{"id":65533,"date":"2024-02-18T17:35:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T17:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team"},"modified":"2024-02-18T17:55:21","modified_gmt":"2024-02-18T17:55:21","slug":"au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team","title":{"rendered":"AU today is fit-for-purpose, says Kagame as Ruto takes over reforms team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>The African Union is better positioned to drive the interests of the continent than it was in 2016, when the body launched institutional reforms, President Paul Kagame said on Saturday, February 17 as he attended the 37th AU Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.<\/p>\n

Kagame, who spearheaded the AU reforms for the past eight years, concluded his mandate and handed over to Kenya\u2019s President William Ruto.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong the achievements we can point to is the revitalization of the Peace Fund,\u201d he said as he presented the reforms to the AU Assembly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost $400 million has been mobilized. As a direct result, the United Nations Security Council recently decided to finance three-quarters of African Union peace operations for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was only possible because the African Union today is more fit-for-purpose than it was. And we are getting better at defining our common interests, and advocating for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This morning at African Union Headquarters, President Kagame joined Heads of State and Government from across the African continent for the opening ceremony of the 37th #AUSUmmit and witnessed the handover of the Chairmanship from President Azali Assoumani of the Comoros to… pic.twitter.com\/rGGvXEtN2l<\/p>\n

\u2014 Presidency | Rwanda (@UrugwiroVillage) February 17, 2024<\/p>\n

\u2018Reforms must not end here\u2019<\/p>\n

The president said however that the journey was still long before the continental body realises its desired position in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have a long way to go for the African Union to be as strong as we want and need it to be,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know where we want to be as a continent. Now, what seems often to be missing is the political will to implement what we ourselves have decided.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why the reform journey must not end here,\u201d Kagame noted, as he cautioned against \u201cbacksliding into inefficient ways of conducting our business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kagame said there were \u201cpending issues\u201d that still needed to be finalised with regards to the restructuring of the AU organ, such as the division of labour between the Commission and Regional Economic Communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cResponsibility for completing these steps should rest with the Commission, working in close consultation with Member States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Serious challenges\u2019<\/p>\n

Kagame said there were still challenges hindering AU\u2019s productivity, including the Assembly agenda that \u201ccontinues to be too lengthy, with many items that do not require the consideration of Heads of State.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to be productive, we must prioritize the most important items,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Second, he noted, is the need to clarify the role of the rotating position of the AU Chairperson of the African Union in relation to the Chairperson of the AU Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has become more important as we work out how Africa will be represented at the G20 and similar gatherings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Third is the principle of subsidiarity which \u201ccontinues to be misinterpreted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToo often, there is an incoherence in decisions taken at the continental and regional levels. Africa is not a monolith. Member States will always have differing views, Kagame said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should not pretend these differences do not exist, but should focus on finding a middle ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the AU should keep in mind the global context. \u201cThe world is facing unprecedented crises, and everyone is impacted, without any exception. We therefore have to \u2014 more than ever \u2014 depend on each other,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Another challenge he said was to have clear rules and mandates of the legislative and judicial bodies like the Pan-African Parliament and the African Court of Justice. He said they act more as advisory organs and cannot fulfil their original function.<\/p>\n

Lastly, he said, decisions taken at the level of Heads of State continue to be revisited and revised, or even resisted, by some members of the Permanent Representatives Committee.<\/p>\n

Kagame said this \u201cshould really be unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe even see parallel structures created, whose main purpose seems to be to frustrate and delay the reforms which the Heads of State have suggested and put in place. For example, the restructuring of the organs has been stalled for years in such maneuvers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. The African Union is better positioned to drive the interests of the continent than it was in 2016, when the body launched institutional reforms, President Paul Kagame said on Saturday, February 17 as he attended the 37th AU Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Kagame, who spearheaded the AU reforms for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":65532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29,14],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-65533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nAU today is fit-for-purpose, says Kagame as Ruto takes over reforms team - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The African Union is better positioned to drive the interests of the continent than it was in 2016, when the body launch ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AU today is fit-for-purpose, says Kagame as Ruto takes over reforms team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The African Union is better positioned to drive the interests of the continent than it was in 2016, when the body launch ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-18T17:35:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-18T17:55:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2024\/02\/sm_1708266255.673506.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"617\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"AU today is fit-for-purpose, says Kagame as Ruto takes over reforms team\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-18T17:35:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-18T17:55:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team\"},\"wordCount\":700,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2024\/02\/sm_1708266255.673506.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/au-today-is-fit-for-purpose-says-kagame-as-ruto-takes-over-reforms-team\",\"name\":\"AU today is fit-for-purpose, says Kagame as Ruto takes over reforms team - 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