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Africa 'must set own standards'
26/03/2002 17:48 - (SA)
Abuja - Leaders of a dozen African countries, including some of the continent's most powerful figures, met in Nigeria on Tuesday for a summit to thrash out agreement on how to promote good governments and punish the bad in Africa.
Opening the one-day summit in Abuja, the host, President
Olusegun Obasanjo declined to mention Zimbabwe by name, but the
situation in the troubled southern African country was clearly on
everyone's mind.
Earlier this month, Obasanjo and his South African counterpart, President Thabo Mbeki, sided with Australia's Prime Minister John Howard in suspending Zimbabwe for a year from the Commonwealth because of the violence and intimidation surrounding this month's elections there.
The decision caused some unease in Africa because of a
perception that it was former colonial power Britain and its
Western allies that were dictating terms to an African country.
Obasanjo told the opening of the summit that now was the time for Africa itself to decide to set its own standards.
The former military ruler who was returned to office as a
civilian president in 1999 said there was now an "urgent need to
set up parameters for good governance to guide our activities at
both the political and economic levels," around Africa.
He said the meeting, which was expected to wrap up later on Tuesday with the issuance of a formal statement, would be asked to consider a draft proposal for an African "peer review mechanism" - something separate from international bodies dominated by the Western powers, but credible worldwide.
"We need to address the issue of freedom, or lack of it, and on what basis we may judge the leadership in Africa countries,"
Obasanjo told his fellow African leaders.
He was referring to the New African Partnership for Development (Nepad) initiative, a drive led by Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, to promote good governance and sound economic policies.
" What are the codes and how does adherence determine African
countries participation in Nepad?" he asked. "What happens to
countries who are judged to fail to adhere to them? What role
should our development partners play in the process? We need to
provide answers to these and more questions at this meeting," he
said.
Among those attending the meeting were Mbeki, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, all key draftsmen of the Nepad plan. The talks were also attended by ministers and top officials from countries including Egypt, Tunisia, Ghana and Uganda.
They would also hear an update on the conflicts still wracking
the continent, such as the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, Obasanjo said.
Coming just days after the United Nations summit on poverty
ended in Monterrey, Mexico, the summit hopes to capitalise on the
western world's pledge to make a small increase in international
aid for developing countries that adopt political and economic
reforms.
In the past six months, Nepad officials have met three times
with representatives of the G8 leading industrialised nations to
prepare a plan to put to the next G8 summit in Canada in June. - Sapa-AFP
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