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Addis Ababa – The African Union seeks to mobilise US$500 million to support military operations by the International Support Mission for Central African Republic (Misca), authorised by the UN to restore peace in the country.A source in Addis Ababa told Xinhua that the funds would be mobilised at a donors’ conference scheduled to take place in the Ethiopian capital on Saturday.
According to the official agenda, the crisis in the Central African Republic will be one of the key issues to be discussed at the 22nd AU Summit that began on Wednesday evening with a session of the Peace and Security Council, which is currently chaired by Guinean President Alpha Conde.
Wednesday’s mini-summit was to examine the latest developments in the political transition process in CAR, especially the election of Catherine Samba Panza as the transitional president to replace Michel Djotodia, an ex-Seleka rebel chief.
Djotodia and his prime minister Nicolas Tiangaye were forced to resign on January 10 during an extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of Central African States in N’Djamena, for their inability to end a cycle of violence in the country.
The director for the AU’s peace and security department, El Ghassim Wane, told Xinhua that the AU was seeking US$500 million to support activities of Misca, which is under its command for the next 12 months.
The AU force, which is charged with the mandate of securing the entire CAR territory, took over duty in Bangui on December 19, 2013 from the Central Africa Multinational Force (Fomac), which had been deployed to the country by ECCAS.
With two generals at the top, Republic of Congo’s Jean Marie Mokoko and Cameroon’s Martin Tumental, Misca is seen by AU officials as the only hope of ending CAR’s crisis, with the support of French troops.
With a figure of about 5 300 out of the expected figure of 6 000 troops, the AU hopes to increase its numbers in the near future, Wane said.
“We shall succeed in this mission. The only challenge is the financial means. Such challenges are always there, just as the case was in Somalia,” he said.
Currently, the force is being funded by foreign powers, with the European Union contributing 50 million euros and the US providing support worth US$100 million, Wane said.
Besides the 54 AU member states, 60 other countries and organisations are expected at the donors’ conference on Saturday. CAR’s conflict erupted in December 2012 when ex-Seleka rebels launched an offensive against the regime of former president Francois Bozize.
Violence escalated after Djotodia toppled Bozize on March 24, 2013. The fighting became inter-ethnic and inter-religious between ex-Seleka rebels (Muslims) and the anti-Balaka militia (Christians), sparking worldwide concern about another genocide after the 1994 Rwanda massacre. – Xinhua
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