Richard Kwang Kometa
26 June 2008
Deliberations at the ninth Summit of Heads of State of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, ended yesterday in Yaounde, Cameroon, with President François Bozizé of Central Africa taking the baton of command to continue with on going efforts to modernise CEMAC. Closing the Summit at about 2:45 p.m. at the Yaounde Conference Centre, outgoing Chairman, President Paul Biya, said discussions took place under a cordial atmosphere and said a breakthrough was made as far as reforms within CEMAC were concerned.
The President appreciated the sense of awareness and solidarity that is growing within the sub-region and insisted on the importance of collective measures to tackle security concerns faced by CEMAC member States. Mr. Biya noted that the road covered by CEMAC in achieving their common objectives was impressive, even though much still remains. While pointing out that institutional reforms initiated by CEMAC Heads of State had made great strides towards free movement within the sub-region, as well as solidarity among member states, President Biya expressed the hope and confidence that François Bozizé of Central African Republic will be up to the task in pursuing CEMAC ambitions.
Before the final communiqué that marked the end of the Summit, the President of the CEMAC Commission, Antoine Ntsimi read out the list of persons earmarked for decoration by the chairman of CEMAC. The communiqué expressed satisfaction with the pace of reforms since the 25 April 2007 in N'Djamena, Chad.
To enable the populations of the CEMAC sub-region develop greater awareness about the activities of the community, 16 March was instituted as CEMAC Day during which member countries should organise reflections and events that raise awareness about CEMAC. The final statement equally pointed to the need for workable steps to get Air CEMAC off the ground and preserve achievements made to reinforce regional integration.
While expressing satisfaction at the successful holding of elections in Cameroon, Congo and the Republic of Central Africa, CEMAC Heads of State condemned the recent attempt to destabilise the government of Chad and the risk of insecurity, as well as instability that such a situation can cause within countries of CEMAC. The CEMAC leaders called on the current chair of the organisation to take up the issue with the United Nations Organisation and insisted on the need for a rapid resolution of the conflict in Chad.
In the same vein, the leaders congratulated President Omar Bongo Ondimba for his peace mediation efforts in the Republic of Central Africa. The Statement disclosed that France had made available the sum of 20 million Euros for integration efforts within CEMAC.
The Summit ended with the singing of the CEMAC Anthem and President Paul Biya handing over the CEMAC Flag to President François Bozizé of the Republic of Central Africa who is the next Chairman of CEMAC.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Cameroon Tribune. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
