29 May 2013

Vice President, Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe who has been attending the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia returned home on May 28.

Dr Kedikilwe said in an interview that the main purpose of the summit was to celebrate African Union’s 50th Anniversary since its establishment in 1963.

He said the intention was to celebrate the fact that they had been able to hang on together as the original Organization of the African Union (OAU), and being able to transform into African Union (AU).

The African Union, he said, should have one voice in international affairs. 

The summit convened under the theme, “Pan Africanism and African Renaissance.” 

Dr Kedikilwe noted that the resolution was to look forward to 2063 on the basis of the challenges that they have encountered so far and the achievements made.

The challenges they encountered, he said, included democratic processes, the rule of law and the conflicts, citing countries such as The Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia .

He observed that the overall progress of the democratic process could not be realized if conflicts were still encountered by members of the Union. 

The Vice President noted that as the member states, they were also concerned about their image, saying they intended to devise measures and solutions that could be put in place to prevent conflicts hindering the democratic progress.

Dr Kedikilwe stated that they also looked into ways in which they could develop their natural resources so that they could export their products rather than importing.

He said they made plans on how programmes and projects post 2015 to 2063 should be executed, adding that the major concern was that Africa was still dependent on financial support from other countries to implement their projects.

Botswana’s stance, he said, was that plans of 2063 should be in line with the member states’ commitment, saying implementation on the funded projects should be evident even if African countries were still financially dependent on other countries.

He highlighted such projects as the Trans-Kalahari High way railway line, saying countries should have their own budget to finance infrastructure when soliciting funds. ENDS