Welcome Remarks by HE Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the AUC at the Opening session of the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Executive Council.

Addis Ababa, January 24, 2013

Chairperson, African Union Commission

Your Excellency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin and Chairperson of the Executive Council;

"This year is special, for we will be commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of our continental organisation (the OAU) – hence the theme, ‘Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance’. This means that we have the additional task of taking forward preparations for the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary in May. As a Commission, we look forward to receiving guidance from you and our Heads of State on this matter. Let me also say that after the Summit, the Commission and the PRC will sit and finalise the activities in consultation with you, for the commemoration day and beyond.

It is our view that we should use the anniversary activities to stimulate a continent-wide debate on the importance of the concepts and praxis of Pan Africanism and of the African Renaissance – past, present and future – so as to inform and mobilise the African citizenry and the Diaspora behind the AU vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful continent.

Our 50th Commemoration activities must enable us to tell our own story: the story of Africa’s rich pre-colonial history of great civilisations, its struggles against slavery and colonialism and its process of nation-formation and state-building over the last fifty years. We must demystify, appropriate and popularise our own history, our own narrative, in honour of the generations that went before us and to inspire current and future generations.

Finally, during 2013 we must also look to the future and debate, strategise and develop an accelerated African Agenda 2063 for action on integration and the development of the continent for the next fifty years. (Read Full Speech)

Chika A. Onyeani
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
African Sun Times: www.africansuntimes.com
Host: All Africa Radio: www.allafricaradio.com
Tel.: 973-675-9919
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"It is not what you call me, but what I answer to, that matters most" - Capitalist Nigger: The Road to Success, Onyeani's internationally acclaimed No. 1 bestselling book.

Have you bought Onyeani's new blockbuster novel, The Broederbond Conspiracy, www.thebroederbondconspiracy.com? or www.theblackjamesbond.com, adapted by the San Francisco State University "to teach students how to write a spy novel."

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AUC CHAIRPERSON DR. DLAMINI-ZUMA'S REMARKS TO THE 22ND ORDINARY SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, chika onyeani, 01/27/2013

Who I am for Africa and Africans?

Welcome Remarks by HE Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the AUC at the Opening session of the 22nd Ordinary Session of the Executive Council.

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