President returns from successful AU summit

Kuda Bwititi recently in Addis Ababa
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa returned home from Ethiopia yesterday, after attending the 35th African Union Heads of State General Assembly in Addis Ababa at the weekend.

He was welcomed at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Homes Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe, senior Government officials and service chiefs.

The summit ran under the theme “Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development”.

This theme galvanises 2022 as the “African Union Year of Nutrition” to rally the continent to step-up efforts that ensure member states commit adequate financial resources to nutrition interventions.

The two-day summit ended on Sunday with calls for the continent to fight the wave of coups and attempted coups that have occurred in several African countries.

Briefing journalists on Sunday, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (AU-PAPS), Ambassador Bankole Adeoye said African Heads of State and Government unanimously denounced the unconstitutional overthrow of elected Governments.

“Every African leader in the assembly has condemned unequivocally the wave of unconstitutional changes of Government.

Do your research: At no time in the history of the African Union have we had four countries in one calendar year, in 12 months, being suspended,” Ambassador Adeoye said.

Since last year, there have been military takeovers in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Sudan, which have all been suspended from the AU.

Another attempted coup took place in Guinea Bissau in January while insurgencies have been witnessed in Ethiopia and Mozambique.

Zimbabwe has been given a mandate to play a role in the resolution of such conflicts after being elected into the 15-member Peace and Security Council.

In an interview with Zimbabwean journalists on Sunday, President Mnangagwa rallied African states to fight the rebellions.

“The issue of coups and attempted coups, five of them in the same region, is a worry to the AU.

First and foremost, we are interrogating whether these are innocent coups or there is a hand behind.

What is it that we should do to forestall any future coups?

What is it that the AU has not done to make sure that the African states do not have persons that are attracted to doing unconstitutional activities.

“So we are dealing with that and it’s an issue that as the AU, we are worried about.

We are saying Ecowas should stand to the challenge in relation to what has happened.

But as the rest of Africa we must make sure that we condemn drastically issues of coups on our continent.”

This year’s summit came at a time the AU is celebrating its 20th anniversary after its renaming from its successor, the Organisation of African Unity in 2002.

The summit was also the first to be held physically since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced meetings to be conducted virtually.

At the end of the summit on Sunday, the meeting encouraged countries to mobilise resources to address the impact of Covid-19.

Climate change was also under debate at the summit.

In his closing remarks, South Africa’s President Cyril Rampahosa who is the Outgoing Coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change said climate change should not be relegated to the periphery.

“Africa is experiencing the worst impacts of phenomena associated with global warming such as droughts, floods and cyclones.

Climate change impacts are costing African economies between 3 and 5 percent of their GDPs. Despite not being responsible for causing climate change, it is Africans who are bearing both the brunt and the cost.

“As we prepare for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP27 taking place in the Arab Republic of Egypt in November, Africa must once more speak with one voice, expressing their unwavering support for the implementation of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, and for the primacy of multilateralism,” he said.

In his statement, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reiterated calls for the reform of the UN to reflect unbiased representation.

He called for the establishment of an AU-centred media house, to provide information that promotes the African agenda while simultaneously rebutting disinformation of the continent’s matters.

The summit also suspended Israel’s status as an observer of the AU, with a committee of Heads of State appointed to examine the matter.