The Honourable Dr Ali Treki, Secretary for African
Unity of the Great Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya;
Honourable Ministers;
Your Excellency the Interim Chairperson of the
Commission;
Your Excellencies the Interim Commissioners;
Your Excellencies the Permanent Representatives to
the African Union;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Distinguished delegates;
It is my honour to welcome you all to this
important 1st Extraordinary Session of the
Executive Council at which we will consider and make
recommendations on the proposed amendments of the
Constitutive Act of the African Union.
We are convening exactly five months to the day
since the adoption of the Rules of Procedure by the
Assembly of Heads of State and Government during the
Inaugural Summit of the African Union in Durban in
July this year.
Allow me also, on behalf of the Executive Council,
to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Government
and people of the Great Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya for hosting this extraordinary session of
the Executive Council, for the warm welcome accorded
us on our arrival and for the excellent organisation
and facilities put at our disposal for the purpose of
our meeting.
The launching of the African Union at the Summit in
Durban on 9 July 2002 was indeed a landmark occasion
in the history of our Continent. It heralded decades
of concerted efforts by generations of African leaders
and peoples to bring closer to fruition the
concretisation of the vision of Pan-Africanism and the
realisation of an African Renaissance. In pursuit of
operationalising the Durban Decisions it is incumbent
upon us to ensure that whatever measures we recommend
for adoption by the Assembly, we are strengthening the
African Union and maintaining its relevance in the
face of the numerous challenges that Africa has to
meet. We must therefore remain focused on the task at
hand and display our seriousness in the speedy
ratification of the Protocol establishing the Pan
African Parliament.
The African Union is designed and structured to
consolidate and enhance all steps towards the idea of
Pan-Africanism and African unity and to serve as the
mechanism that will deliver our peoples from the
wanton poverty, instability and insecurity to peace
and prosperity through democracy and development by
taking our collective destiny into our own hands.
We can proudly claim to have made great strides in
our resolve to bring to the Continent the element of
stability and security through our concerted efforts
and determination in facilitating dialogue between the
belligerents aimed at promoting resolution to those
conflicts that still afflict certain regions of
Africa. Cases in point are the peace process in the
DRC, Burundi and the Sudan. However, we continue to
have to deal with the new challenges that confront us
in Cote d'Ivoire as well as along the common border of
the Sudan and Eritrea among others. We are confident
that the early ratification of the Protocol
establishing the Peace and Security Council will lend
more impetus to our efforts in finally bringing
lasting peace to all parts of our continent.
Certainly, the negotiations and early conclusion of
the Common Defence and Security Policy for the
continent will be pivotal in our efforts. It is
expected that a meeting of experts will be convened in
January 2003 to consider this matter.
We also recognise the timely entry into force of
the Algiers Convention Against Terrorism which
provides us with the mechanism to confront the
increasing threat of global terrorism, particularly
that posed to Africa in light of the recent acts of
terrorism conducted against our sister country, Kenya.
In this regard, we reiterate our condemnation of such
acts in the strongest possible terms and once again
convey our collective sympathies to the Government and
people of Kenya.
Whilst we are confronted by these challenges, we
are also witnessing with concern the unfolding
developments in the Middle East, which continues to
threaten global peace and security. Africa can and
must play its role in averting further escalation of
tensions that could result in the conflagration of
conflict in the Middle East.
The Constitutive Act establishing the African Union
is the legal embodiment of this process towards
African unity. It was here, in Libya, where on 9
September 1999 we adopted the Sirte Declaration in
which we introduced new measures to adddress the
social, political and economic realities in Africa;
where we decided to establish the African Union, in
conformity with the ultimate objectives of the OAU
Charter and the provisions of the Abuja Treaty.
We have, on several occasions, referred to the fact
that the launch of the African Union is not simply a
continuation of the OAU by another name. Specifically,
as we debated in Lusaka, we said the African Union was
going to be a community of the people of Africa. To
this end, we have also witnessed the adoption of NEPAD
as the programme for Africa's social and economic
development by the UNGA at its Special Session on 16
September 2002. NEPAD continues to remain the
framework within which the AU will have to relate to
other regional blocs such as ASEAN, MERCOSUR, the EU
as well as other co-operating partners which places
the responsibility of its success on our collective
shoulders.
Although each of us as Member States continue our
respect for the sovereignty of the nation state, in
the Constitutive Act we introduced the acceptance of a
first step from that sovereignty towards a larger
supra-national arrangement; we captured the essence of
the paradigm shift that took place at the end of the
20th Century on our Continent.
To this end the Constitutive Act strikes a delicate
balance between those of us that wanted the immediate
establishment of the African Continent as a unified
African State, and those who advocated for a
step-by-step approach to such integration.
The mandate for our meeting here today, derived
from the decision of the Summit in Durban to convene
an Extraordinary Summit of the Union within a period
of six months, is to consider the amendments of the
Constitute Act, as proposed by Member States within
the provisions of Article 32 of the Act. Our aim in
considering the amendments must, in accordance with
Article 32(3) of the Act, be to prepare for and
recommend to the Assembly, appropriate action on the
proposed amendments.
Our advice to the Assembly must be consistent with
the spirit of the Declaration adopted at Sirte on 9
September 1999 by our Heads of State and Government.
In considering the proposed amendments before us, let
us recognise that change can be positive, particularly
if it strengthens the work of the Union instead of
paralysing it. It cannot be that we are here to
redraft the Constitutive Act of the African Union nor
to disturb the delicate balance struck by the
Constitutive Act.
Our challenge to make the African Union succeed
relates to the continued political will of the
governments and peoples of Africa. If we reach, sign
and ratify protocols, decisions, conclusions,
agreements and declarations, but lack the political
will to respect and abide by them, we can hardly
achieve unity. If we cannot abide by a consensus
reached by ourselves after our own rules-based
discussions, then we may not achieve the unity
necessary to take the African Union forward.
As we embark on our deliberations over these two
days, let us not for a moment underestimate the
seriousness of the matter before us. I look forward to
the co-operation of all delegations during the course
of our work and expect that we shall conduct ourselves
in the spirit of collegiality.
Thank you
