Benin takes AU helm as leaders meet

The 18th African Union (AU) summit opened yesterday in Addis Ababa, as African leaders gathered with the theme of “Boosting Intra-African Trade”

African Union leaders chose Benin’s President Thomas Boni Yayi yesterday as the 54-member bloc’s new chairman, at a two-day summit hoped to help resolve multiple crises facing the continent.
Boni Yayi, who succeeded Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema AU chairman, said he wanted to “ensure that peace comes back our continent,” as he accepted the post with “humility” for “the high responsibility.”
“We shall continue to work hand in glove to ensure that we consolidate all what we have achieved so far,” Boni Yayi said, an economist who is not expected to rock the boat in his new post, a largely ceremonial position.
War-torn Somalia, oil disputes between Sudan and South Sudan, violence in Nigeria and riots in Senegal in response to the president’s determination to cling onto power, are also expected to be addressed in sideline talks.
“The development of our continent is in our hands my dear presidents...it is in unity and cohesion that our continent will ensure its development,” Boni Yayi added, urging peace in Sudan and South Sudan, the Sahel region and in Nigeria.
The AU chairmanship rotates among African leaders and is held for one year, but intense lobbying continues ahead of a vote today for the top job, the head of the bloc’s executive arm, the AU Commission.
Today, the 18th ordinary summit will chose in a secret ballot whether South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will take over from incumbent Jean Ping. No woman has held the AU Commission post.

Africa must respect gay rights: Ban

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told African leaders they must respect gay rights, speaking at the opening of a summit meeting in Addis Ababa yesterday.
“One form of discrimination ignored or even sanctioned by many states for too long has been discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Ban said.
“It prompted governments to treat people as second class citizens or even criminals,” he added.
Homosexuality is illegal in several African countries, and previous external criticism of restrictions imposed upon homosexuals has attracted angry responses from African leaders, who claim it is alien to their culture.
After Commonwealth leaders refused to adopt reforms to abolish homophobic laws in 41 member nations, British Prime Minister David Cameron said last year he would consider withholding aid from countries that do not recognise gay rights.
“Confronting these discriminations is a challenge, but we must not give up on the ideas of the universal declaration” of human rights, Ban told the summit.

South Africa said Saturday it was optimistic Dlamini-Zuma, former wife of President Jacob Zuma, can unseat Gabon’s Ping, who was first elected in 2008.
“Government remains optimistic that Minister Dlamini-Zuma will receive the necessary votes,” South Africa’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Sources close to Ping say he is confident of re-election, counting on support from French-speaking West and Central Africa countries.
But Dlamini-Zuma, 62, has launched a tough campaign and has the backing of the 15-member Southern African Development Community.
Pretoria has been lobbying hard across the continent to drum up the two thirds of the vote needed.
AU leaders, who gathered in their sleek new headquarters – a USD 200-million highrise centre built and donated by the Chinese government – were meeting for their first summit since the death of the bloc’s founder Moamer Kadhafi.
After a year that saw the AU faced with a post-election crisis in Ivory Coast as well as the Arab Spring revolutions, Obiang summed up his time in office by accusing “external powers” of trying to “perpetuate their influence” in Africa.
“Africa should not remain indifferent to external interference. Africa should not be questioned with regards to democracy, human rights, governance and transparency in public administration,” he said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the Arab Spring was a “a reminder that leaders must listen to their people.”
The African leaders will also discuss Somalia, where the AU has a 10,000-strong force protecting the country’s fragile Western-backed government from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab militia.
Regions of war-torn Somalia remains in the grip of a dire famine, but Ping said he was optimistic for the future.
“Never before have the prospects of peace in Somalia appeared so real,” he told the opening ceremony.
Insecurity in the Sahel region, where Al-Qaeda linked fighters also operate in several countries, will also be on the agenda.
Discussions are also expected on Senegal, where riots erupted Friday after opposition supporters reacted to a court decision that President Abdoulaye Wade could run for a third term.