ugnet_: ROBERT MUGABE THE NEW AU VICE CHAIRMAN

[Mulindwa Edward]

President Mugabe elected AU vice chairman From Innocent Gore in MAPUTO, Mozambique. PRESIDENT Mugabe has been elected vice chairman of the African Union in yet another show of confidence in Zimbabwe by Africa. His election was endorsed on Thursday by African leaders during the ongoing AU summit here soon after host President Mr Joaquim Chissano had taken over as chairman of the 53-member Pan-African body from South African President Mr Thabo Mbeki. Cde Mugabe is one of the five vice chairmen of the AU who are elected every year after the chairman has assumed his post to represent the continent�s various regions. He will represent Southern Africa. As AU vice chairman, President Mugabe yesterday chaired a closed session of the summit which considered a report on the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa�s Development as a contribution to the continent�s development. A progress report by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the chairman of Nepad Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee, was tabled before heads of State during the session chaired by Cde Mugabe. The report urges leaders to increase their efforts in ensuring increased resource mobilisation from within their own countries through economic transformation and the participation of the private sector and re-prioritising budgets of respective governments to address challenges. It says progress was being made in the resolution of conflicts and that 15 countries have acceded to the African Peer Review Mechanism. It also said that the initial Panel of Eminent Persons had been appointed. The report said the urgent challenge facing the continent was food insecurity in southern Africa and the Horn of Africa. It expresses concern with the deadlocked World Trade Organisations negotiations in Geneva and the destabilising effect of agricultural subsidies and other support measures by developed countries on food production. The report calls for more investment in education, health and the fight against HIV/Aids and other communicable diseases. It, however, notes the weak link between the Nepad Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee and regional economic blocs. "We need to ensure that Heads of State and Government who represent regions on the HSGIC become champions of Nepad in their respective regions. We must provide political leadership in implementing Nepad programmes in our respective regions," it says. It also expresses concern at the weak capacity to plan and implement socio-economic development programmes at country and regional levels and the popularisation of Nepad in member countries. The AU heads were last night set to consider the draft protocols on the Court of Justice, the African Charter on Human and People�s Rights Relating to the Rights of Women and the draft convention on preventing and combating corruption. They were also to consider conflict situations in Africa, progress reports on the ratification and operations of the protocol establishing the African Economic Community and the Peace and Security Council. President Mugabe and Kenyan leader Mr Mw�i Kibaki held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit in their first meeting since Mr Kibaki was elected last year taking over from Mr Daniel arap Moi. "We met and discussed a lot of bilateral issues and touching on areas of co-operation such as in agriculture," Mr Kibaki told reporters after the hour long meeting. "There are no problems between ourselves and Zimbabwe," he said. King Mswati of Swaziland also met Cde Mugabe to discuss bilateral relations. The head of the Arab Bank for African Development Mr Medhat Lofty called on the President to update him on the various projects the bank is funding in Zimbabwe. These include the Gwanda-Maphisa Road, the Dande irrigation project, upgrading of Hwange Power Station and Netone. Mr Lofty said his bank had extended a line of credit to the Agricultural Development Bank (formerly Agribank) and other smaller projects in the country. The bank has funded projects worth US$90 million since the country attained independence in 1980.             The Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"             Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"