AU meeting crucial - Levy

AU meeting crucial - Levy
By Bivan Saluseki
Sunday July 01, 2007 [04:00]

PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa yesterday said the African Union meeting in Ghana was crucial because it would be discussing the idea of forming the United States of Africa government. Before departure for Accra for the heads of states summit, President Mwanawasa said the AU would be discussing the issue of United States of Africa and he would want to listen before making a decision.

"We meet from time to time but this summit is crucial in that we are discussing a very critical issue, the United States of Africa government," he said.

"Now if you ask for my views, I am done. I am going there to listen to my colleagues and I will make my decision on the basis of what I feel is right."

Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi has been pushing for the United States of Africa, an idea first mooted by Kwame Nkurumah.
President Gaddafi on Monday condemned the working of the African Union and called for the creation of a "United States of Africa" at the forthcoming AU summit in Ghana.

"The OAU (Organisation of African Unity, forerunner of the AU) failed, the council of African ministers failed, the African Parliament is a rump parliament," he said.

But according to ministers who have been preparing for the AU summit in Accra, most African Union states do not want to rush into forming a continental government now, but favour gradual steps to build a stronger united Africa.

The AU foreign ministers were expected to recommend to their heads of states that they think first consolidating existing building blocks of integration, such as regional economic communities and AU structures like the Pan-African Parliament is what is needed.
President Mwanawasa is accompanied by finance minister Ng’andu Magande and other senior government officials.
The three-day summit is expected to run from tomorrow until Tuesday.