President William Ruto has called for a united front in reforming the African Union to make it efficient and responsive in serving Member States and the people of Africa effectively.<\/p>\n
The President said reforms of the African Union are key to unlocking the continent\u2019s full potential.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that a reformed African Union would serve as a bridge to prosperity for all African people.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo this end, we must speak in one voice, act in unity and remain steadfast in our vision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He made the remarks during a press briefing following the conclusion of a high-level retreat of the Extended Bureau of the African Union Institutional Reforms he chaired at State House, Nairobi.<\/p>\n
Presidents who attended the meeting were John Mahama (Ghana), Azali Assoumani (Comoros), Taye Atske Selassie (Ethiopia) and Umaro Sissoco Embal\u00f3 (Guinea-Bissau). Also present was African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat.<\/p>\n
They deliberated extensively on areas of reforms of the African Union, focusing on peace and stability, funding, the reform of the Pan-African Parliament and the African Court of Justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cA fit-for-purpose African Union is a necessary imperative at this point in time if the Union has to play the role of speaking for 1.4 billion Africans,\u201d President Ruto said.<\/p>\n
The President announced that they had agreed on the need to establish a committee of five Presidents to complement efforts by the African Union\u2019s Champion for Institutional Reform.<\/p>\n
President Ruto was given the mandate to champion reforms of the African Union by fellows Heads of State last year.<\/p>\n
The committee, he said, will help to drive the implementation of agreed reforms of various agencies, institutions and organisations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will broaden the ownership of the reform process, enhance the momentum and provide strategic leadership for the implementation process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
President Ruto said reform of the African peace and security architecture was necessary to ensure lasting peace and stability.<\/p>\n
He noted that peace and stability are key to continental sustainable development, noting that investors will shy away from conflict-prone areas.<\/p>\n
The President said it was unfortunate that Africa has \u201cbecome a theatre of conflict and terrorism\u201d, while the continent\u2019s response has been inadequate.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur response has been uncoordinated, under-resourced and not very well planned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The retreat recommended the establishment of a panel of experts to propose ways for strengthening Africa\u2019s conflict response and financing mechanism.<\/p>\n
President Ruto also said the leaders have proposed the financing of the African Union with the aim of making it more financially autonomous.<\/p>\n
He said they had also recommended the operationalisation of the African Court of Justice and the appointment of judges.<\/p>\n
He said this will ensure that the continent has a mechanism for conflict resolution in Africa, especially on disputes.<\/p>\n
President Ruto said the leaders also discussed the Pan-African Parliament and deliberated on how to make it more accountable and effective to serve the greater interests of the continent.<\/p>\n
He said the East African Community will convene an Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State on the situation in Eastern DRC Congo on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
President Selassie called for regular and comprehensive dialogue on issues affecting the continent, emphasising the importance of fostering strong political will to achieve the continent\u2019s transformation agenda.<\/p>\n
He also advocated the formation of an AU Peace Support Directorate similar to that of the United Nations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to put in place a structure that reflects the UN Security Council, particularly the peace support operation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
President Mahama said the AU requires bold and transformative reforms to address emerging challenges effectively.<\/p>\n
He said the AU must evolve to become more efficient and impactful by streamlining its decision-making processes to ensure they are timely and results-oriented.<\/p>\n
He added that overlapping mandates hinder effective decision-making, noting that bureaucratic inefficiencies undermine the confidence of citizens and international partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cEfficiency must be the guiding principle in how we conduct our affairs, ensuring that our policies and programmes translate into real change for our people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
President Embalo pointed out that reforms of the African Union are essential for the common good of the continent to drive it to an era of peace and global influence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe face many challenges, but the opportunities available on our continent are immense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The post President Ruto says African unity key to achieving AU reforms<\/a> first appeared on KBC<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President William Ruto has called for a united front in reforming the African Union to make it efficient and responsive in serving Member States and the people of Africa effectively. The President said reforms of the African Union are key to unlocking the continent\u2019s full potential. He pointed out that a reformed African Union would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}