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Civil society organizations say African leaders failing their people

Wednesday, 28 January 2015 2:50 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 28 January 2015 2:50 AM ]

Coletta Wanjohi
Press TV, Addis Ababa

Africa continues to suffer from recurring conflicts like in Democratic republic of Congo, South Sudan, Central African Republic as new ones like those caused by the Boko Haram militants in Nigeria continue to emerge.

Ahead of the African Union summit scheduled for 30th and 31st of January, African civil society organizations have blamed the continent’s heads of state for failing to take measures that can avert problems like these conflicts, poverty, and inequality.

They say African leaders have resorted to recycling already-made recommendations during summits without being keen on implementation.

Of concern to the civil society organizations is also the fact that the African Union has failed to pronounce itself on the issue of presidential term limits, unconstitutional change of government and having a clear distinction between the legality and legitimacy of leaders.

The civil society organizations have expressed open disappointment on the fact that president Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is to be the chair of the African union this year . They claim considering his overstay in power, he does not reflect the virtues that the AU stands for.

African Civil society organizations point out that there already exist instruments at the disposal of the African Union for implementation of already recommended policies. Therefore, they do not see why new recommendations should be brought to the summit every year , yet in essence the older ones haven’t been fully implemented.

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