to Parliaments here.
He told the parliamentary lawyers to appreciate the fact that their customers--members of the legislative houses--have diverging political ideologies-but they all deserve good services.
"Observe integrity and professionalism; provide your services to all members of parliament irrespective of their political ideologies," President Mwinyi said, proposing sustainable plans to equip the association's members with the relevant skills.
He argued that only through effective engagement of the legal counsels, the African parliaments will enact superior laws for the wide interest of wananchi, "You have a critical role in enactment of laws in our parliaments--get rid of political inclinations."
The president hyped Zanzibar's tourism attractions, imploring delegates to the three-day conference to spare time and enjoy the country endowment. "Africa is blessed with massive tourism attractions, but we Africans rarely take time to see them; visit our attractions and be good ambassadors back to your countries," he said, while also marketing the country's tourism potential.
Besides opening the meeting, Dr Mwinyi launched the Africa Colloquium journal--the Colloquium of Legal Counsel to Parliament; website and presented the certificate of registration to the association President Mussa Kombo Bakar.
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Speaker of the House of Representatives Zubeir Ali Maulid reaffirmed the House of Reps' firm support to the association efforts and initiatives to uplift their services to parliaments.
He said legal counsels to parliaments play critical role in the effective work of parliaments. "Parliaments rely on your services to operate smoothly," Speaker Maulid said, proposing exchange visits among the legal counsels to share experience and working skills.
Delegates from parliaments in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Eswatini are attending the conference at a beach hotel in Unguja.
The regional legislative bodies--East African Legislative Assembly; Pan-African Parliament and Economic Community of West African States Parliament are also represented, according to the association's President.
The Africa Colloquium of Legal Counsel to Parliaments was established in 2012 as a forum through which legal counsel servicing in parliaments would meet, share their experiences and learn from each other with the aim of enhancing their role in delivery of sound, professional and independent legal advice to their respective parliaments.
