President John Dramani has asserted that the African Union’s over reliance on external funding undermines its independence.
The Ghanaian leader underscored the need for financial independence of the AU.
He made the remarks in his address delivered at the opening session of the retreat on the implementation of institutional reforms of the African Union, currently underway in Nairobi, Kenya.
President Mahama emphasised the importance of implementing the Kigali Decision on Financing the Union, which was adopted by African Union heads of state and government at the 2016 AU Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, without further delay.
The funding model was approved at a Heads of State and Government Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, in July 2016.
The AU member states expect to raise $1.2 billion through the import levy, making the bloc self-sufficient and ending reliance on donors who fund roughly 70% of the budget.
“Principles in how we conduct our affairs, ensuring that our policies and programmes translate into real change for our people, we must adopt a mechanism that prioritises accountability, transparency and value for money, ensuring that every resource is maximised for the benefit of the African people.
“Your excellencies one of the pillars of reforms is AU’s financial autonomy, the over-reliance on external partners for funding compromises the organisation’s independence for funding and ability to set its own agenda. The implementation of the Kigali decision on financing the union must be expedited,” he said.
He proudly cited his choice to name Ghana’s first female vice president as a prime example and continued to counsel African leaders to assign more women and young people to leadership positions at all governmental levels.
“Africa’s future lies in its youth, over 60% of our population is under the age of 25 and yet their voices are largely absent in policy making. We must institutionalise a framework that empowers our young people and our women to lead at all levels of governance,” he added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
