Reading through a piece like the one hereunder means a lot of lobbying is yet to be done by the AU as far as convincing the current permanent members of the SC is concerned.Studying the UN Charter and other related provisions should be the order of the day within the AU as at now.There is no way that AU can fly over these politico-economical hurdles through emotions and wishful thinking.The UN's history has always been dominated by who can do or offer services(monetary or military ones are high on the agenda).UN as an International diplomatic animal has in most cases been tethered in the green fields of the economic and military might of the current permanent members.This is a fact! Africa is also a political and economic force to reckon with.This is also a fact! Therefore merging both facts will give the UN an extended arm if Africa accesses the UN Permanent seats.
AU cum African UN member states should and have to pursue this vigorously otherwise we will live through many years to come without seeing Africa as a major player.As far as having permanent seats at the UN is concerned home governments should do away with local polemics on this one.The opposed and the opposing forces should be reviewing these texts together within the same perspective.
The challenges posed by some of the current members may sound that easy to skip but if one looks through the thick layers very closely, it is certain that these are major obstacles.
Let say for example if African member states face challenges like the ones china and the US presented before Kabbah during the first rounds what would they in return present as substance that goes against the former? Here is where emotions do not count,it is facts and evidence that counts. Within an institution where regulations determine the modus operandi,emotions and wishful thinking cannot do much.Now what our leaders need to do, is create a special bureau that would revisit the UN charter,revisit the past where Africa as a continent skipped some important issues while traversing the Cold war era likewise match their findings with the current goepolitical challenges.
African countries or Africa as one bloc might not have been contributing financially during peace keeping operations but it indeed has been contributing as far as man power is concerned.Arguing that point out may not be very difficult.However the approach of all African governments during General Assembly sessions has to be uniform.No non challance or inflamatory rhetoric is needed here.It can be done without sounding like people going against any society or region per se.This is an argument that should be based on laws,diplomacy,facts and figures.
Africa from the second world war to this date has been fighting along world powers to liberate the oppressed from tyranny and dictatorship lest we forget,the "anciens combattants" in Sembene Ousmane's film? Africans helped a lot in fighting against Hitler.Africans helped during major world wars.African has been the source of raw materials during,before and after the European Industrial Revolution.The list goes on and on....WE ARE MORE THAN QUALIFIED IF THE APPROACH IS DONE IN A MATURED AND UNIFIED WAY.
Read....
AU Adopts Report On Veto Powers
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The Herald (Harare)
November 1, 2005
Posted to the web November 1, 2005
Innocent Gore
Addis Ababa
THE African Union reaffirmed at an extraordinary summit here yesterday its stand that it should get two permanent seats with veto powers and two non-permanent seats on an expanded United Nations Security Council.
The summit adopted the report by the High Level Committee of 10, chaired by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone.
This expresses Africa's tenacious adherence to its position as broached in Harare in 1997, reinforced in Ezulwini, Swaziland, and at Sirte, Libya, in July this year, and then restated at another AU Extraordinary Summit in Addis Ababa in August.
Diplomats who attended a closed-door meeting during which President Kabbah presented his report, said most AU member states were unequivocal that Africa should maintain its position and seek to convince the rest of the world, including the five permanent members of the Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - to repair the long-standing injustice to the continent.
While some countries were of the view that Africa must have a fallback position in case it does not get what it is seeking, a majority were of the opinion that Africa should not renegotiate its position and that it must persevere for the full package.
It was also agreed that Africa must not only canvass for the support of the five permanent members, but must also mobilise other countries in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Most argued that the injury and injustice suffered by Africa cannot be cured by renegotiating the continent's position as this would only weaken it.
Members of the Committee of 10 - two each from the continent's five regions - had spent the whole morning and the greater part of the afternoon yesterday locked up in a meeting deliberating on the report before they reported back their position to the heads of state and government later in the afternoon.
The committee comprises Sierra Leone and Senegal from West Africa; Libya and Algeria (North Africa); Kenya and Uganda from East Africa; Zambia and Namibia representing Southern Africa; and Equatorial Guinea and Congo Republic (Central Africa).
In his report to the summit, Mr Kabbah said he had made contact with four of the five permanent members of the Security Council and that he believed the issue of the veto had been satisfactorily resolved.
