Vice President, Dr Philip Mpango officially opens the CPA Conference, on Thursday, October 3, 2024 with the gathering set to be attended by nearly 300 participants here.

The Assistant Regional Secretary of CPA Africa, Eliufoo Daniel Ukhotya said the Arusha Conference comes with three events involving the Association organs, including the Africa Regional Conference workshops, CPA Africa Region Executive Committee meetings and the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Africa Regional Conference.

“It should be noted that Tanzania previously hosted another CPA Regional Conference which took place in Zanzibar, in 2019,” said Ukhotya while addressing the media at the Gran Melia Hotel in Arusha.

The 53rd CPA Africa Regional Conference brings to Arusha delegates from 14 out of the 19 CPA member parliaments, 10 speakers of National Assemblies and 3 Deputy Speakers.

In total, the African CPA Regional Conference has attracted more than 280 participants. President Samia Suluhu Hassan was initially supposed to officially open the event but will now be represented by the Vice President.

Since the year 2003, Tanzania has been hosting the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s Africa Regional Secretariat at the National Assembly premises in Dodoma. Previously the CPA was headquartered in Zimbabwe before the country was thrown out of the fold.

Founded in 1911 the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) is one of the oldest established Commonwealth organisations.

In Africa it consists of 19 National Assemblies and 46 Provincial or County Parliaments.

The CPA is an officially Accredited and Associated Commonwealth organisation.

While in the past the association covered mostly National Assemblies of Anglophonic countries, today Rwanda, a Francophone and Mozambique which was ruled by the Portuguese have joined the CPA as members.

The Commonwealth is supported by a network of more than 70 such accredited organisations and nine Associated Organisations all working in specialist areas from education to urban planning.

As an Associated organisation, the CPA is formally recognised as a part of the Commonwealth family and is therefore committed to the values and principles of the Commonwealth, as written in the Commonwealth Charter.