Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – The Committee of Ten of the African Union (AU) rose from their meeting Friday at Oyo, the birth place of the Congolese president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, resolving to consolidate the common position of Africa with regards to permanent seats at the UN Security Council.
Presidents Theodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, Ernest Baï Koroma of Sierra Leone, Nouri Abu Sahmain of the Libyan National General Congress, and Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo were present at the meeting.
According to Radio Congo, members of the Committee will see to it that Africa maintains its cohesion and speaks with one voice.
A campaign to enlist the support of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council will be launched next year. The campaign will be coordinated by the president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, who also heads the Committee of Ten of the AU.
The Committee has given instructions to ambassadors who are permanent African representatives in New York to strengthen their efforts in this regard.
Speaking at the meeting, host president N’Guesso underlined the importance for African countries to have a common position on the matter.
“We will make some strong suggestions to the next AU Summit in Malabo. There is no doubt that Africa will speak with a common voice just as it did on debates regarding the climate and others until it is heard. It cannot support indefinitely such an injustice,” he observed.
According to the Congolese head of state, “Africa today is not the same as in 1945 when it was absent in the international scene. Time seems to have put an end to the marginalization of this continent. This injustice should be repaired at a time when this region is considered as the new frontier of development.”
Africa is the only region in the world that has no permanent representative at the level of the UN Security Council. It wants to be represented in all the decision-taking institutions of the UN, particularly the Security Council, where it claims two permanent representatives, the right to veto and five non-permanent seats.
It also indicated that Algeria, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Libya, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Zambia, Kenya and Senegal form part of the Committee of Ten of the AU.
