The Second Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament has opened in Lome, the Capital city of Togo with Speaker, Rt. Honourable Mohammed Sidi Tunis expressed the readiness of Parliament to discuss the 2023 budget of the Community.
Speaker Tunis who gave the indication in his opening address said that the agenda of the Extraordinary Session was to consider and adopt in Plenary the Parliament Draft Budget for the 2023 financial year.
He expressed that in accordance with the Parliament Rules of Procedures, the Second Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament will examine the Draft Budget of the Community Parliament for the year 2023 which is of key importance to its operations.
“I would like to draw your attention to the importance and challenges of this exercise.
The annual budget enables the ECOWAS Parliament to function and finance its activities, given that our mission is to represent the people of West Africa; monitor sectoral activities, namely those of the bodies responsible for implementing the Community’s programs; and participate in the process of adopting community acts.
“The budget of the Parliament is, therefore, in a concrete way, the financial translation of our involvement and commitment in the development and integration process of our region. It provides the means for implementing our actions contained in the institution’s strategic plan” Tunis said.
Continuing, the Speaker added that the Parliament’s budget is a clear manifestation of its desire to modernize the Institution, by providing it with infrastructure and equipment designed to facilitate the holding of her meetings and ensure better recording and broadcasting of its deliberations which is in addition to the financing of capacity building programs for the Honourable Members of Parliament and the Administrative Staff, among others.
“For all these reasons, Honourable Members, I invite you to carefully examine the chapters and headings of the draft budget that will be submitted to you in order to ensure that the needs are taken into account.
“The examination of the draft would enable us, in a financial light, to understand the whole of Parliament’s policies and how it intends to achieve its objectives” Tunis Concluded.
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