The African Union Summit was certainly overshadowed by the events in Kenya and Chad. AU President has announced that two major issues are confronting the African Union this year, the resolution of the Zimbabwe crisis and of course the crisis in Kenya and Chad. Reuters has stipulated that the African Union summit expressed alarm and pain on Saturday over a rebel attack on the Chadian government and continuing bloodshed in Kenya. The 53-state body also announced that it had tasked Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and Libyan Moamer Kadhafi with spearheading efforts “aimed at finding a negotiated and peaceful solution to the current crisis”. Also Mbeki announced in an Interview with a South Africa newspaper that Kenya and Chad are posing problems to the stability of the African Union.
The Integration of NEPAD into the structures of AU has also been rediscussed and African Leaders have reaffirmed their will to integrate the NEPAD into the African Union structure. The preference of the Commission of the African Union is going to an agency rather than a substitute Authority for the NEPAD secretariat in the process of integration into the structures of the pan-African Institution and to accelerate the process of integration A memorandum of understanding defining the relation between the AU and CENSAD, ECOWAS and IGAD and is meant to be extend to the other Regional Economic Communities see press release.
Also, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has attracted attention at the AU Summit. Having already announced in Tripoli that Europeans are serious, enthusiastic and organized in their lives while the Africans do not have this desire to build a unity he pushed again for a United States of Africa. Yet his proposal received a cool reception when it was introduced at last July’s A.U. summit in Accra, Ghana. Delegates at this gathering decided to send the plan to committee for further study. But Mr. Gaddafi said afterward he is not giving up hope.
The African Union (AU) heads of state and governments ended their tenth ordinary summit in Addis Ababa on Saturday suggesting that “water and sanitation” should be the theme for next July AU summit in Egypt.
