Dlamini-Zuma hands over chairmanship of AU Commission amid crises

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, at the Meditterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, Malta on November 12, 2015. PHOTO | FILIPPO MONTEFORTE | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The ceremony took place when the continent is convulsed in the throes of crises, including drought, epidemics and other catastrophes like the cyclone that hit Madagascar recently.

  • Mahamat, who was elected Dlamini-Zuma’s successor on January 30, is taking over the stewardship of the AU when Africa needs effective leaders and not mere rulers.

Tuesday afternoon saw South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma hand over the chairmanship of the African Union (AU) Commission to Moussa Faki Mahamat of Chad.

The ceremony took place when the continent is convulsed in the throes of crisis, including drought, epidemics and other catastrophes like the cyclone that hit Madagascar recently.

Mahamat, who was elected Dlamini-Zuma’s successor on January 30, is taking over the stewardship of the AU when Africa needs effective leaders and not mere rulers.

His predecessor, who made history as the first woman to lead the 54-member bloc, also made the unusual move of declining to seek a second term in office after completing a four-year tenure.

An extremely ambitious politician, Dlamini-Zuma is reportedly training her sights on the presidency of the ruling African National Congress party, which will be decided at a conference in December, and eventually South Africa’s presidency.

Should she clinch the South African presidency in 2019, Dlamini-Zuma would be taking over from former husband Jacob Zuma, a development that will see the launch of the continent’s latest political dynasty.

Impressively, Dlamini-Zuma, a medical doctor, is in her own right a veteran of the South African political scene, having held three Cabinet posts under three presidents.

HER APPOINTMENT

She headed the ministries of health, foreign affairs and home affairs under presidents Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma before heading to Addis Ababa to take up the AU Commission leadership.

Given Dlamini-Zuma’s vast governance experience, it is not surprising that there is already talk of her appointment to the Cabinet soon.

Mahmat, the 56-year-old father of five, certainly has his work cut out for him.

During Tuesday’s ceremony, he was quick to spell out his agenda, which includes addressing challenges posed by migration, climate change and poverty.

His other priorities, he said, would be to eliminate Africa’s conflicts “by silencing the guns by 2020, while promoting peace”.

The AU Commission boss also promised to focus on women’s issues and pay close attention to the challenge of overseeing the continent’s economic integration and nurturing trade.

While promising to see to the rehabilitation of the private sector, Mahamat promised “to make Africa’s voice heard in the United Nations Security Council and other international forums”.

He described the drought and famine ravaging the continent as a humiliation.

Mahamat warned that a huge task awaited the continent if similar disasters were to be avoided in future.

MAJOR BATTLES

Africa is engrossed in major battles against calamities that have confronted it. Madagascar, for instance, is still reeling from the effects of a cyclone that hit its northeastern coast early in the week.

Cyclone Enawo wreaked havoc on the island nation, killing at least 38 people, injuring 180 others and forcing 53,000 from their homes into temporary shelters.

In the meantime, malaria has been spreading for months in Burundi, killing hundreds of people even as it aggravates the country’s other problems. Almost 800 people have died from the disease since January.

Even more alarming, Burundi’s Minister of Health Josiane Nijimbere said more than 3,700 people had died from malaria since 2016, and last Monday, authorities declared it an epidemic.

The situation is so dire that out of Burundi’s population of 11 million, more than eight million cases of affected people were recorded in 2016, officials say.

Rwanda, Burundi’s neighbour to the north, has not been spared by the epidemic either. A staggering 3.9-million people were infected with malaria in the last four years.

Further, according to the ministry of health, malaria cases in the country increased from slightly half million in 2014 to more than a million in 2015, with at least 500 people reportedly dying in the latter year.

Clearly, the current prevalence of famine and hunger is not the only problem Africa and the new AU Commission boss have to fret about.