Maravi

AU opens, remembers Levy

AU opens, remembers Levy
Written by Aubrey Musuumba in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 9:01:35 AM

THE African Union (AU) opened its 12th session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia yesterday with a minute of silence for late president Levy Mwanawasa. And the AU resolved to transform the African Commission of the continental body into the Africa Union Authority.

The summit, which was attended by President Rupiah Banda, observed a minute of silence for late president Mwanawasa who suffered a stroke whilst attending AU summit in Egypt last year and was evacuated to France's Percy Military Hospital where he later died.

The summit also observed a minute of silence for late Guinea leader Lansana Conte. Officially opening the 12th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU under the theme 'Infrastructure Development in Africa', out-going chairperson Jakaya Kikwete, who is also Tanzanian President, said the AU had existing challenges although it had recorded success under his chairmanship.

President Kikwete said the African continent had also continued to witness the emergence of new crisis following the military coups that took place in Mauritania and Guinea.

He said these coups were contrary to the Constitutive Acts of the African Union, the protocol for the establishment of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the Lome Convention of 2000, that prohibited the undemocratic change of government.

President Kikwete said the AU was also saddened by developments in Madagascar where there were efforts to remove from power a democratically elected government.

However, President Kikwete said the AU had managed to help resolve conflicts in Kenya and the Comoros.

President Kikwete said there had also been encouraging developments in the Burundi peace process, following the efforts of the Great Lakes Region and the mediation efforts of South Africa.

He appealed to the international community to join the AU in assisting in the reconstruction of Burundi through the establishment of camps for the combatants, providing food assistance to the country and giving development assistance which was suspended while waiting for the implementation of the agreement.

On Zimbabwe, President Kikwete said Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders had continued with their efforts to enable both sides reach an agreement on sharing ministerial posts, a situation that had led to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreeing to join the government of national unity.

The summit also expressed sympathy to Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and the people of Kenya following a recent fuel tanker accident that claimed over 100 lives.

The AU also welcomed President Banda, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe and new Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed Said who attended the summit for the first time since assuming office.

And United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon observed that the AU was meeting at a critical period in Africa' s search for development and greater peace and security.

He said the UN welcomed the various regional initiatives in Africa that were potentially much more effective than preventive diplomacy launched from New York because such regional initiatives carried not only the privilege of priority but also greater ownership and the responsibility of effective delivery.

Ban said the world continued to face urgent and complex challenges, a grave international economic and financial crisis, climate change, high food prices and energy insecurity.

He said for the majority of people, particularly those in developing countries, the most painful and terrifying phase of the crisis had only just begun.

Ban said the global financial crisis in Africa would not only affect growth, trade and financial flows, but also the fight against poverty and the likelihood of reduced official development assistance.

Ban said the international community needed to consider the needs of the poorest countries.

African Union Commission chairperson Jean Ping called on African countries to act collectively in addressing challenges facing the continent.

Ping observed that Africa was better placed to answer its present and future challenges if it acted and used one voice to overcome its challenges.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was elected chairman of AU and will hold the position for one year.

President Gaddafi attended the session dressed in a gold-embroidered robe and flanked by seven men who they said were the "traditional kings of Africa."

And briefing the press earlier after the heads of state and government meeting on the Union Government, President Kikwete said the African Union Authority had been given a bigger mandate and the definition of duties and responsibilities to guide the AU member states on the process of ultimately forming a Union Government, known as the United States of Africa.

President Kikwete said the ongoing summit would discuss the structure and fill in the portfolios of the authority, which would be launched by July this year.

He said the new organ, which all leaders supported, would have a President, a Vice-President and the commissioners, who would be secretaries.

However, President Kikwete explained that all the other organs of the AU such as the Assembly of the Union, the Executive Council, Permanent Representative Committee and others remained unaltered.

He also clarified that AU member countries would remain sovereign states as they had not relinquished any authority.

But President Kikwete said the continent was closer to the formation of the United States of Africa.

President Kikwete said the seat of the Africa Union Authority would still be in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In January 2005, during the 4th AU summit in Abuja, Nigeria, after reviewing the proposal of creating certain ministerial portfolios for the union, the leaders decided to set up a committee of seven heads of state under the leadership of President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda to examine the proposal in all its ramifications.

In July 2005, the 5th AU summit held in Sirte, Libya affirmed that the ultimate goal of the union was fully political and economic integration leading to the United States of Africa after reviewing the report submitted by the committee, in which it recommended that there was need to work towards the formation of a union government for the continent.

A year later, a committee of seven African heads of state submitted a report to the AU summit. The report, known as "Study on an African Union Government towards the United States of Africa", outlines a roadmap of forming the United States of Africa by 2015 in three phases.

In November 2006, the AU Executive Council concluded that: "All member states should accept the United States of Africa as a common and desirable goal, but differences exist over the modalities and timeframe for achieving this goal and the appropriate pace of integration."

In July 2007, the AU summit met in Accra, Ghana to debate the plan for an African Union government.

The United States of Africa is a name sometimes given to one version of the possible future unification of Africa as a national and sovereign federation of states similar in formation to the United States of America.

The idea has been spearheaded by Col Qaddafi, who is eager for a union government, with other African leaders calling for a gradual process towards the formation of the United States of Africa.

Labels: AU, MWANAWASA

posted by MrK @ 9:02 AM