Pambazuka African Union Monitor, by euforic

Africa: AU readmits Mali, backs plan to retake north

The African Union readmitted Mali after suspending it from the pan-African bloc following a coup in March, and backed plans for authorities there to recapture the north from Islamists. Mali's membership was revoked after army officers overthrew the elected government seven months ago. The subsequent chaos gave free rein to a rebellion by Islamic extremists and Tuareg separatists who took over large swathes of the country's north, before the Islamists forced out their former Tuareg allies.

Africa: Dlamini-Zuma elected to head AU Commission

South African Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was elected on Sunday to become the first female head of the African Union (AU) Commission, ending a bruising leadership battle that had threatened to divide and weaken the organisation. Cheers broke out at the AU's soaring, Chinese-built steel and glass headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa as supporters of President Jacob Zuma's ex-wife celebrated her victory over incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon.

Africa: Countries step up campaigns ahead of AU elections

The battle for supremacy between Nigeria and South Africa and an attempt by France to play a bigger role in African issues, are likely to influence who becomes the next head of the African Union Commission in this week’s polls. There is a growing competition between Nigeria and South Africa for the control of the continent’s economic and political scene after South Africa offered the candidature of Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, contrary to the unwritten rule that big economies should stay away from the leadership.

Botswana: Botswana condemns the African Union on Sudan

Botswana has condemned the African Union (AU) for enticing Malawi to host Sudan president Omar al Bashir at the AU summit that was supposed to be held in Malawi in July. The summit has now been relocated to Ethiopia after Malawi refused to host Al-Bashir and threatened to arrest him if he attended over crimes al Bashir committed against humanity in Darfur and is on the wanted list of the International Criminal Court.

Angola: Angola oils campaign to secure AU vote for SA

Angola is bankrolling a concerted campaign to secure SA's efforts to win support for Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to lead the African Union (AU) with a $200,000 pledge to finance lobbying ahead of the AU summit. Oil-rich Angola, signalling its foreign policy ambitions on the continent, has combined in the campaign with SA, which is chartering aircraft to take teams of cabinet ministers to lobby around the continent.

Malawi: AU summit hosting cancelled over Sudan's al Bashir invite

Malawi has said it will not host the African Union summit in July because the bloc insisted on inviting Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, wanted on international war crimes charges. 'After considering the interests of Malawians, I want to inform Malawians that the cabinet met today and decided it was not interested to accept the conditions by the African Union, therefore Malawi is not hosting the summit,' Vice President Khumbo Kachali told journalists in a brief speech broadcast on state radio.

Africa: Tanzania to back Dlamini-Zuma for top AU seat, Kenya no

Tanzania will campaign for South African Home Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is seeking to become the next chairperson of the African Union Commission. But neighbouring Kenya has turned down a request from South Africa to support its candidate. When meeting with a South African delegation, President Mwai Kibaki said South Africa's ambition for the AU top job clashes with Kenya's own interest to have Erastus Mwencha, a Kenyan, for the post of deputy chairperson.

Malawi: Moves to block visit by Sudan's wanted Bashir

Malawi President Joyce Banda has said she had asked the African Union to prevent Sudan's wanted leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir from attending a summit in her country, saying his visit would have 'implications' for the economy. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Sudan's President Bashir to face charges of masterminding genocide and other war crimes during his nation's Darfur conflict. Malawi angered international donors when it played host to Bashir last year - ICC members countries like Malawi are supposed to arrest people wanted by the global court.

Malawi: Malawi will host the AU Summit, govt confirms

Government has confirmed Malawi will go ahead to host the African Union summit in June in Lilongwe this year. Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu told Zodiak Radio that hosting the summit would be an honour to late President Bingu wa Mutharika who wanted Malawi to host the summit. Before President Mutharika's death, President Joyce Banda opposed the idea of Malawi hosting the summit due to what she called poor economic situation.

Guinea Bissau: AU suspends Guinea Bissau

The African Union (AU) has suspended Guinea Bissau from the 54-member bloc with immediate effect, a senior AU official said. The Pan-African organization also threatened to impose more sanctions on the West African nation if the soldiers who seized power there failed to respond positively to the call to restore constitutional order. The decision to suspend Guinea Bissau's membership was taken by the AU's Peace and Security Council (PSC), after discussing the military coup in the country.

Africa: Try again, SADC tells Nkosazana

Home Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma must try again to be elected as the African Union Commission chairperson, the Southern African Development Community decided at the weekend. Foreign ministers from SADC countries met in Cape Town at the weekend, where her recent defeat at the AU summit in Ethiopia was discussed. Dlamini-Zuma contested the election against Jean Ping, the AU Commission head, who was standing for a second term.

