Parties urge ratification of union treaty

Representatives of political parties from 30 African countries urged their governments and parliaments on Sunday to ratify, urgently, the African Union Treaty. The 200 participants also said they would ask trade unions, NGOs, civil society and African leaders to defend the ideals of the treaty. The two-day meeting, which ended on Sunday, aimed at mobilizing political parties to lobby legislators to ratify the document before the 2 March OAU extraordinary summit at Syrte, Libya, when the treaty is due to come into force. However, two-thirds of the countries must ratify the document before that can happen. “Africa has already lost a lot of time and valuable children in delaying on the issue of unity, [and by engaging] in fratricidal wars and playing the music of dominant countries,” Rock Kabore, representing Burkina Faso’s ruling Congress for Democracy and Democracy, said. The participants, who also spoke of the need to create and strengthen democratic institutions, demanded the release of all political prisoners in Africa.