Young South Africans in the current generation should be reminded about the contributions many African countries made towards their liberation, the newly elected Vice President of the Pan-African Parliament, Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has said.

She said the Pan-African Parliament has a duty to remind the younger generation of South Africans of the diverse contributions Ghana and other African countries made towards the liberation of people.

She said such a reminder was necessary to remind that generation that might have forgotten the important principles that “bind us together as people of this continent."

“Ghana, as well as many other countries on the continent, took part in the solidarity struggle towards the final liberation of the people of South Africa,” she said. 

Speaking on her arrival in Accra, after being elected as vice president of the Pan-African Parliament, Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings said, “Perhaps we are not telling the story enough to the younger generation, and they need to be reminded about the sacrifices that were made, financially and educationally, in terms of citizenship and asylum, in terms of passports and logistics that were provided to people who then subsequently were part of the liberation struggle."

Dr Agyeman-Rawlings, who was elected the Second Vice-President of the Pan-African Parliament on April 30 at the just-ended session of the continental body in Midrand, South Africa.

She was received at the airport by the leadership of Parliament, led by the Clerk to Parliament, Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror. 

Others were the Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor; the First Deputy Majority Whip, Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe, who is also the president of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament; as well as other senior management members of Parliament.

Attacks unfortunate 

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings said, indeed, the issue of the xenophobic attacks in South Africa was very unfortunate.

As a result, she said concerns had been raised about the attacks because Ghana and other African countries supported the liberation of the people of South Africa.

“So indeed, yes, it is a topic that we intend to raise as part of the calendar for the Pan-African Parliament,” she said.

‘A huge honour’

Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings said she believed that it was only the second time in the last two decades that Ghana had held a position in the top hierarchy of the Pan-African Parliament.

She, therefore, described her election as “a huge honour” as it was indeed the first time that a woman had held that position. 

She said her election was a landslide victory in an election that was hotly contested, saying that it was refreshing to know that it was not an election that was done on the basis of tokenism, but an election that required the involvement of all the members from across the five various regions of the continent. 

She said it was a real honour and a very humbling experience and thanked God for the opportunity to serve.

“Indeed, there is so much work to do, and I believe that at a time like this, when we have so much conflict and so many reversals in democracy, parliamentary democracy has never been more important.

“And as I pledged when I was campaigning and when I won, it's to serve the people of the sub-region, of Ghana, and of the continent to make sure that the aspirations of the people of this continent to achieve the vision of Pan-Africanism happen and we leave a legacy worth speaking of,” he said. 

‘Your election was a wonderful news’

Mr. Djietror touted Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings' election as “wonderful news, as you have flown the Ghana flag very, very high."

“The women of Ghana are very proud of your achievement,” he said.

For his part, Mr. Dafeamekpor, the government, colleague MPs, and Ghanaians in general were very happy to welcome her home.

“We are particularly gratified that the issues of women were central to your campaign, and it was as a result that you were overwhelmingly elected,” he said.