Africa: AU extends mandate of top executive official

The African Union has extended the mandate of its top official Jean Ping after an election, in which he was challenged by South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, deadlocked. Intense campaigns had preceded the vote for commission chief which dominated ...

Africa: AU summit concludes with package of agreements

The 18th African Union summit ended 31 January in the Ethiopian capital with adoption of a series of agreements concerning Africa's economic, political and security issues. Africa will speed up its infrastructure development and put related policies ...

Africa: French interference cost Ping his job

It was French interference in the election of the African Union Commission chairperson which cost the incumbent, former Gabonese foreign minister Jean Ping, his job. Asked about foreign interference, Mozambican Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi decline...

Western Sahara: Call for monitoring of human rights

The Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the African Union has called for monitoring of human rights in occupied Western Sahara, during its 23rd ordinary session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The PRC asked the African Commission on Human and Peop...

Africa: The AU's big budget and the begging bowl

The African Union (AU) Commission has tabled a US$274 million budget proposal for 2012, which African leaders are expected to debate and later adopt. However, questions have been raised that the money is mainly sourced from donor partners, with some ...

Africa: Crises dominate talks as Benin takes AU helm

The African Union's new chairman faced tough challenges Sunday as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned that a furious row between Sudan and South Sudan threatened regional security. Thomas Boni Yayi, the president of Benin, vowed to work for peace in his one-...

Africa: TMSA Daily News

The latest edition of TradeMark Southern Africa is dominated by news reports, speeches and commentaries from the African Union summit in Addis Ababa. It includes the full text of two speeches by Jacob Zuma (at a NEPAD meeting and at an ANC centenary ...

Africa: Ping fails to garner majority support for AU chair

African Union Commission chairman Jean Ping's bid for another term hit a snag Monday after he failed to garner two-thirds majority after four rounds of elections in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Reports from the AU headquarters indicated that the former Gab...

Africa: 'AU submits proposal to reconcile Sudan, South Sudan'

The African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) committee of experts has tabled a proposal that could lead to a settlement for the thorny oil issue between Sudan and South Sudan. The proposal was submitted at the current round of talks in A...

Africa: AU wants peace, security and bigger global role in 2012

The African Union (AU) has unveiled an ambitious wish-list of priorities for Africa that would give the continent a stronger global voice, boost democracy and encourage peace and security. AU Ambassador to the United States, Amina Ali of Tanzania, pr...

African Union role in the Libyan crisis

African Union chairperson, Jean Ping, argues here that the case of the AU’s intervention in Libya is a classic example of how African efforts to solve the continent’s challenges go unreported or are twisted to suit a hostile agenda.

Mozambique: The ARPM process, then and now

The report tracks Mozambique’s progress since it acceded to the APRM process in March 2003 up to when it was eventually peer reviewed in June 2009. The authors urge the government of Mozambique to show political will and act upon the pronouncements m...

Africa: Plan to increase maternal, newborn and childhealth

African Speakers of Parliaments and Presidents of Senate have unanimously adopted a landmark resolution on a Declaration of Commitment to prioritise parliamentary support for increased policy and budget action on maternal, newborn and child health in...

Kenya: Governance reforms unstoppable, says Kibaki

President Mwai Kibaki has assured that the Government is committed to undertaking far-reaching reforms in the management of public affairs and entrenchment in constitutionality. Speaking when he met and held discussions with members of the African Pe...

Senegal: AU should press Senegal to extradite Habré

The African Union (AU) should press Senegal to extradite the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré to Belgium, a coalition of his victims and human rights groups said. 'Time is up,' said Jacqueline Moudeina of the Chadian Association for the Promotio...

Africa: Civil society rates governance in South Africa

Governance gaps were considered in Midrand, South Africa on 28 June, when the APRM Monitoring Project (AMP) - run jointly by SAIIA, the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) and the Africa Governance, Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) - launced its...

Equatorial Guinea: Concern over lack of civil society events at AU summit

'We write to express our grave disappointment that the African Union Summit currently taking place in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, unlike previous summits, does not include a parallel civil society gathering for foreign and domestic groups.'...

Africa: Support justice for gravest crimes, civil society tells AU

Civil society groups from more than 25 countries in Africa issued a report on 27 June urging African member countries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to show support for the court at the upcoming African Union (AU) summit meeting. The repor...

Africa: African Union adopts decision on organic farming

The Executive Council of the African Union (AU), at its Eighteenth Ordinary Session in January 2011, adopted a decision on organic farming. In particular, the decision requests the AU Commission and its New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD...

