Damilola Oyedele
5 July 2008
Abuja — African leaders once again failed to reach a consensus on the proposed African Union (AU) government, making their recently concluded AU summit end on a discordant note.
The African heads of state were however unanimous in their critique of Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe's stance of failing to dialogue with his opponent, Morgan Tvsangirai, thereby fuelling the political crises in the inflation-ridden country.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe gave this revelation at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday following the AU Summit held in Sham el Sheik, Egypt. He said the African leaders have agreed to hold an extraordinary summit of the AU in January next year in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to further deliberate on the issue of a joint government.
He added that the debates on the AU government have divided the union, "but more work needs to be done because most of the member states are not yet ready to surrender their sovereignty to a union government."
"Some of these countries say they want a Union Government but want to hold on to their constitutions, which would be the first thing to disappear when the Union Government appears"
The minister further noted that most of these nations were not entirely committed to the cause, an argument he professed to have laid before the group at Sham el Sheik.
Criticising the intolerance of many African nations to other Africans, especially in the deportation of fellow Africans, Maduekwe said, "Unless we begin to open our borders, all these talks will not be realised. If it is not handled with sincerity, then great damage would be done to this laudable initiative. We do not want to be seen as stumbling blocks but our position is to be realistic."
Regarding Mugabe, the AU adopted a resolution, which called on the main parties to the crisis in Zimbabwe to honour their joint commitment to dialogue.
He however said the Zimbabwean president still blatantly refused to dialogue with his opposition, questioning the right of fellow African leaders to condemn elections in his country, saying "those who live in glass houses should not throw stones."
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Africans with any sense of pride will never allow themselves to be under such people.
Before we can UNITE INTO A SUPERSTATE, WE HAVE TO STRENGTHEN THE 'ECONOMIC BLOCKS' THAT EXIST ALREADY. We also have… [Read Full Text]
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WHO IS THIS AFRICAN LEADERS THEY ARE NOT REPRSENTING US AND HOW THEY AGREE, BECUASE EVEN THEY DIDNT DO ANY GOOD THINGS FOR OUR COUNTRY HOW CAN THEY WILL DO FOR THE WHOLE AFRICA. THEY ARE NOT CAPABLE.
MAY BE PRESIDENT GHADFI HE WILL BE THE PRESIDENT OF AFRICA BECAUSE HE HAVE A GOOD EXPERIENCE FOR HELPING RABLES TO DESTROY CNTY.
F H STANAD TH LCTN VT F HM.
H S NMB N1 F DSTYNG AFCA.