1. Posted on Wednesday 4 February 2009 - 10:03

   ---

   Yohanes

   

   • Profile
   • Homepage
   • 209 messages

   ---

   Andualem Sisay, AfricaNews reporter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

   The 12th African union summit has been extended as African leaders failed to reach consensus on the formation of United Government of Africa. Gaddafi walked out of the closed meeting without saying anything, the other leaders left after midnight with an agreement to resume debate later in the day.

   

   The 53 members were meant to wind up their three-day summit, the dispute widened as they debated a report on how to reform the continental body. "He understood that he lost, that is why he left like that," said one African diplomat.
   
   Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi’s drive to create a "union government" for all of Africa has instead heightened divisions on the continent, forcing an extension of a summit today to resolve the spat.
   
   Meanwhile, differences remain over how the new system would be implemented. Countries such as Libya advocate immediate unification, a position Gaddafi said is the only way forward for the war-ravaged and drought-stricken continent.
   
   Contrary to Gaddafi’s rush to the formation of Union Government, countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya seek gradual integration, and seem to have the upper hand at the moment.
   
   The African Union elected Gaddafi to lead the bloc on Monday, despite deep reservations among many members over his call for a "United States of Africa."
   
   The summit had already agreed to expand the mandate of the AU Commission and change its name to the AU Authority, but the details of that change appear to be the focus of the dispute.
   
   South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said to media that proposals for strengthening the AU would be considered only over the next three months.
   
   "The aim is to strengthen and expand a bit on the functions and responsibilities of the Authority," he said. "The Executive Council tabled proposals and actually requested to be accorded three months within which to look at the exact nitty-gritty of this AU Authority," he added.
   
   Tensions
   
   During the summit, the tensions with Gaddafi were palpable. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni proposed turning the AU leadership into a troika, which would mitigate Gaddafi’s influence in a role that already has little real power.
   
   "Africans are polite, but deserve respect," Museveni told him, according to one participant in the talks. He then got up, whispered something in Gaddafi’s ear, and tapped him on the shoulder as he left.
   
   A few minutes later, Gaddafi left, the participant said. Gaddafi has long looked at the AU as a way to boost Africa’s international profile, but also to increase his own standing. But leaders like Museveni are reluctant to see him become the face of Africa in international arena.
   
   Gaddafi seized power in a coup 40 years ago, and his autocratic rule has drawn fierce criticism from rights groups. Hoping to burnish his standing, he recently had a group of traditional leaders name him the "king of kings" of Africa, and brought an entourage of seven local monarchs dripping in gold jewellery with him to the summit.

   ---

   ---

Reactions

1. Posted on Wednesday 04 February 2009 16:22

   ---

   mfarafina

   

   Otiato Guguyu
   6 berichten
   Lid sinds January 2009

   ---

   Whose interests are they representing.

   
   When the proposers of gradual unification of the continent boast of a sober minds than aggitators of immediate unity whose interests are they representing. Are they merely hoping that this future comes after their regimes when they no longer value sovereignity, are they scared that they completely lack the fabric of leadership that will enable the continent reelect then as the heads of the various blocs that will consist of the Nation? Who said We will vote for Gaddafi any way. We have Obamas that can steer us into the future. So whose interests are the heads sitting in AdisAbaba representing.
   
   We need one Nation that will save our beloved continent. However our rulers do not seem so interested to giving Us what we need and this status quo might be maintained till Kigdom come. We need to convene and start a socioeconomic intergration of all Africans which can be a basis to complete harmonisation and eventual formation of the Nation of Africa. Freedom is our right but no one willl give us lest we take it.
   
   Otiato Guguyu

   ---

   ---