Kufuor to hand over AU chair

President John Agyekum Kufuor ends his term as Chairman of the African Union (AU)next week and would hand over the mantle at the 10th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa. Reflecting on President Kufuor's tenure at a Castle press briefing on Friday, his Press Secretary, Mr Andrew Awuni, said it would go down in the history of the continent and the AU as the year that saw Africa asserting itself strongly in the comity of nations for all the right reasons. The AU made a lot of progress and accomplished many of its hitherto outstanding businesses. He said for the first time ever, a major Audit was carried out to help bring about greater efficiency in the delivery of the administrative machinery of the AU Commission through better realignment of its agencies. Professor Adebayor Adedeji, headed the Audit Panel. Another important legacy President Kufuor would be leaving with the continent is a Roadmap for political integration. This contains recommendations and steps to be taken, guided by a time action plan to make the dream of unity a reality. Mr Awuni said the Heads of State would discuss the Roadmap, which had already been circulated to all 53-member states. Adding to these, he said, were the priority President Kufuor gave to peace and security of the region, rallying global support to tackle problems in distressed parts where interventions were needed to address conflicts, restore governance process and deal with humanitarian crisis. Mr Awuni also recalled the historic EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon, the Franco-Africa Summit in Nice and the G-8 Summit in Heiligendam, Germany, all of which brought Africa and its development partners closer together as equals and for their mutual benefit under the general theme of "true partnership." "As President Kufuor hands the Gavel to a new Chairman, we are satisfied the tenure has re-ignited the unity dream and clear directions are outlined to bring it alive after decades of conception." He said it was also a test time to leverage Ghana's growing international stature for the good of African leadership.