RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Public Spat between AU's Jean Ping andKenyan Premier Odinga, plus How Western Foreign Ministers Infiltrated AU'sPeace and Security Council

Good Greetings Mwalimu Emanuel K. Bensah, Jr.:

 

Thanks a heap for this update. It underscores why ECOWAS is the organization with the testicular fortitude and proceeding with its plan. Nonetheless, all freedom and democracy loving Afrikans should educate and apply pressure on those selected by the African (Dis)Union to mediate not to sellout the majority of Ivorians who risked their lives and chose who should lead them through their ballots.

 

If we fail to insure that the choice made by the majority of the people of Cote d'Ivoire is respected, we will never again get an opportunity to do so should soon-to-be-Gbagbos rare their ugly heads on the Motherland. I believe there are more than a dozen elections to he held in Afrika this year alone, yes?

 

While elections are not a panacea to Afrika's challenges, they remain the most important (and in some cases the only) means by which the people can have a say on who and how they should be ruled. In essence, all freedom and democracy loving Afrikans are condemned to stand up for the people of Cote d'Ivoire and other countries in Afrika!

 

In Peace Always,

Abdul Karim Bangura/.

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Emmanuel.K.Bensah Jr.

To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com;TWN-Africa Staff;yao. graham;thormeku;kwabena asiedu;gapenteng@hotmail.com;manetville_spintexroad-watch

Cc: bernard@citifmonline.com; benkoku@gmail.com; Amoah, Juliet (Ghana); Charlotte Luzuka; joana mensah; Nimarkoh, Joan (FAORAF); Markus Koerner IPSS Addis; aichatou.t

Sent: 2/1/2011 12:40:04 PM

Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Public Spat between AU's Jean Ping andKenyan Premier Odinga, plus How Western Foreign Ministers Infiltrated AU'sPeace and Security Council

• As you might know, the AU appointed Equitorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang who's been in power for the last 31years (he came to power in a coup of 1979) last Sunday. Obiang is described by one Western journalist as the "worst dictator" in Africa.

He will Chair the AU for the next one year at a time when there are many elections about to take place.

• Never mind the fact that the AU has appointed a fairly lightweight cast of characters to constitute the AU panel (presidents of South Africa; Chad; Mauritania; Tanzania; Burkina Faso  ) over Cote d'Ivoire, but...

...today we learn that:

"The Peace and Security Council, as the most powerful union organ by nature, has no room for outsiders yet western foreign ministers were invited to attempt to set the tone for deliberations over Cote d'Ivoire."

(from: from: http://allafrica.com/stories/201102010096.html)

• On top of all that, Ping, AU boss had to order security to stop Odinga from holding a press conference about the Cote d'ivoire crisis.

Sadly, there were no fisticuffs; would have loved to see Odinga try to pull Ping's goatie to see whether it was real.

Oh, Africa!!


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