Africa
Africa: Unity Government Bites Dust
By Afrol News 3/7/07
Jul 5, 2007 - 10:05:33 AM

The idea of establishing a pan-African government was the brain child of Ghana's first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in 1957. But today the Libyan leader, Muammar al-Qaddafi has turned himself into a campaigner of the issue.

Among the skeptics of such a government include Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan President who preferred "economic integration" to a single government because "Africa is too diverse for one government."

He said, "politically we should only integrate with people who are either similar or compatible with us."

For some leaders, the problem is not a unity government but that its establishment is too prompt, especially in the face of so many problems African countries are reeling with.

Most of the leaders from east and southern Africa, including Kenya and Lesotho were overwhelm with doubt over the possibility of having such a government now.

Lesotho's Prime Minister, Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisil, said though the economic and political integration would serve Africa's interests, but that "we must adopt a bottom-up approach and not a top-down one.

"We believe that such integration should be gradual rather than precipitous," he concurred.

Nigeria's leader, Umaru Yar’Adua is among the group of leaders who opt for a slower approach to the formation of a union government.

It is believed that most African leaders will subscribe to the strengthening of the continent's regional groupings instead of losing their individual sovereignty.

But Senegal, one of the continent's leading democracies, has expressed the urgency of forming a unique government. Senegal is championing the move for a few countries to sign a federation right now so that others could follow suit.

Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Senegal's Foreign Minister, said his country is ready to "partially or totally abandon its sovereignty to become part and parcel of a pan-African government." He said President Abdoulaye Wade had been waiting to sign for a unity government without hesitation.

President Robert Mugabe, who received tumultous welcome from Ghanaians, mainly because of his radical approach towards the west, is also a key supporter of a unity government; describing it as vital to Africa's true independence from the western powers.

Most analysts see unity as the only strategy that will empower African to face the competition in the global economy.

The Accra summit is the 9th since the creation of the African Union five years back. The project for the establishment of a unity government in Africa was launched in Lome, Togo, during a summit in 2000.

In another summit in Abuja, Nigeria in 2005, African leaders endorsed the establishment of a technical committee to kick-start the feasibility studies of the unity government.

Led by the Ugandan leader, the committee presented its report to the Libya summit this same year. It trumpeted the urgency of having a unity government.

This was endorsed by African leaders who tasked the outgoing Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, of leading another committee on the same issue.

Mr Obasanjo submitted a report before his colleagues during the last AU summit held in Banjul, The Gambia last year. He called for a unity government, describing it as the ultimate goal of the continent.

Activists trumpeting for a unity government heap blame on African leaders for failing to relinquish their individual interests for the betternment of the masses who continue to be bitten by povety, disease, hunger, among other plaques.