The inaugural session of the 2nd Permanent General Assembly of ECOSOCC that commenced in Nairobi on 21 December 2014 elected Mr. Joseph Chilengi of the Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice of Zambia as its Presiding Officer. He was sworn in formally into office on 22nd December 2014 at a ceremony attended by Her Excellency, Ms. Amina Mohammed, the Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Kenya and H.E. Mr. Erastus Mwencha, the Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission. The pronouncement of his election brought all the delegates to their feet and was cheered with a deafening applause.

Mr. Chilengi thus assumes office with a strong popular mandate that he would need to promote the vision and purpose of his high office. He brings to the office a track record of credible civil society activism of long standing that puts him at ease with his foundations in the grassroots, familiarity with ECOSOCC operations as he was a prominent member of the 1st ECOSOCC General Assembly which he served as the Chairperson of the influential Political Affairs Cluster and deep knowledge of the African Union, governments and international organizations to which he was previously attached at various times in his working career.

The new Presiding Officer was the Chairperson of the African Continental Steering Committee of the Africa-EU partnership and Co-Chair of the Intercontinental CSO forum. He has served on several AU Electoral Observer Missions and was one of the architects of the African Governance Architecture on Democracy, Governance and the Human Rights Strategy for Africa. He has also served as a facilitator in the negotiation by Member States of the Union of the Kampala IDP Convention and the Great Lakes Peace Process.

In his inaugural address to the Assembly, Mr. Chilengi offered a democratic, collective decision-making process that would be people-oriented and people-driven. He also promised that the Bureau and Assembly that he is leading will hit the ground running. He outlined three immediate priorities of the Assembly as including a one-week orientation program for General Assembly Members to situate them appropriately in the demands of the African Union family, sensitization and mobilization of African grassroots support for AU program and activities including Agenda 2063 and the Post- 2015 development agenda and third and foremost, the effective operationalization of ECOSOCC Sectoral Cluster as a fulcrum for AU policy and decision-making processes.

He lauded the AU Commission, particularly, its Chairperson, Dr. Dlamini Nkosazana Zuma, for prioritizing ECOSOCC as a main concern and thus enabling the inauguration of the 2nd ECOSOCC Permanent General Assembly. He also thanked the ECOSOCC Secretariat in CIDO and its Director for the commitment, vigour and inspiration that made it happen under her leadership.

Finally, he promised that the ECOSOCC Assembly under his watch would not be developed as a Trade Union that is out to service the interest of its elected members. He declared “we came here to serve the continent and we shall do so honestly and diligently. Accordingly, I have been sincere and candid in my appraisal of tasks, challenges and even persons, activities and programs. In doing so, I have reflected the ethics of civil society where we say things as they are… Our promise to you is that we shall deliver on the promise of ECOSOCC in the time allocated for us to carry out our mandate. I and my colleagues ask for your sincere and collective support for this venture. I am certain that you will give us such support. Long live the African Union.”