His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has joined his colleague leaders and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Anniversary is being celebrated through a series of meetings and events from 10 to 14 December 2023 with the theme ‘Accelerating and Deepening Governance Reform, Measures, and Intervention.’

The review mechanism is an institution of the African Union, AU, voluntarily acceded to by Member States.

Set up in 2003 by member states of the AU to voluntarily self-evaluate the performance of their governments, the incumbent chairperson of the African Peer Review Forum of Heads of State and Government, President Julius Maada Bio highlighted the key goals achieved by the APRM, citing the improvements made so far by participating member states in diverse sectors of governance.

Chief Executive Officer of the APRM’s Continental Secretariat, Professor Eddy Maloka, thanked President Bio for his commitment to the advancement of good governance on the continent.

He lauded him for championing the dialogue with colleague Heads of State on the report presented by the APRM on key findings around unconstitutional changes of governments in Africa. He added that the event was aimed at bringing on board all other African Union member states.

President Cyril Ramaphosa affirmed the essence of the APRM, stating that it would continue to play a transformative role in enhancing good governance on the continent.

He added that the voluntary peer review process would help governments align their key priorities and deliver on key good governance benchmarks. He emphasised the need for action on the key findings of the APRM report.

The gala was climaxed by the presentation of an award to His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio for his exemplary leadership as chairperson of the Forum of Heads of State and Government, recognising his commitment to highlighting the relevance of the African Union’s APRM in promoting good governance on the continent.