The powers that be…
Perhaps the most important commission within the AU is that of Peace and Security, led by the seasoned Algerian diplomat Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra. Ambassador Lamamra was one of the few men to receive a warm welcome from the Chairperson of the AU Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma upon arrival at the 50th jubilee of the OAU held at the Millennium Hall on Sat. May 26th.
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa is one of the few big men of Africa. A year ago President Zuma and his government rallied hard to make sure Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, then SA’s Interior Minister, is in her place today as Chairperson of the AUC, where many admit she is proving to be a force to reckon.
President Yuweri Museveni of Uganda is known to be one of the few remaining African presidents who are outstaying their welcome. Uganda’s once vibrant private media is suffering a huge setback as of late.
President Salva Kirr leads the youngest and troubled member state of the AU, South Sudan. Since its independence from Sudan in June 2011, peace talks between the two Sudans have been a permanent fixture at every summit by the AU.
This is the second visit to Ethiopia by Egypt’s Mohamed Morsi since he was elected president in June 2012. Since Ethiopia announced the construction of the GRD on the Nile, diplomatic relations between the two countries have been tense. On Tuesday May 28, Ethiopia diverted the flow of the Nile to make ways for the construction of the dam; just a day after President Morsi left Addis Ababa for Cairo.
Ethiopia’s PM Hailemariam Desalegn, was not only the current Chairman of the AU, but the host of the celebration that has brought to the city of Addis Ababa more than 10 thousand delegates including leaders from more than 70 countries.
In office since Sep. 2012, Somalia’s President Hasan Sheik Muhamud brought a plateful of burning issues to help him bring in a lasting peace and security in his country, which has been battered by two decades of civil war.
One of the two fiercely debated agenda during the 21st AU heads of state and governments summit held a day after the 50th founding anniversary of the AOU/AU was the issue involving Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and the International criminal Court (ICC). The assembly accepted Kenya’s proposal asking the ICC to drop all charges against the president.