"Now or never!" says @thecontinent .
While representatives of global superpowers were being lectured (scolded?) at the Munich Security Conference...African leaders were in the Ethiopian capital, for the annual African Union summit. As my longtime editor, friend and The Continent's founder Simon Allison explains...it's time for leaders to come to terms on a way forward, as Trump unleashes devastating USAID cuts, mass deportations impacting many Africans and a trade war against South Africa.
The summit in Addis Ababa was also expected to be an important avenue for discussing solutions to discussing the devastating conflicts in Sudan and Congo DR. The timeliness of this year's summit was critical: new world order, raging conflicts in Africa...and a new AU Chair to be appointed.
The leaders would have to reach a consensus on African issues, and then try to forge a united way forward for bracing for the changes Trump is enacting and will yet enact.
Unfortunately, as has happened time and time again, the AU showed itself as far too inept to deal with African issues.
Where to start: when it comes to solving the wars of the continent, the AU is seen as far too lackadaisical, biased, casual & unwilling to adopt a strong stance for fear of angering influential diplomats.
Instead of attending the AU summit, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi was at the Munich Security Conference. Which says a lot.
Why? Well...
(Image : Michaela Stache/AFP)
President Felix Tshisekedi, whose country is threatened by advances made by the Rwandan backed M23 rebel group, was furious over the AU's refusal to outright condemn M23 & express support for DR Congo's sovereignty.
The M23 rebels, as has been widely reported by the UN and many credible outlets, is not only funded and armed by Rwanda...but often fights alongside Rwandan troops. The rebels smuggle highly sought after Congolese minerals to Rwanda. Some reading on that...
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has typically dismissed all credible reports linking his country to M23 as disinformation. In power since the end of the Rwandan genocide, and a highly influential African statesman, he has huge leverage at the AU, and the rest of the world. Which partially explains why few at the AU were willing to publicly recognize Rwanda's role in the DR Congo crisis, even after last month's capture of the city of Goma by rebels.
Kagame attended the summit.
Kagame has fostered a close relationship with Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed whose country holds unchallenged influence over the AU.
A delegation of 50 or so Congolese diplomats were in town. When they tried to to head to the summit, Ethiopian troops surrounded the hotels & blocked them from attending.
“The [incident] was unacceptable for a friendly country. It’s discrimination!” Congo's Amb. to the AU Ngandu Ilunga said.
https://www.theafricareport.com/376993/au-summit-kagames-anger-congolese-delegation-blocked/
It isn't the first bizarre incident involving Ethiopian security forces blocking diplomats from attending the summit.
During last year's summit...when ties between Ethiopia and Somalia were at their lowest in decades...Ethiopian troops prevented Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud from attending the AU summit in similar fashion. Posted about it last year.
Anyways, it gives weight to claims made by Congo DR's government that the AU is biased in favour of Rwanda.
https://dair-community.social/@ZekuZelalem/111967984036449664
Exactly what happened in Addis Ababa is not clear. President Mohamud insists that Ethiopian security forces blocked access to the AU building, denying access to his personal security detail. "A soldier with a gun stood in front of us and denied us access to this facility," he said. Ethiopian spox Billene Seyoum said "As host country, the gov of 🇪🇹 is responsible for the security of all Heads of State while in the country." She accused the 🇸🇴 security detail of trying to enter with their weapons.
Earlier this month in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam, a closed door pre summit meeting of African statesmen from East & Southern Africa took place, with Congo DR on the agenda.
Shortly after the intros, just as private discussions were to be held, the AU Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat was literally kicked out of the room, reportedly upon request of Congo DR, who felt he was too biased to contribute.
In diplomatic circles, it hardly gets more humiliating.
So as predicted...absolutely no new ground was made on DR Congo.
And Sudan? Well...
Guess who was represented at the summit? The UAE.
On the sidelines of the summit...the UAE brought together leaders of Ethiopia, the UN, IGAD (an East African body of nations) and AU representatives. There, the UAE called for a Ramadan ceasefire.
The problem with this? The UAE is accused of financing a genocide in Sudan. It is widely documented to be the main backer of the RSF rebel faction, responsible for mass rape & killings of non Arab tribes.
As you can imagine, Sudanese leaders were furious. The country's humanitarian aid commissioner Salwa Adam Biniya slammed leaders, including UN Sec General Antonio Guterres for attending the UAE sponsored sitdown in Addis Ababa.
She accuses the UAE of simply using the meeting as a way to whitewash its role in atrocities, after a year of media reports linking it to genocide, and mysterious shipments of weapons to RSF fighters.
https://sudantribune.com/sudan-aid-chief-slams-un-au-officials-for-attending-uae-sponsored-meeting/
The contrast of views from media outlets in each country should give you an idea of how the Sudan meeting was viewed.
Screenshot from Sudan Horizon's coverage of the meeting vs screenshot from the Emirati Wam News Agency's coverage.
Links are here for those who want to read more, and to do away with any suspicions that I photoshopped anything :)
https://sudanhorizon.com/hac-guterres-and-fakis-participation-in-uae-initiated-meeting-scandalous-and-shameful/
https://www.wam.ae/article/bi75qit-uae-ethiopia-au-igad-hold-%E2%80%98high-level-humanitarian
Again, the AU's lack of impartiality is brought up here.
Host country Ethiopia has been an Emirati client state since 2018, aligning its foreign policy with Abu Dhabi's. You might remember last year, about how General Mohamed Dagalo, RSF head commander implicated in genocide, was treated like royalty when he visited Ethiopia, eating at fancy restaurants with PM Abiy (open link).
As such, Sudan, like Congo DR, does not view the African Union as capable of mediating.
https://dair-community.social/@ZekuZelalem/111699970823271838
Attached: 2 images Who were Abiy's guests to dinner? Some other fine upstanding men. Seated in the middle on the right side of the table, is none other than Sudanese war criminal General Mohamed "Hemedti" Dagalo. He's the head of the RSF forces currently waging war in Sudan in that country's conflict, and a man implicated in Darfur's genocide back in 2004, as well as massacres, rape and looting by his forces across Sudan in 2023.
Linking my post addressing the US government's recognition of RSF atrocities as genocide last month...one of the last foreign policy actions of the Biden administration.
Anyhoo...where was I before I dove down this rabbit hole? Oh yeah..."now or never."
It seems as though the AU chose never. The continent is highly divided, led by incompetent leaders. South Africa will be left to fend for itself against Trump.
https://dair-community.social/@ZekuZelalem/113791707400544171
Landmark day: the US government has officially designated atrocities carried out by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan as genocide. It's additional acknowledgment of the extent of the suffering of victims of ethnic cleansing, sexual violence and mass murder. The decision comes with an additional sanctions regime targeting RSF owned businesses & its head General Dagalo. Question: will the US take action to reel the UAE, the RSF's biggest sponsor in? https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2025/1/7/us-says-sudans-rsf-committed-genocide-announces-sanctions-on-leaders
For some background reading...my Al Jazeera write up for last year's African Union summit...about the collective silence of the AU body over Ethiopia's own atrocities at home.
Conflicts are different but the body still remains handicapped by geopolitics.
The only thing that went to plan? The election of Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf as the new AU Chair...putting an end to the woeful 8 year tenure of Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Thanks for your time!
FIN.
Zecharias Zelalem
Rob Ricci
Meron Estefanos