Addis set to host 19th AU Summit

Addis Ababa, July 4 (WIC) - The African Union Commission has announced the timetable for the 19th Summit of the African Heads of State to be held July 9th –July 16th in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Nuredin Muzeni, Spokesperson for the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Jean Ping, said the Summit will commence on Monday, July 9th with a two-day meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee.

This will deliberate on the report to be submitted to the meeting of the Executive Council (of Foreign Ministers) which will be held from July12th – July 13th.

The Ministers will discuss the report and submit the document for the Heads of State Summit which will be held July 15th to July 16th. 

Muzeni said one of the key items on the agenda will be the election of the AU Commission Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson and the AU Commissioners.

The election of the AU Commission Chairperson was postponed to the 19th Summit as neither of the two candidates- the current Chairperson, Dr. Jean Ping, and Dr. Dlamini Zuma – was able to get more than 50% of the votes during the January Summit.

Successive meetings have been held since then in Benin by the committee set up to try to resolve the deadlock and bring about a rapprochement between their respective ECOWAS and SADC supporters.

The 19th AU Summit was transferred to Addis Ababa following the withdrawal of Malawi as host, following continued difficulties arising from the ICC indictment of President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan.