By Simegnish Yekoye
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -While Africa will celebrate 2010 as the year of peace and security, leaders requested to focus the outstanding challenges in Madagascar, Somalia, and Darfur, to ensure that peace returns to these troubled regions in the shortest time possible.
During the closing session of the 14th Ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the newly elected Chair Person Bingu Wa Mutharika asked leaders to remain steadfast and to use all capacities to resolve intractable situations and to restore peace everywhere.
On his speech, Mutharika noted with satisfaction the positive political developments in Mauritania and Guinea, where concrete steps have been taken to restore democracy and hope to the ordinary citizens.
“Our efforts to restore political stability shall require the full cooperation of the political players in these countries, but more importantly, the regional economic communities, which have far more comparative advantage in facilitating contact and dialogue between warring parties.”
The Assembly of Heads of State and Government selected fifteen members of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of AU in replacement of those members whose term of office expired in January 2010. 5 of them were elected in 2007 for a three-years term, while 10 other members were elected in 2008 for two-years term and had to be replaced now.
After the Executive Council undertook the election of replacing countries during its 16th Ordinary session, the Assembly of Heads of States endorsed the selection on February 2, 2010.
The 15 PSC members are elected on a regional basis where three representatives are selected from Central Africa, three from East Africa, two from North Africa, three from Southern Africa, and 4 from West Africa.
Accordingly, the five countries elected to serve for a period of three years beginning from March 2010 are Kenya, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
The other ten members were elected for a term of two years from Burundi, Republic of Chad, Djibouti, Rwanda, Mauritania, Namibia, South Africa, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali.
During this year of peace and security the new Chairperson requested serenity. He said, conflicts and wars in Africa should be avoided. He also declared war as an unconstitutional political change on African soil.
“We should take strong and necessary punitive action against all authors of coups de etat and those that provide them the means to unseat duly elected governments,” Mutharika said noting unconstitutional change threatens the cherished peace and security on the continent.