African leaders asked to donate “some powers” to the AU

GOOBJOOG NEWS | LUSAKA: African Union member states have been challenged to surrender certain powers to the continental bloc to enable it deliver its mandate effectively.

Speaking in Lusaka Zambia at the Common Market for East and Southern African (COMESA) summit, Kenya’s President William Ruto urged his peers to consider reforms at the AU saying this will enable the bloc to achieve its vision.

“Member states must consider donating power to AU on matters trade, regional and global security as well as other areas that Africa can benefit from engaging together rather than individually,” he said in his speech.

He added, “We should merge the position of chair of the AU Summit and that of the AU Commission into one so as to give it sufficient leverage to engage on behalf of Africa.”

He further suggested that the African Union should empower itself on matters trade and other development issues which it currently lacks capacity on.

“To ensure that the African Union performs at the level of its aspirations, it will be necessary to make sure that it empowers itself with sufficient capacity. Otherwise, African solutions, Agenda 2063, the Africa Continental Free Trade Area and the Young, Clean Green Continent of the Future will never be a reality,” he said.

President Ruto argued that the AU Reform Agenda must be a priority that African states should interrogate the process to ensure that structurally, the roles of the Bureau, Summits, Committees, Regional Caucuses, Secretariat and Commission are duly rationalized to give Africa a fit-for-purpose continental governance body with the capacity to engage globally.