Three African Countries Banned From AU Summit
21st summit of the African Union (AU) – Central African Republic, Guinea Bissau and Madagascar have been banned from attending the 21st summit of the African Union (AU), to be held from 25 to 27 May in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A source close to the African bloc said the three countries were banned because of the anti-constitutional change of power in those countries. Madagascar was banned following the overthrow in March 2009 of President Marc Ravalomanana. The AU suspended Guinea Bissau because of the 2012 coup d’etat in that country and CAR for an armed insurgency in 2013. This year’s summit will be held under the theme: ‘Pan-Africanism and African Rebirth’. It also coincides with the 50th anniversary celebration of the Organization of the African Unity (OAU) which was renamed the African Union (AU) in 1999. PANA reports that pictures of the founding fathers of the pan-African bloc adorn the walls of the plenary room of the AU headquarter. They include those of Egyptian Gamal Abdel Nasser, Congolese Patrice Lumumba, Guinea’s Ahmed Sekou Toure, Liberian William Tubman, Algeria’s Ahmed Ben Bella, Tanzanian Julius Nyerere, Zambia’s Kenethe Kaunda, Namibian Sam Nujoma and Nigeria’s Tafawa Balewa. Cultural and musical events will be held to mark the anniversary which will also feature discussions on the contributions from member states to the AU budget and the current conflicts in East Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Mali. The French president, Francois Hollande, is the honorary guest of the summit. France was the first country to launch a military intervention in Mali to back west African country’s efforts to deal with the Islamists who had occupied the North and threatened the march to the capital, Bamako.
Source: afriquejet