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Ms Jendayi Frazer told Mr Kabbah that they were not against expansion of the Security Council, but were of the view that the expansion should be done according to certain principles and standards.
She told the Sierra Leonean leader that the US position was that whoever was going to be on the Security Council should have responsibility for sharing the burden of peacekeeping and contribute financially to UN operations and have a proven or demonstrable record of doing so.
China, according to Mr Kebbah, had, through its ambassador in his country, also expressed support for Africa's position, but its stance would change if the continent votes for the granting of permanent seats to a country "whose interests are inimical to China". This could be a veiled reference to Japan, which China says does not deserve a Security Council seat unless it owns up to atrocities committed on the Chinese during the Second World War.
Mr Kabbah said the British, through envoys, and the French, had "unequivocally" and "clearly" supported Africa's position on the Security Council.
However, he said, by the time of the summit he had not yet contacted the Russians.
Delegates welcomed the report, but said in future the committee should make contacts at the highest levels and not through officials. The general feeling was that officials like Ms Frazer were too low and of no "political substance" to represent official thinking in the Bush administration. Some diplomats were also irritated by US conditions, saying one does not correct an injustice by conditionalities.
"We have the right to presume, therefore, that permanent membership confers the full enjoyment of all the privileges, rights and obligations attached to that status in the Security Council. What accounts for the veto today in the UN is related to the requirements in the charter that substantive decisions of the Security Council must be taken with the concurrent vote of the five permanent members.
"I believe that at this stage, we have all the elements that we need for us to obtain the two permanent seats we have requested since all the five permanent members have assured us of their support," said Mr Kabbah.
It was important, he said, that the AU's overall strategy for UN reform should ensure that African representatives are mandated to pursue all other aspects of the reforms which featured in the Outcome Document which was adopted on September 16 by heads of states attending the UN High Level Summit segment of the General Assembly.
Special focus, he said, should be given to the role of the General Assembly. It was in Africa's interest to work for reforms that would strengthen, not weaken, the role of the General Assembly.
"In the 1960s and 1970s, Africa was very strong in the General Assembly because of its preponderance in numbers. At that time Africa's numerical representation was decisive and neither the USA nor the then Soviet Union would take any action without consulting the African group.
"However, with the increased membership arising after the break-up of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the African numerical strength is not as strong as before.
"Nevertheless, Africa can still exercise influence by continuing to work closely with the Non-Aligned Movement group, a group that is also demanding the strengthening of the General Assembly," said President Kabbah.
There was, however, a perception that the US, along with other Western powers, was not in favour of strengthening the General Assembly and that their approach was to criticise the assembly's working method of "repetitive resolutions and unwieldy debates".
"This may be a pretext to avoid enhancing the effectiveness of an organ over which they cannot guarantee full control. In a co-operative spirit, the African group should engage the US and other Western powers in efforts to reform the assembly to avoid some of the obvious repetitive procedures," said Mr Kabbah.
The Sierra Leonean leader said it would be appropriate for African leaders to appoint people with outstanding academic and diplomatic credentials to represent them at the UN on specific matters where necessary.
"To summarise, I believe the major challenge we face now is to take a decision on the allocation of two permanent seats to Africa as a historical right. We need a consensus on the modalities for allocating the seats. This is urgent and essential if the AU is to attain its objective. Sharing of information is also essential for the formulation of sound policies. A broad-based African view on the wider issues of UN reform, including reform of related organisations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, is also required."
Diplomats said Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya and Zimbabwe were very vocal in support of Africa's position for two permanent seats with equal rights, privileges and obligations of permanent members.
Officials quoted President Mugabe as saying: "We do not want a permanent seat with three legs whereas theirs have four. We want a stable seat and not a disabled one. With all these years of injustice, should we start a new history of two members of Africa with no veto? No. We will become a laughing stock and we do not want Africa to send a laughing stock.
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"This is not a fight that we are waging with the full hope of getting everything at one go. If we don't succeed this time around, we should not think we have failed. We should, instead, reconsider our position and strategy and seek to convince those against us. We don't surrender. Aluta continua, the fight goes on, but the perspective is clear: We must negotiate with all the permanent five but at the top-most level."
President Mugabe and his delegation returned home last night.
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