Kagame signs African Union Act

Rwanda on Thursday became the 33rd African country and member of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) to sign the Africa Union Act. The president of the republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, signed the act at the OAU head office in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, on Thursday afternoon, according to Rwanda’s presidential press secretary, Nicolas Shalita. An agreement on the principle of establishing what has been descriobed as a “United States of Africa” was adopted in the Togolese capital, Lome, in July this year. “It is a pleasure to sign the act today,” President Kagame said after a brief signing ceremony. OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim congratulated Rwanda on signing the Act and called on African leaders who had signed it in Lome to speed up its ratification by their national assemblies, according to the Rwandan press release.