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The
fourth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, at its
meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, in January 2005 took note of the
proposals for the creation of the posts of Ministers of Defence,
Foreign Affairs, Transport and Communications, Foreign Trade and the
cancellation of Customs and harmonization of custom tariffs among
Members States. The Assembly accepted the proposals as pertinent and
forward looking and in line with the vision of the African Union and
set up a Committee of Heads of State and Government chaired by the
President of the Republic of Uganda to consider with the Chairperson
of the Commission the said Proposals and submit report to the next
meeting of the Assembly in Sirte.
The
Assembly commended the Committee for its work and established
another Committee of seven Heads of States, chaired by President
Olusegun Obasanjom to consider all the ideas discussed during the
summit and submit to the next session of the Assembly a report,
itemising the steps that need to be taken for the realization of
this objective.
In line
with that mandate, a two-day conference was organised in Abuja,
Nigeria, on November 2 & 3, 2005, to discuss the “Desirability of a
Union Government in Africa”.
The recommendations and conclusions of that conference were
submitted to the Experts Group of the African Union Commission,
which met in Addis Ababa during 12-14 December 2005. The Committee
of Seven discussed the proposals made by that Experts Group on 22nd
of January 2006 in Khartoum.
As a
way forward, the Committee proposed a programme of action for
accelerating the integration process. One component of the programme
of action is the review of the nature and state of integration in
Africa designed to identify programmes, initiatives, policies and
decisions as well as an indicative road map that will be required to
facilitate the creation of union government in Africa. The second
component is to “organize consultation workshops” that will broaden
the support base of the union. The
implementation of that programme of action will constitute the next
phase of the work of the African Union on the establishment of the
United States of Africa.
Pursuant to the above, the AU Commission established an Advisory
Board to oversee the implementation of the programme of action. In
February 2006, the Advisory Group commissioned a study to review the
integrating institutions and programmes. A Technical meeting to
review the draft outline of the Advisory Board is due in Nigeria.
Date:
April
29 – 30, 2006
Venue:
Ota,
Nigeria
Arrival:
April
28, 2006
Departure:
May 1,
2006
For
further enquiries, please contact Adeoba Ojekunle:
E-mail:
ojekunle@africaleadership.org Tel: 039 722 730-3, 080 238 100
45; Fax: 039 722 751
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