Dlamini=Zuma is challenging the incumbent chairperson, Jean Ping, former Gabonese foreign minister, who is standing for a second four year term of office. The chairperson will be elected on Monday by the AU heads of state summit.
In her manifesto, Dlamni-Zuma declares a commitment “to deal decisively with Afro-pessimism. We dismiss the negative utterances of our detractors. As a collective and through our struggles and resilient actions, we must demonstrate that our continent is a rising giant in global affairs”.
She declares that what motivated her “is my conviction that Africa’s time is now, not tomorrow. Africa should become the custodian of its own destiny”.
The key tasks of the AU, she stressed, include “focusing on the development of the African continent, including fighting and reducing poverty and underdevelopment”, and “eradicating conflicts on our continent by providing African solutions for African problems”.
Her priorities also include “implementing clear programmes to ensure the emancipation of women” and “consolidating democracy and good governance”.
Success for Africa in the 21st century, Dlamini-Zuma argued, “lies in enhanced integration and overcoming the dialectically inter-related challenges of development, democracy and peace and security”.
“I have accepted the challenge of leading the Commission because I believe that more can be done to make the African Union fulfill the mandate given to it by our forbearers”, she said.”We need to continue to build the Commission into a formidable, premier, Pan-African institution that is at the selfless service of this continent. I am ready to play my part in making this possible”.
She added that she is “ready to lead the Commission that builds on the rich Pan-African tradition of consultation and consensus-building. I am ready to lead the Commission that will best leverage the partnerships we have built since the days of the anti-colonial struggle, fully cognizant of the central role our people have played in our liberation as a continent”.
If elected, she concluded, “I pledge to spare no effort in building on the work of those African women and men who want to see an African Union that is a formidable force striving for a united, free, and truly independent, better Africa”.
Post published in: Africa News