African Union Commission chair: No more empty decisions

By Addis Getachew and Seleshi Tessema

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) - Addressing dozens of African heads of state, the African Union Commission’s chair Monday made an unprecedented plea for leaders to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Speaking at the opening of the African Union Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Moussa Mahamat Faki said African leaders ought to balance out decisions and actions.

“An infinite number of decisions being passed by the AU should not go without due consideration for modalities of implementation,” said the Chadian politician. The continental body has long been criticized for inaction or the slow-paced implementation of decisions and projects.

Faki also expressed grave concern over festering conflict situations and violence in South Sudan, Libya, Mali, the Chad Lake basin, and the Sahel (south Sahara border) region.

The summit’s theme, “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investing in the Youth,” refers to the young continent, as the median age of Africa’s 1 billion-plus population is 19 years old.

Accordingly, jobs for young people, as well as migration, peace, security, and financing institutional reform are set to take center stage of the meeting.

But the two-day summit began with a record low attendance, as leaders from nations such as Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, South Africa, Egypt, and Malawi were notably absent.

- Abbas urges exclusion of Israel

Speaking at the summit’s opening, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pleaded with African leaders to reject Israel’s bid to “participate in the workings of the African Union.”

“Letting Israel participate in the workings of the AU would encourage it to continue its occupation and oppressive stance,” he said.

In recent years Israel has been actively lobbying individual African nations to favor its bid for observer status in the union.