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Africa: President in Addis for AU Summit
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 Published by the government of Zimbabwe |
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The Herald (Harare)
31 January 2008
Posted to the web 31 January 2008
Caesar Zvayi
Addis Abbaba
President Mugabe arrived here last night to join other heads of state and government at the two-day 10th Ordinary Sesssion of the assembly of the African Union which opens at the AU Centre today.
Cde Mugabe -- who was accompanied the Minister of Industry and International Trade Cde Obert Mpofu and other senior Government officials -- was met at Bole International Airport by Foreign Affairs Minister Cde Simbarashe Mumbengegwi; Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Ethiopia and the AU, Cde Andrew Mtetwa; AU commissioner Mr Bernard Zoba and Ethiopian government officials.
Vice President Mujuru will be Acting President while Cde Mugabe is away.
The summit is expected to centre on the industrialisation of Africa, which is the theme of the summit; the unification of the continent, a carry-over from the 9th Session; and the election of the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the AU to replace Mr John Kufour of Ghana, whose term has come to an end; and commissioners and the chairperson of the AU Commission to succeed Mr Alphar Ouma Konare of Mali, whose term has also expired.
Six candidates are vying for the post held by Mr Konare, who has since indicated that he will not be seeking re-election.
These are: Ms Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika (Zambia), Ms Antoinette Batumubwira (Burundi), Messrs Abdulai Osman Conteh (Sierra Leone), Jean Ping (Gabon), Cassam Uteem (Mauritius) and Barnabas Sibusiso (Swaziland).
The Commission is the secretariat of the AU and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the business of the continental body. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa appointed his country's founding president Dr Kenneth Kaunda as special envoy to seek support for Ms Mbikusita-Lewanika from Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya and Algeria.
A special envoy from Gabonese President Omar Bongo Ondimba last year met President Mugabe to lobby for support in his bid for the post.
The African Diaspora and developments in the continent's conflicts will also come under the spotlight during the summit, along with a proposal to discuss ways to draw on the resources of the African Diaspora, and how it can participate as an observer in the Assemblies of the AU.
In 2003 the heads of state and government expressed their wish to attract the expertise and investment of people of African heritage the world over as a means of expediting the continent's development.
Pursuant to the dream of a United States of Africa, the summit will consider a Report of the Ministerial Committee on the Union Government set up during last year's 9th Session in Accra, Ghana.
African heads of state and government agree on the need and virtues of a Union Government, which they collectively acknowledge is a common and desirable goal. They, however, differ on the route to the Union and the structure it should take.
President Mugabe is of the view that the Union Government should be established through a bottom-up approach founded on the regional economic groupings such as Sadc, Comesa, Ecowas, the East African Community and the Central African Community.
Others, like Libyan President Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, are agitating for a top-down approach starting with the formation of a government and election of its leader. Yet others, like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, are for a loose union of states that guarantees the sovereignty of each member state.
Other topical issues on the agenda are the appointment of new members of the Peace and Security Council, the adoption of the 2008 Budget, consideration of the Reports of the Executive Council on the Audit of the Union, report on the activities of the Peace and Security Council and the State of Peace and Security in Africa as well as the Aids Watch Africa Report.
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The Report of the Chairperson of Nepad Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee will also be tabled during the Assembly which will also consider items proposed by member states and adopt the Decision of the 12th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council, along with the Decision and Declaration of the 10th Ordinary Session.
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