By Ethiopia by the end of June this year, hosted the 29th Ordinary Session of the summit of the African Union.
The summit under the theme “Harnessing the Demographic Devidend through Investments in youth” commenced on the 27 of June and as planned, supposed to get finalized on 4th July, 2017.
Ethiopia held the summit in its AU headquarters found in the capital Addis Ababa.
Following the program as per issued by the Directorate of Information and Communication/ African Union Commission, Ethiopia on 27 to 28 June 2017, hosted the 34th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives’ committee.
Between 30th June and 1st July, the country hosted the 31th Ordinary Session of the Executives Council, and from 3rd to 4th July 2017, Ethiopia hosts the 29th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union.
The Ordinary Session of the 3rd to 4th July has been attended by several government officials and Heads of State including the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, who attended with his wife, the first lady Janet Kataha Museveni, the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame among others.
During the summit on Monday, Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe gave in $1 million, as donation to the AU body in a push for self sufficiency.
“Africa needs to finance its own programs. Institutions like the AU cannot rely on donor funding as the model is not sustainable,” said Mugabe.
About 60% of the African Union’s budget comes from the foreign donors, including the European Union, the World Bank and the non- member countries. In this case, Mugabe called on the bloc to become self- supporting.
President Mugabe also donated 300 cattle from his personal herd. The cattle were auctioned off in May, with the proceedings presented to the AU on Monday during the summit.
Reporter: Shamilah Namuddu