Organisation of African Unity
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Image:Flag of the African Union.svg
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) or Organisation de l'Unité Africaine (OUA) was established on May 25, 1963. It was disbanded July 9, 2002 by its last chairman, South African Thabo Mbeki and replaced by the African Union.
Its intended purpose was to promote the unity and solidarity of the African States and act as a collective voice for the continent. It was also dedicated to the eradication of colonialism and established a Liberation Committee to aid independence movements.
Its headquarters were established at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the invitation of its emperor, Haile Selassie I. The Charter of the Organisation was signed by 32 independent African states, among them members of the Casablanca Group, founded in 1961 and composed of "progressive states". At the time of its disbanding, 53 out of the 54 states in Africa were members; Morocco left on November 12, 1984 following the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as the government of Western Sahara in 1982.
Though widely derided ("Dictator's Club" [1],) ("Dictator's Trade Union" [2],) as a bureaucratic "talking shop" with little power, Ghanaian United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan praised the OAU for bringing Africans together. Nevertheless, in its 39 years of existence critics argue that the OAU did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it "The Dictators Club".[3]
Autonomous specialised agencies working under the auspices of the OAU were:
- Pan-African Telecommunications Union (PATU)
- Pan-African Postal Union (PAPU)
- Pan-African News Agency (PANA)
- Union of African National Television and Radio Organisations (URTNA)
- Union of African Railways (UAR)
- Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU)
- Supreme Council for Sports in Africa
Contents |
[edit] List of Secretaries-general of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and African Union (AU) Chairmen of the Commission
| Secretaries-general of the OAU | |||
| Name | Beginning of Term | End of Term | Country |
| Kifle Wodajo (acting) | 25 May 1963 | 21 July 1964 | Ethiopia |
| Diallo Telli | 21 July 1964 | 15 June 1972 | Guinea |
| Nzo Ekangaki | 15 June 1972 | 16 June 1974 | Cameroon |
| William Eteki | 16 June 1974 | 21 July 1978 | Cameroon |
| Edem Kodjo | 21 July 1978 | 12 June 1983 | Togo |
| Peter Onu (acting) | 12 June 1983 | 20 July 1985 | Nigeria |
| Ide Oumarou | 20 July 1985 | 19 September 1989 | Niger |
| Salim Ahmed Salim | 19 September 1989 | 17 September 2001 | Tanzania |
| Amara Essy | 17 September 2001 | 9 July 2002 | Côte d'Ivoire |
| AU Chairmen of the Commission | |||
| Amara Essy (interim) | 9 July 2002 | 16 September 2003 | Côte d'Ivoire |
| Alpha Oumar Konaré | 16 September 2003 | Present | Mali |
[edit] List of Chairmen of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) & African Union (AU)
[edit] OAU Summits
It includes ordinary and extraordinary summits.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 22-25 May 1961.
- Cairo(Egypt) : 17-21 July 1964.
- Accra (Ghana) : 21-26 October 1965.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 5-9 November 1966.
- Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire) : 11-14 September 1967.
- Algiers (Algeria) : 13-16 September 1968.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 6-10 September 1969.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 1-3 September 1970.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 21-23 June 1971.
- Rabat (Morocco) : 12-15 June 1972.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 27-28 May 1973.
- Kampala (Uganda) : 28 July. - 1 August 1975.
- Port Louis (Mauritius) : 2-6 July 1976.
- Libreville (Gabon) : 2-5 July 1977.
- Khartoum (Sudan) : 18-22 July 1978.
- Monrovia (Liberia) : 17-20 July 1979.
- Freetown (Sierra Leone) : 1-4 July 1980.
- Nairobi (Kenya) : 24-27 June.1981.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 6-12 June 1983.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 12-15 November 1984.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 18-20 July 1985.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 28-30 July 1986.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 27-29 July.1987.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Extraordinary Summit : Oct. 1987 .
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 25-28 May 1988.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 24-26 July 1989.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 9-11 July 1990.
- Abuja (Nigeria) : 3-5 July 1991.
- Dakar (Senegal) : 29 June. - 1 July 1992.
- Cairo (Egypt) : 28-30 June 1993.
- Tunis (Tunisia) : 13-15 June 1994.
- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 26-28 June 1995.
- Yaoundé (Cameroon) : 8-10 June 1996.
- Harare (Zimbabwe) : 2-4 June 1997.
- Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) : 8-10 June 1998.
- Algiers (Algeria) : 12-14 July 1999.
- Sirt (Libya), Extraordinary Summit : 6-9 September 1999.
- Lomé (Togo) : 10-12 July 2000.
- Lusaka (Zambia) : 9-11 July 2001, It is the last summit of OAU.
[edit] OAU members by date of admission (53 states)
- Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Léopoldville).<ref>1966-71 and from 1997 Congo (Kinshasa); 1971-97 Zaire.</ref> Dahomey,<ref>From 1975 Benin.</ref> Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast,<ref>From 1985 Côte d'Ivoire.</ref> Liberia, Libya, Madagascar,<ref>Suspended Dec 2001 - 10 July 2003.</ref> Mali, Mauritania,<ref>Suspended 4 August 2005.</ref> Morocco,<ref>Withdrew 12 November 1984.</ref> Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, The Sudan, Tanganyika,<ref name="r7">Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which was renamed Tanzania 1 November 1964.</ref> Togo,<ref>Suspended from 25 February 2005.</ref> Tunisia, Uganda, Upper Volta,<ref>From 1984 Burkina Faso.</ref> Zanzibar<ref name="r7" />
- Malawi
- Zambia
- Oct 1965 :
- The Gambia
- Botswana, Lesotho
- Aug 1968 :
- Mauritius
- Swaziland
- Equatorial Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Angola
- Cape Verde, Comoros, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe
- Seychelles
- Djibouti
- Jun 1980 :
- Zimbabwe
- Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)
- Jun 1990 :
- Namibia
- Eritrea
- South Africa
[edit] Notes
<references />
[edit] References
- "OAU After Twenty Years"; Pub. Praeger; ISBN 0-03-062473-8; (May 1984)
- "Africa's First Peacekeeping Operation: The OAU in Chad, 1981-1982" by Terry M. Mays, Pub. Praeger; ISBN 0-275-97606-8; (April 30 2002)
- "African Exodus: Refugee Crisis, Human Rights, & the 1969 OAU Convention" by Chaloka Beyani, Chris Stringer, Pub. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights; ISBN 0-934143-73-0; (July 1995)
- Report on the Rwandan Genocide in 2000.
[edit] See also
| Pan-Africanism |
|---|
| Famous Proponents: Kwame Nkrumah · Julius Nyerere · Malcolm X · Muammar al-Gaddafi · Molefi Kete Asante · Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia · Cheikh Anta Diop · Marcus Garvey · Henry Sylvester-Williams · Walter Rodney · Abdias do Nascimento · Ahmed Sékou Touré · W.E.B. Du Bois · Frantz Fanon · Bob Marley · Patrice Lumumba · George Padmore · Runoko Rashidi · Steve Biko · Thabo Mbeki · Jomo Kenyatta
Philosophies and Concepts: United States of Africa · African code · Afrocentrism · Kwanzaa · Pan-African flag · Négritude · African nationalism · African Century · Africanization Organizations and Movements: African Union (preceeded by the Organization of African Unity) · Uhuru Movement · UNIA-ACL · AllAfrica.com · African Unification Front · African diaspora |
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