6 July 2009
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says the initiative to setup a single administrative structure to implement policy issues is not intended to cede sovereignty to the authority of the African Union (AU). The Liberian leader, who returned from the 13th Ordinary Session of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Sirte, Libya, over the weekend, made the remarks in an intervention that averted the stalling of discussions during a marathon session.
The Authority, the Liberian President said, would be an intergovernmental organization working to achieve a common African objective.
Speaking to journalists Saturday following her return from the Summit, the President said the decision is intended to serve as an initial step towards a process which would eventually lead to a future United States of Africa.
The decision to transform the Union into an Authority, an Executive Mansion release quotes the President as saying, does not come into effect until it is ratified by parliaments of the various members states of the Union.
Liberia, the President said, welcomes the progress by African leaders toward integration, describing the move as a dream envisioned by Africa's founding fathers, who promoted the principle of a united African Government decades ago.
The Authority, which will serve as an administrative arm of the organization, will be headed by a president, a vice president and 8 secretaries who would collaborate with various sectors within African Governments on policy issues which fall under their respective areas of concentration. The aim is to ensure common positions on issues such as defense, health, education, agriculture, foreign, trade and investment, among others.
The Liberian leader also welcomed a decision reached at the summit, urging all African countries to set aside 10-percent of their annual national budget for the agriculture sector, in keeping with the Maputo Declaration. The declaration called for 10 percent of the national budget of each member state to be allocated for agriculture production.
The decision, the Liberian leader noted is intended to tackle the global food crisis and to offer assistance to small local farmers to help them increase their production while generating the much needed income for the produce. The Executive Mansion release recalled that the Liberian leader has had to intervene in order to avert a stalemate in discussions because the summit could not reach consensus on procedural matter and the question of sovereignty.
In her intervention, she noted that the setting up of a single administrative structure to implement policy issues was intended to create the platform that would allow Africa confront international issues and challenges with a unified position. She clarified that the initiative was not intended to cede sovereignty to an African Union Authority, which is being proposed.
"The Authority, in my view will help collaborate with African Governments to derive a common approach on issues affecting the continent," President Sirleaf, who is the Chair of the Mano River Union, clarified. The intervention by the Liberian President provided an opportunity for leaders earlier opposed to the idea, to reconsider the principle, following the resumption of a late night session, which ran well into the early Friday morning hours.
The session was convened in response to a request by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf calling for a suspension of Thursday afternoon deliberations, to allow the Technical Committee of Foreign Ministers of the Union craft the technical details to facility further discussions on the thorny issues. As the Summit entered its third day, Heads of State and Government convened last Friday afternoon to consider, among other issues, the introduction of an African Union Authority to replace the African Union.
The Authority, if approved, will coordinate a common defense, foreign, trade and investment and agricultural polices within Africa, in collaboration with African Governments.
The Liberian leader has, meanwhile, urged African leaders and Heads of State and Government to work cooperatively to ensure that all countries work toward the achievement of the goals of an integrated Africa. The President said the principle of a United African Government was too important to the growth and development of the continent to be left to a few countries.
Her admonition followed suggestions by other African leaders supporting the creation of an United African Government to proceed while the other African countries remain undecided.
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President Johnson-Sirleaf has demosntrated that she is a very wise woman. The issue of African integration is too important to be left to only a few countries. Liberia was part of the Monrovia group of the OAU and resisted efforts for integration, but now things have changed and Liberia is part of the Casablanca group or what I call the Sirte group. No one African country can survive in this globalized world, no matter how many resources they have. Please president Johnson-Sirleaf continue to work hard towards this goal and you will be remebered amongst the greats such as Nyere,… [Read Full Text]