Kenya’s president calls for African Union reform at the mid-year meeting

The sixth Mid-Year coordination meeting of the African Union took place on Sunday, July 16, at Gigiri, which is located in the county of Nairobi. The summit’s primary focus was on resolving pressing concerns regarding African integration and the allocation of labour.

The President of Kenya presided over the gathering. William Ruto has made a demand for the African Union to be reformed, with the primary emphasis being placed on the organisation’s fiscal independence. “The pan-African movement has always been about sovereignty and agency,” the president stated.

“In the first place, the aspiration of independence, sovereignty, and agency is incompatible with chronic dependence on even well-meaning partners.” And as a result, I am of the opinion that we ought to give the recommendations that have been made in the direction of making our organisation one that is self-sufficient and one that receives funding from us the serious consideration they deserve.

Figures provided by the European Union show that fewer than forty percent of member states pay the annual contributions that are due to the institution. The following is a breakdown of the institution’s budget for the year 2020 that was provided in an article on the organisation’s website titled “African Union sustainable funding strategy gains momentum.”

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US$157.2 million will go toward financing the operating budget of the Union, US$216.9 million will go toward financing the program budget, and US$273.1 million will finance the operations budget for peace support.

Financial assistance for peacekeeping operations will come from both member nations and foreign partners. In terms of the total budget, the Member States will be responsible for contributing 38%, while partners will contribute 61%. According to the document, “Member States will be responsible for funding the entirety of the operating budget, while the program budget will receive funding from Member States at a rate of 41%, with the remaining 59% coming from international partners.”

In his advocacy for a more equitable monetary system, Kenya’s President William Ruto cited the heavy debt loads that several nations on the continent are carrying. According to research put out by the United Nations, African countries are at a disadvantage when it comes to borrowing money, particularly in comparison to the wealthiest European nations.

“Our continent contributes anywhere from two to eight times as much as our other brothers and sisters do around the world, according to the secretary general of the United Nations. It is only right that we have a finance mechanism that treats everyone in the same manner.”

At the 5th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting, the primary focus was on the African Union’s (AU) topic for the year, which was “Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation.”

Regional Economic Communities, Regional Mechanisms, and AU Member States were all present at the meeting, which was held throughout the weekend and concluded on Sunday. They did so under the auspices of the African Union’s theme for the year, which was the Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation. In addition to that, the President of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, who presides over the Union at the moment, was present.

Others, such as Bola Tinubu from Nigeria, Abdel Fattah from Egypt, Macky Sall from Senegal, Ismail Guelleh from Djibouti, and Ali Bongo from Gabon, were also there. The summit’s beginning was marked by the beginning of an ordinary session of the Executive Council.