Africa-Press – Rwanda. President Paul Kagame on Thursday, February 8, revealed he would be stepping down as leader of the African Union reform process, which he assumed in 2016.
After taking charge of the process, which was aimed at making the continental body run more efficiently, including by avoiding duplicitous roles among its institutions, Kagame picked a team of experts from across Africa to work with him.
The President said his mandate was winding down during a meeting with the AU reform team in Kigali, which was also attended by Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC).
The meeting, which was held in hybrid format with some participants taking part virtually, comes ahead of the African Union Summit scheduled at the end of the month.
At the meeting, held at Village Urugwiro, Kagame and his team reviewed the implementation of the reform effort and discussed the importance of sustaining progress to an effective and financially-sustainable African Union.
“I want to thank you for your continued participation in this effort to carry out a reform of continental affairs and body, and more importantly, I wish to thank you for your dedication over the past eight years,” Kagame said.
He added; “Our work has made a positive difference, I believe. When we started the AU was nearly bankrupt. There was no guarantee that the reform effort would be any more successful than the previous attempts.”
“Today, the Peace Fund stands at nearly 400 million and almost all member states are paying their dues.”
The Fund has Rwandan economist Donald Kaberuka as its high representative and it is essentially charged with mobilising funds to support peace efforts across the continent.
The vast majority of the reform decisions, Kagame said, had been implemented despite “some items” remaining difficult to finalise.
These include the restructuring of the AU organs and division of labour with regional economic communities.
The meeting was also attended by Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
However, he said, some progress has been made “and we look forward to the commission’s update on the latest updates.”
“The reform and improvement of AU is a continuous process, it doesn’t begin or end with our work.”
“Indeed because of the advances that have been made, it is now possible to envisage even more ambitious reforms to make our organisation even more effective.”
In 2016, African leaders decided that Institutional Reforms of the African Union were urgent and necessary, given the role the contintal body was expected to play in championing Africa’s ambitious Agenda 2063 vision of inclusive economic growth and development.
Kagame was then mandated by the Heads of State Summit to lead the process.
Part of his work along with his team of experts is to lay out proposals that ensure the continental body establishes and focuses on key priority areas, streamline its current structure, and make it financially less dependent on partner funding.
“Therefore, after eight fruitful years and multiple extensions, I believe that the moment has arrived to conclude this mandate. That means handing over the remaining items to the ordinary structures of the commission to finalize consultations with member states.”
“Today, I seek your advice and counsel for the message and my final report to the assembly later this month so that we do our part to ensure good momentum in the years ahead. I could not have done it without all of you.”
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