Give the AU muscle: Mbeki
11 July 2003
President Thabo Mbeki urged his African peers on Thursday to ratify the protocol to establish the Peace and Security Council and other African Union (AU) institutions to enable the continent to deal swiftly with conflicts and undemocratic rule.
At least 14 African nations, including South Africa, have ratified the protocol setting up the Peace and Security Council (PSC), whose main task will be to intervene in conflicts in member states. About 27 countries still need to ratify the protocol.
The PSC will have an early warning system, a special fund and a standby military force.
Mbeki challenged African countries to move speedily to ratify the PSC and the Pan-African Parliament so that the two could be operational before the end of the year.
"There is no particular reason why we should not achieve all of those results", Mbeki said.
In terms of the AU's governing document, the Constitutive Act, the organisation should establish
support institutions such as a Court of Justice and a Pan-African Parliament.
Annan addresses the summit
United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan also addressed the gathering, telling the heads of state that the continent’s leadership will be judged by how they eradicate and prevent conflicts.
Referring to the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri and Kivu regions, as well as in Liberia, Annan said the wars were taking a toll on the African population, especially women and children.
Annan acknowledged, however, that efforts were continuing to bring peace to Burundi, Sudan, DRC, Ivory Coast, and Somalia. "These are heartening examples of conflict management and resolution, where African leadership has been the decisive ingredient."
Meanwhile, South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria, Libya and Egypt have reassured the AU that they will pay their membership fees, which have been increased by one percent. The five
countries are likely to have more of their nationals sitting in AU organs in line with their contributions to the AU coffers.
Member countries are expected to pay according to the size of their national budgets and strength of their economies.
The AU has urged member countries to pay their membership fees and advised those who can't afford to pay to make arrangements to settle their debts to avoid being stripped of their voting powers.
Source: BuaNews
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