Accra, Aug. 29, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Friday called on the Africa Union (AU) to adequately resource the Pan-African Parliament and accord it with the requisite powers to boost its status as a fully fledged legislative body to grapple with the challenges facing the Continent.

Receiving Mr Bethel Amadi, First Vice President of the Pan-African Parliament, at the Osu Castle, Mr Mahama expressed the need for the AU to support the legislative body to deliver its mandate. Mr. Amadi is on a West African tour to drum up support for the Pan African Parliament.

He is expected to meet with members of the West African caucus of the legislative body on the need of the AU to grant it more powers. Vice President Mahama said the quest to seek more influence and authority for the Parliament was in the right direction, because the process could help to galvanize forces in resolving the continent's wide issues in a uniform manner, rather than allowing individual African countries to deal with them.

He said issues on climate change for instance required a continental response, hence the need to allow the Parliament to have more sphere of influence to deal with the matter. Delving into the history of the body of which he was once a member, the Vice President said the AU was expected to review the mandate of the Pan- African Parliament after five years of its operation in order to grant it more autonomy.

Mr Amadi enlisted the support of the Vice President in the quest to make the Parliament financially sound.