By Nyasa Times    Published: November 28, 2010

 Mal awi president Bingu wa Mutharika who is the current chairperson of the African Union (AU) has been exposed that he will not fly to Libya to attend Africa-EU trade summit after AU Commission rebuffed his unilateral decision to change the venue from Libya to Ethiopia. Apparently, Mutharika is still bitter with Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gadaffi who tried to upstage him for the AU chairmanship but his attempt was rejected by the commission owing to the clause under AU Commission Act which says the chairmanship is rotational and cannot be taken twice consecutively.

Mutharika succeeded Gaddafi as Chairman of the pan-African grouping. Gaddafi has been pushing for an African unity government saying it is the only way Africa can develop without Western interference. AU chairman Mutharika: Snubbed by African Commission, not attending Africa -Europe summit The Malawi government last Thursday through its state-owned broadcaster, MBC, announced that the president would not attend the summit “due to other commitments”. A similar story was carried by Daily Times quoting Foreign secretary Patrick Kabambe.

Kabambe informed that Mutharika will instead send Minister of Economic Planning and Development, Abbie Shawa to represent him at the summit under the overarching theme is “investment, economic growth and job creation.” But Nyasa Times understands that Mutharika is bitter after AU Commission headed by Dr Jean Ping rejected his order to have the venue of the November 29-30 summit be shifted to Addis Ababa fearing security concerns in Libya.

Mutharika known for his penchant for travel, has surprised many why he has decided not to fly again. However, Nyasa Times has obtained letter AU Commissioner wrote the Malawi government rebuffing Mutharika orders. “The Commission has consulted the Five (5) Regional Deans to ascertain the nature and manner of the high-level consultations that concluded that Addis Ababa will be the venue for the 3rd Africa-EU summit instead of Libya. The Five Deans have indicated that they are not aware of any such consultations. They have noted that the decision of the Assembly taken in Kampala two months ago, has reaffirmed the venue as Libya and that only another Assembly can change such a decision,” reads a letter of AU Commission to Malawi government.

“The Bureau of the Permanent Representative Committee (PRC) has met on the matter and the Members, who also represent their respective regions, have indicated that they have not been part of any such consultations.” The Commission said government of Ethiopia, which would normally and traditionally have to play a vital role in the protocol, security, hospitality and logistical arrangements for the meeting taking place in Addis Ababa, was not aware of the responsibility host the summit as directed by Malawi leader.

Again, the Commission said even though the Note requires the Commission to “proffer clarification on the change of venue” to member States, “the Commission is not in a position to do so without any knowledge of the reasons for the change and without explicit evidence of the outcome of the purported consultations.”

The letter further reads: “It is hereby reiterated that an Assembly decision can only be changed by the Assembly itself, either when in session or through consultations while not in session. In this respect, Member States are informed of the reason for the change in writing and two-thirds of the Assembly have to indicate, in writing, their acceptance of the proposed change. There is no record to show that this has been done.”

The Commission said revisiting the issue of venue at the late stage could affect the momentum of the substantive preparations of the summit in Libya. “This state of affairs has the potential to impact negatively on the credibility of the Union as well as the successful hosting of the Summit.”

“To put the issue into a proper perspective, the Commission would like to draw attention to the fact that the decision to host the third Africa-EU summit in Libya is a joint decision of the Heads of State and Government in Africa and the European Union that emanates from the Lisbon Report issued at the end of the Second Africa-EU summit that took place in Lisbon, Portugal in December 2007.”

The letter added: “It can be averred from the foregoing that this is not an issue of the African Union, per se, but a mandate jointly conferred by Africa and the European Union on Libya which cannot be unilaterally changed by the African Union alone without prior consultations with the EU counterparts.” The AU Commission told Mutharika it has put its foot down that the Third Africa-EU Summit will be held in Libya from 29 to 30 November 2010 as scheduled.

“Furthermore, it is the considered opinion of the Commission that Member States are bound to respect the decision taken by the Assembly in this regard, since the decision has not been changes in accordance with the normal procedure.”

During the summit which opens next week Monday, Heads of States and Governments will address key issues, like peace and security, climate change, regional integration and private sector development, infrastructure and energy, agriculture and food security, migration. The political commitments of the Heads of State and government will be translated in the Action plan for the period 2011- 13 to be adopted at the summit. The action plan will include concrete actions to strengthen cooperation in the 8 partnerships and will also move into new promising area.—(Reporting by Yewo Phiri, Nyasa Times)

SUMMITTED BY: Amenelik@aol.com - WADU