 |
Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe, (C), gives a US$1 million cheque to the African Union
during a summit meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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As the African Union
struggles to get members to pay dues, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe took
the bull by the horns and sold his own cattle for a sizeable donation to the
body.
AFP
report continues:
Mugabe
handed over US$1 million (€880,000) at the start of the AU's bi-annual summit
in Addis Ababa, after auctioning off 300 of his own cattle, as well as those
belonging to some of his supporters.
The
gift was a bid to show his resolve for making the AU self-supporting as the
tricky questioning of financing tops the agenda.
"As
an African and a farmer, the donation of cattle came naturally to me, given
that our continent is rich in cattle and cattle are held as a store of
wealth," said Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since its independence from
white minority rule in 1980.
An
AU official said Mugabe had initially offered the cows themselves, but decided
to auction them off when the union replied that there was no space for them at
the AU's shiny Chinese-built headquarters in Addis Ababa.
The
AU is trying to wean itself from the foreign donors that finance the majority
of its budget and has called on member states to impose a 0.2 percent levy on
certain imports to cover its costs.
Funds
from the import levy are supposed to cover 100 percent of the AU's operational
costs, 75 percent of its programme costs and 25 percent of its peacekeeping
budget.
But
so far, only a handful of the union's 55 member states have taken steps to
implement the tax.
"Unless
and until we can fund our own programmes, the African Union will not be truly
our own," Mugabe said.
Despite
nagging questions about Mugabe's health, his ruling party claims that at 93, he
is still as strong as an ox.
He
is drumming up support ahead of elections next year when he plans to seek
office again, steadfast in his plan to rule until the cows come home.
Mugabe To Present
Funds From AU Cattle Pledge
President
Robert Mugabe will tomorrow present funds from the proceeds of the cattle
donation he pledged to the African Union (AU) Foundation towards the self-sustenance
of the organization.
Briefing
Zimbabwean journalists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia today, Foreign Affairs
Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said the number of cattle had exceeded the
initial 300 which President Mugabe had pledged.
He
said the President is going to present the amount of money which was raised when
the cattle were auctioned.
Mugabe
made the pledge during the inaugural gala of the AU Foundation.
The
Foreign Affairs Minister noted that the handover of the proceeds is a very
important development because it illustrates that there are a number of
innovative ways that the AU can use to generate revenue for its various
programme.
Mumbengegwi
who attended the AU Executive Council meeting said the AU summit will commence
this Monday with a closed session for heads of state and government only plus
two others.
He
said the main issue on the agenda is the report by President Kagame on the
reform of the institutions of the AU.
"The
Kagame report makes a number of proposals some of which may be just
administrative but there are a number of them which require an amendment and
ratification of the Constitutive Act and so these are matters which the summit
is going to look at again more closely because at the last summit in January,
the general principles were adopted but the actual details were not considered
or discussed," explained Mumbengegwi.
The
issue of the Saharawi Republic and Morocco was quite contentious in the January
summit because it related to whether or not Morocco should be admitted into the
organization while they are still in occupation of Western Saharawi.
At
the end of it, Morocco was admitted, as the majority of African states were in
favour of her admission, arguing that ‘we would better deal with Morocco from
inside the organization and rather than from outside of the organization.'
Mumbengegwi
added that now Morocco seem to have taken a position that they don't want the
AU to be involved in any way in the issues between them and the Saharawi
Republic and so this is an issue that has occupied a lot of time in the
executive council and is still under discussion.
Source: Bulawayo24
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