Morocco seeks to rejoin AU despite ongoing dispute with Western Sahara

After 32 years of isolation, Morocco is seeking to rejoin the African Union (AU) after leaving the organisation amid a dispute over Western Sahara.

In a message to the AU summit in Rwanda, the Moroccan King, Mohammed VI, said the time had come for his country to retake its place within its institutional family.

In an interview with Africanews, Journalist and analyst with the Institute for Security Studies, Liesel Louw-Vaudran who is attending the summit said Morocco’s application also came with some conditions.

“Apparently, Morocco applied to be re-admitted to the AU with pre-conditions asking for AU to suspend the Sahrawi Arab Republic in the Western Sahara. So that’s very interesting and in a way it’s sort of a victory to Sahrawi because they are able to be members of the AU together with Morocco.”

The northern Africa country withdrew from the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1984 over the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a full member of the body.

It was the only African country that was not a member.

Morocco claims Western Sahara as part of its territory, much of which it has occupied since 1975.

But the AU recognises Western Sahara as an independent state.

Morocco had insisted that it would only join the AU on the condition that the membership of Western Sahara was withdrawn or frozen.

Morocco is now seeking support from countries like Kenya after it had sent a special envoy to lobby for its readmission.