AU foreign ministers discuss United States of Africa
ACCRA, June 28 -- African Union foreign ministers met here Thursday to prepare a summit of heads of state next week, the focus of which will be the creation of the United States of Africa.
"The battle for the United States of Africa is the only one worth fighting for our generation -- the only one that can provide the answers to the thousand and one problems faced by the populations of Africa," AU commission head Alpha Oumar Konare said in his opening speech.
Several of the AU's 53 member states are currently opposed to the idea of a United States of Africa, however, with both South Africa and the former French colonies of North Africa against the project, sources say.
Ghana, however, host of the July 1-3 summit in the capital Accra, came out clearly in favour of the projected reform.
"The entire continent is anxiously awaiting the outcome of your deliberations," Ghana's vice-president Aliu Mahama said.
"The people of the continent count on your collective wisdom to provide them with the means to build a better future for themselves and their children. I'm confident that you will not fail them and that together, we shall continue to work to build the kind of Union we all dream about," he said.
He added that Africa needed more unity and more solidarity in order to manage armed conflicts, to hold its own at a time of increasing globalisation and to handle the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
"At no time in the history of this Union has the issue of Union Government for Africa become so crucial and, I must add, so urgent," he said.
At the heads of state summit the leaders will also address the ongoing conflicts on the African continent, most notably those in the Sudanese province of Darfur and in Somalia. - AFP
ACCRA, June 28 -- African Union foreign ministers met here Thursday to prepare a summit of heads of state next week, the focus of which will be the creation of the United States of Africa.
"The battle for the United States of Africa is the only one worth fighting for our generation -- the only one that can provide the answers to the thousand and one problems faced by the populations of Africa," AU commission head Alpha Oumar Konare said in his opening speech.
Several of the AU's 53 member states are currently opposed to the idea of a United States of Africa, however, with both South Africa and the former French colonies of North Africa against the project, sources say.
Ghana, however, host of the July 1-3 summit in the capital Accra, came out clearly in favour of the projected reform.
"The entire continent is anxiously awaiting the outcome of your deliberations," Ghana's vice-president Aliu Mahama said.
"The people of the continent count on your collective wisdom to provide them with the means to build a better future for themselves and their children. I'm confident that you will not fail them and that together, we shall continue to work to build the kind of Union we all dream about," he said.
He added that Africa needed more unity and more solidarity in order to manage armed conflicts, to hold its own at a time of increasing globalisation and to handle the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
"At no time in the history of this Union has the issue of Union Government for Africa become so crucial and, I must add, so urgent," he said.
At the heads of state summit the leaders will also address the ongoing conflicts on the African continent, most notably those in the Sudanese province of Darfur and in Somalia. - AFP
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