adminThe Herald, February 24, 1979
NAIROBI. – So many of the 49 OAU Member states are in arrears with their payments to the organisation that its finances are in a sorry state and will be a major item on the agenda of its 32nd ministerial conference, the Kenya President, Mr Daniel Moi, revealed here when opening the meeting yesterday evening.
Mr Moi said the nine-day conference would have to recommend definite and urgent remedial measures to Africa’s Heads of State and Government, to allow the organisation to continue more effectively its work to promote the peace and development of the African continent.
Declaring that a day of glory of Africa was coming, but it would have to work for it, Mr Moi warned African countries not to allow outsiders to divide them with their ideologies.
African countries would have to respect the OAU charter and stop engaging in conflicts with each other because such conflicts resulted in outside interference, which weakened Africa’s independence.
He went on to call on OAU countries to give greater support to the Rhodesian terrorists.
“The white people in Zimbabwe and their friends must realise that minorities must trust in the majority. There is no other way,” he said.
The conference chairman, the Sudan foreign minister, Mr EI Rashid el Tahir Bakr, announced that other major problems before the delegates would be the disputes between Chad and Libya, Tanzania and Uganda, and Ethiopia and Somalia.
It would also be asked to condemn the Rhodesian Government for its “brutal, racial actions” in raiding neighbouring countries and their refugee camps; to support the growing recognition of the SWAPO leadership in Namibia; to condemn South Africa’s procrastination to extend its illegal occupation of the country; to reaffirm “Namibia’s” sovereignty over Walvis Bay and to denounce the links between Pretoria and Tel Aviv.
Earlier, an OAU mediation team had apparently failed in two days of talks to bring Uganda and Tanzania, which have been at war since last October, any nearer a reconciliation.
Tanzania refused to withdraw its forces which have penetrated deep into Uganda in bid to topple the regime of Amin. The mediation committee and OAU spokesmen have refused to comment on the outcome of the talks and have ordered that all papers relevant to them be burned.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
The African Union (formerly OAU), is a continental body that was created in pursuit of African Renaissance and for it to achieve this, it needs the financial and material support of all African Member States.
This will enable it to be an autonomous body that is free from the influence and interference of foreign nations, especially former colonies.
As Africans, we should always strive to be in charge of our destiny and to chart and define our future.
African nations should stand by each other especially in times of problems. In this particular instance the AU was lending its support for majority rule in Zimbabwe while also calling for the recognition of the Swapo leadership in Namibia.
There is need to continue fighting to end conflicts on the continent, for there cannot be growth or progress without peace.
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