The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) member countries are rooting for the change of status of the organisation from a charitable body.
Members attending the 66th CPA Annual Conference in Accra, Ghana, want the process of changing the status of the body from charitable organisation to an International Inter-Parliamentary Institution.
The delegates have taken issue with the United Kingdom for buying their time in enacting the law that will facilitate the change of status of the body noting that they read a sinister move in the delay.
Speaking during the CPA caucus meeting, Kenyan National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula and his Sierra Leone counterpart Abbas Bundu emphasised that member countries cannot wait any longer for UK to come up with the law that legalise change of status of CPA.
"If the UK does not expedite the process of changing the status of CPA then we have no option but to move the headquarters and Secretariat to Africa," Wetang'ula said.
“Kenya is ready to host the CPA headquarters. I have talked to our President William Ruto on the matter and he has welcomed the move," he added.
On the other hand, Speaker Bundu said member countries should give UK a timeline up to April next year, to implement the change of the status of CPA.
"If by April next year the UK would not have heeded our word, then we should move the headquarters of the CPS to Africa," Bundu said.
The meeting was told that apart from Kenya, other countries namely; Ghana, Malaysia, Tanzania and Uganda were bidding for hosting the CPA headquarters if it were to be moved from the UK to Africa.
The caucus said they did not want the money paid as subscription by members to no longer go to the charity kitty that is why they were advocating for the change of the organisation’s status.
Deliberations at the meeting indicated that changing the status of the body, would enable them have a firm grip on the management of CPA activities.
The conference which brought together delegates from more than 60 member countries, was officially opened by Ghanian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday.
It provides an opportunity to meet parliamentary delegations from across the Commonwealth and to participate in plenary sessions and workshops on topics of Pan-Commonwealth interest.
The Kenya delegation is led by Wetang'ula.
Other members in the delegation include MPs Makali Mulu, Patrick Simiyu, Beatrice Adagala, Badi Twalib, Zaheer Jhanda, Ronald Karauri, Tim Wanyonyi and Beatrice Elachi.