Africa: 'The United States of Africa' may become reality

As Libya's leader struggles to keep his grip on power, one of his pet projects appears to be moving ahead at the African Union, which took initial steps Tuesday toward creating his grand plan: the United States of Africa. AU officials met Monday and ...

Libya: AU chief off to Europe to meet NATO leaders on Libya

African Union (AU) Commission chairman Jean Ping will be travelling to Europe to discuss the Libyan crisis with the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Before his departure from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Dr Pi...

Africa: Where is the voice of the African Union?

As the world discusses the protests and battles sweeping North Africa where is the African Union (AU)? asks Wangari Maathai. 'In discussing the situation in Libya, US president Barack Obama did include the AU in a list of partners for finding a solut...

Libya: AU demands 'immediate' halt to Libya attacks

The African Union's panel on Libya Sunday called for an 'immediate stop' to all attacks after the United States, France and Britain launched military action against Muammar Gaddafi's forces. The situation in Libya 'demands urgent action so that an Af...

Kenya: Kenya wins AU support over ICC trials

Kenya's diplomatic offensive against the International Criminal Court got a major boost after the African Union agreed to back its bid to defer Hague trials against six of its citizens. AU chief Jean Ping told reporters that the summit had approved K...

Egypt: AU calls for 'appropriate reforms' in Egypt

The African Union (AU) Friday called for 'appropriate reforms' in Egypt, where protesters have been pushing for President Hosni Mubarak's exit from power. In a statement made available to PANA, AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping expressed regret at ...

Africa: Tracking the continent's peer review mechanism

The theme for the 16th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa is 'Towards Greater Unity and Integration through Shared Values'. Arguably, the success story of South-South cooperation around shared values is the African Peer Review Mechanism, says the So...

Somalia: UN and African Union to meet on peace process

The United Nations and the African Union will hold a high-level meeting in a few days to review efforts to achieve peace, security and reconciliation in strife-torn Somalia, which has been suffering through two decades of conflict and numerous humani...

Zimbabwe: AU urged to push Zimbabwe on electoral reforms

Sham elections across Africa have been a major cause of insecurity, instability and violent conflict; recent examples include Kenya, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast. The Africa Union (AU) must be robust and resolute in promoting shared values and best pract...

Equatorial Guinea: Obiang becomes chairman of AU

Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika has officially handed over the chairmanship of the African Union to his Equatorial Guinea colleague Theodore Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. As President Obiang takes over, many must be wondering the wisdom of the African l...

Cote d'Ivoire: AU now softens stand on Cote d'Ivoire

The African Union has backed off from its earlier position on a possible military intervention in Cote d'Ivoire if the incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo does not hand over to Alassane Ouattara, who has been recognised internationally to have won the...

Kenya: AU and Ethiopia endorse Kenya’s bid to defer ICC case

Kenya has secured the support of the African Union Commission and Ethiopia in its bid to have the International Criminal Court defer the case against six Kenyans at the International Criminal Court and have them tried locally. AU Commission chair Jea...

Concerns raised at 48th session of ACHPR

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) participated in the 48th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) which took place from 10 - 24 November 2010 in Banjul, The Gambia. During that session, OMCT, along with par...

Statement on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum urges the African Commission to call upon the Government of National Unity: - to fulfil its obligations in terms of the African Charter on the rights and freedoms of its citizens; - to implement fully the provis...

Human rights NGOs urge ratification of good governance charter

The Director of the Banjul-based African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, Hannah Forster, on Sunday emphasised the need for African governments to ratify and implement the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance in order ...

Kenya: Community refers land dispute To AU court

The Endorois community is seeking the intervention of the African Commission to compel the Government to implement a ruling delivered early this year. The community has dispatched a delegation of 10 members to the African Commission on Human and Peop...

Quarterly gender publication on AU available

The October issue of 'Walking the Talk', a quarterly publication of the African Union and the United Nations Development Fund for Women, is out. Headlines include:...

African Union chief calls Ivorian polls 'historical breakthrough'

The African Union (AU) Tuesday called Sunday's presidential election in Cote d'Ivoire a historical breakthrough, and urged the country's leading politicians to stay calm and accept the poll results without resorting to violence. 'This is certainly a ...

AU asks UN for Somalia blockade

The African Union (AU) has asked the United Nations Security Council to approve a no-fly zone and naval blockade of Somalia. Ramtane Lamamra, the AU's commissioner for peace and security, said the move would deter pirates operating off the country's ...

Africa: EU and AU joint task force to meet

The joint task force will meet from 20 to 21 October to discuss the cooperation between EU and AU. It will prepare work for the upcoming Africa-EU Summit on 29-30 November in Tripoli, Libya. Participants will discuss progress in each of the eight pa...