AU MUST WORK TO DEEPEN DEMOCRACY — SAYS ALHAJI MUMUNI (SPREAD)

THE Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, has observed that now that the decolonisation project in Africa is over, the new exciting agenda and innovation for the African Union (AU) is to work to deepen the democratic culture and promote good governance across the continent.
That, he said, would propel the continent into an era of African unity and rapid socio-economic development.
He explained that good governance was an imperative to be embraced not only by politicians, the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, public servants and the private sector but should cut across all endeavours, including the activities of educational institutions, religious groups and traditional authorities, for holistic development.
Alhaji Mumuni made the observation at a flag-raising ceremony to commemorate the 46th anniversary of the AU (formerly the Organisation of African Unity) in Accra yesterday.
The ceremony was witnessed by a large number of members of the Diplomatic Corps and traditional rulers.
Alhaji Mumuni said African people ought to see themselves as sailing on the same boat, adding that it was by a collective effort that the continent could be expected to complete the struggle for economic emancipation.
He said with the advent of the AU and the adoption of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), a number of principles had since emerged to move the continent closer towards its desire to establish a continental union government.
The minister said the most significant achievement of the AU was its ability to successfully liberate Africa from the yoke of colonialism through the determination of its people and those in the Diaspora.
He said the visionary leadership provided by the early founding fathers, the ripple effect of the independence of Ghana in 1957, coupled with support from the international community, including the United Nations and the Non- Aligned Movement, ensured that by end of the 20th century the shackles of colonialism were shattered.
He said the 1994 democratic elections in South Africa not only heralded a new era in that country but also brought the period of colonialism on the African continent to an end.
Alhaji Mumuni said the shattering of colonialism had brought with it the widespread feeling across Africa that the time had come to accelerate continental unity and make it more inclusive and relevant to the masses.
He said the Sirte Declaration of September 9, 1999 in Libya was an immediate result of the collective reflection on the need for the AU in a rapidly changing global order.
He said the declaration also set the stage for the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the AU in 2000, saying that evolving in tandem with that process at the turn of the 20th century was the African renaissance and the new agenda of NEPAD.
The Chairperson of the AU Commission, Dr Jean Ping, whose speech was read by the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps, Mr Jean Pierre Gbikpi, said the AU had streamlined and strengthened the regional economic communities and accelerated the mechanism for the establishment of such continental institutions as the African Economic Community, the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank.
He said the continent could look into the future with confidence and forge ahead to give concrete expression to the dream of a united and strong Africa that would be able to influence the course of the international community free from want, fear and poverty.