African Union leaders chose Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat to chair the 54-nation body at 28th Summit

African Union leaders chose Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat to chair the 54-nation body at 28th Summit
Morocco rejoins the African Union after 33 years
The African Union slammed the United States for banning refugees after centuries of taking black people from Africa to work as slaves.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: The 28th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), officially opened at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a strong call for unity to uphold the maintenance of peace and stability in the continent.

The new Chairperson of the African Union (AU), H.E. Mr. Alpha Conde, President of the Republic of Guinea, was elected, Monday 30 January 2017, by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, during their 28th Ordinary Session holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

President Alpha Conde is taking over from H.E. Mr. Idriss Deby Itno, President of the Republic of Chad as the new Chairperson of the African Union for the year 2017.

Chadian Foreign Minister Hon. Moussa Faki Mahamat has been elected incoming Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission by AU heads of State and Government, who form the Assembly of the African Union.

Ghana’s Ambassador Thomas Kwesi Quartey was elected Deputy Chairperson.

Elections for the eight Commissioner posts are ongoing.

At a time of historic progress toward a malaria-free Africa, the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) honoured eight African countries that have shown commitment and innovation in the fight against the disease. Today at the 28th African Union Summit, the 2017 ALMA Awards for Excellence were awarded to:

• Botswana, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Swaziland and Uganda, for their impact on malaria incidence and mortality; and • Chad, for its leadership in the fight against malaria.
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Moussa Faki Mahamat
Incoming Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission

Faki, born in 1960, has served as Chad’s Foreign Minister since 2008. His previous posts also included a stint as Chad’s prime minister from June 24, 2003 to February 4, 2005. He attended university in Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo, where he studied law.

Chad
Religions:
Muslim 58.4%
Christian 34.6%
-Christian Catholic 18.5%
-Christian Protestant 16.1%
Traditional African and Other 7%
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Video: 28th AU Summit: Moussa Faki Mahamat chosen as AU Commission chairperson
AU Commission will face some major challenges — including the latest executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump, which bans people from Muslim-majority African countries from entering America.

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Video: How Kenya lost African Union commission post to Chad candidate

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Morocco rejoins the African Union after 33 years

By Hamza Mohamed
Al Jazeera

ADDIS ABABA- Morocco rejoins the AU after a 33-year absence, despite resistance from member states over the status of Western Sahara.

The African Union has decided to allow Morocco back into the fold after a 33-year absence, despite stiff resistance from some member states over the status of Western Sahara.

After an emotional and tense debate, member states decided by consensus to leave the question of the disputed territory of Western Sahara for another day, and resolve it with Morocco “back in the family”.

“Morocco has been admitted to join the AU with a view that it will become the 55th member of the continental body. That’s made with the understanding that Western Sahara will remain a member of the AU,” said Lamine Baali, ambassador of Western Sahara to Ethiopia and the AU.

“All the debates were focused on [the issue] that Morocco should respect the internationally recognised border of Western Sahara.”

The only African country not to belong to the AU, Morocco left its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, in 1984 after the body recognised the independence of Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.

Morocco submitted its bid to rejoin last year, reportedly in the hope that being inside the AU would bring it diplomatic gains against Western Sahara’s independence movement – the Polisario Front – and allow it to lobby against Western Sahara’s membership in the AU.

But Baali said Morocco had been re-admitted “with the understanding that Western Sahara will remain a member of the AU”.

The membership of relatively wealthy Morocco was welcomed by many members of the AU, which has been criticised for being overly dependent on non-African donor funding.

There was also some opposition from countries supporting the Polisario, observers said.

An African Union source, who followed the debate for Morocco to return to the continental body, said that 39 countries supported Morocco’s bid but nine voted against it.

Polisario leader and member of the Sawhrawi delegation Minister Mohamed Beiset told Al Jazeera that while there was a lengthy debate, “the wisdom of the African leaders made it possible to reach a consensus that was acceptable to everyone”.

The delegation decided, said Beiset, that “it was better to have Morocco inside the house, inside the family, and to try to reach African solutions to African problems”.

He congratulated Morocco for joining the AU, and said it was “a new opportunity that we should all seize in starting a … genuine dialogue between us to reach a solution to the long-standing conflict that has separated us”.
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Video: Morocco readmited into the African Union after 33 years of absence

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African Union to Trump: US took slaves from Africa, not refugees

International Business Times

The African Union slammed the United States for banning refugees after centuries of taking black people from Africa to work as slaves. The head of the 53-member body called Trump’s ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries “one of the greatest challenges” for the continent.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s remarks came during an African Union two-day summit in Addis Ababa. Zuma, a South African lawmaker and the first female leader of the African Union, said the new Trump administration could usher in “very turbulent times.”

For more than 300 years, Africa supplied the capital for a slave trade that sent 12.5 million people to the New World between 1525 and 1866. Only 10.7 million people survived the trip and ended up in North America, the Caribbean and South America.

See complete article

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African Union headquarters -Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Video: African leaders arrive for African Union Summit

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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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The United States of Africa -The African Union
https://dilemma-x.net/2013/02/10/black-history-month-the-united-states-of-africa-the-diasporas-remittances-in-2012/
The ultimate objective of the African Union is the United States of Africa
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