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Jean Ping accuses SA of undermining his AU bid

Jean Ping accuses SA of undermining his AU bid
By Mwala Kalaluka in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fri 13 July 2012, 14:00 CAT

THE forthcoming return elections for an African Union Commission chairperson are again marred in controversy after its current head, Dr Jean Ping, accused South Africa of fabricating lies that he intends to withdraw from the contest.

And the Gabonese government has provided Dr Ping with an aircraft to enable him to traverse the continent and meet its leaders in his bid to outdo Dlamini-Zuma, who will be the first woman to head the AU Commission if she emerges victorious.

Dr Ping also said contrary to allegations that he failed to handle the situations in Libya and Ivory Coast, it was actually the South African government that impeded concerted efforts to address the issues.

South Africa's interior minister and President Jacob Zuma's ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, is contesting the position of chairperson of the AU Commission and was able to cause a stalemate in Addis Ababa last January when neither she nor Dr Ping could marshal the required winning threshold.

Dr Ping, a son of a Gabonese mother and Chinese trader, said in a press release on Tuesday that he was annoyed by what he called baseless and malicious lies circulating in the South African media that he intends to withdraw from seeking re-election and seeking a redeployment elsewhere in return.

He said such fabrications as those carried by the Sunday Times of South Africa in its edition of July 8, 2012 were the latest in a series of malicious lies to tarnish his hard-earned reputation and destabilise his campaign.

"I am incensed by such an outright fallacy and fabrication, because nothing could be further from the truth.

I am, and remain a candidate for re-election as chairperson of the African Union Commission, as I have not been withdrawn by my country, Gabon, and my region," Dr Ping said. "I fully intend to stay in the race until the very end and hope to earn the renewed trust of our continent's leaders when they meet at the 19th AU Summit, scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa, on 15 and 16 July 2012."

He said media assertions hinting at his withdrawal from the contest were designed to cast some doubts about his strength of character and to undermine support from a wide range of member states keen to re-elect him.

"It has also been alleged that I have not managed the Commission properly during my tenure, when there is evidence to prove that a lot of reforms in the administrative and financial areas have been carried out during the last four years," he said. "As is evident, I have continued to discharge my duties without let or hindrance, as rigorous as they have been."

Dr Ping said he was first accused of indicating to the South African authorities that he was not interested in seeking re-election but that when this lie was debunked, attention was shifted to his supposed failure to handle the situations in Ivory Coast and Libya.

"…When it is well-known that it is the government of South Africa which impeded ECOWAS' efforts to settle the Cote d'Ivoire crisis…and the same government that voted in favour of resolution 1973 that authorised the bombing of Libya," he said.

"Let me end by affirming that I am the candidate of Gabon and Africa, and have not received any financial or other support from any non-African power. This election is an African Union matter and will be decided only by African member states."

Dr Ping further said at no time had he kowtowed to France's dictates in running the affairs of the AU Commission as alleged.

He said he did not want to lower the moral threshold of the campaign and hoped that all involved in the election would conduct a clean and decent campaign that would bring honour to Africa and set a great example for democratic competition.

And Dr Ping said he was thankful that Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba had provided him with an aircraft to fly around the continent and meet leaders to talk to them about his vision for the African Union.

"The President has also sent envoys to a number of AU member states, to campaign for my re-election," said Dr Ping.

Voting is expected to take place today.

Labels: AU, JEAN PING

posted by MrK @ 2:35 PM