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African leaders hail new beginning

[South Africa] President Thabo Mbeki ANC
Thabo Mbeki, the man handed the baton of brokering peace in Cote d'Ivoire
The experience of the last 40 years calls for a radical change to political and economic life on the continent, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday. Africans would have to overcome the debilitating effect of inertia if the continent was to take its rightful place as an equal in the world, he said at the opening of the 38th and final summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Durban, South Africa. Heads of state from across the continent gathered in the Indian Ocean port city for the birth of the African Union (AU), touted as a leaner and more effective successor to the OAU. Mbeki, who will become the first chairman of the AU at its formal launch on Tuesday, said ordinary Africans expected leaders to emerge from the summit with concrete decisions that addressed issues in a meaningful way. "We have to aim for measurable advances and not be satisfied merely to report that we met and adopted good resolutions," he said. Mbeki also lauded the work of the OAU saying that despite attempts to destroy the pan-African organisation, visionaries and activists "kept the vision of unity and solidarity of African states alive". Formed in 1963, the OAU was the first attempt to make real the vision of a united Africa. However, critics have charged that with an out-of-date charter that narrowly defined sovereignty, the organisation had apparently protected dictators through its so-called principle of non-interference. Mbeki countered this in his address, saying that the recent successes achieved in moving to democracy and ending conflict in the Comoros, Sierra Leone and Lesotho, demonstrated that those who characterised Africa as a hopeless continent were wrong. The AU, considered the brainchild of controversial Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, is expected to remedy some of the shortcomings of its predecessor. Unlike the OAU, the AU will have the political leverage to intervene in member states where there is evidence of serious human rights violations, such as genocide and war crimes. The AU will be multi-faceted, with an assembly made up of all the heads of state and an executive council composed of foreign ministers. Included in the plan are a pan-African parliament, a court of justice and a central bank. Although optimistic about the future of the AU, Gaddafi warned delegates that in its search for peace and prosperity, Africa would not be dictated to by the west. He said Africa was not willing to accept international assistance based on conditions. "We are not children for someone to teach," he said. News reports have suggested that Gaddafi was particularly concerned about the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which pledges good governance in exchange for investment and aid, saying the programme would re-colonise Africa. Gaddafi urged the international community to respect the values and principles of "African democracy". "We accept help, and the development of the world particularly in peace and prosperity and we will try promote good governance, but in our style," he said. Some of the issues on the table on Monday included recommendations for putting together the four key structures of the AU, the action plan for NEPAD and political concerns such as the position of Madagascar. The Indian Ocean island state has been barred from taking up its seat in the AU following a disputed presidential election in December last year. A top Malagasy official in the OAU told IRIN: "Considering recent developments, popular opinion is likely to swing toward reversing the earlier decision." Last week key donor countries, including the former colonial power, France, endorsed President Marc Ravalomanana's presidency, after the OAU failed to recognise him nor his political rival, Didier Ratsiraka as president.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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