The 9th summit of the Assembly of the African Union ended in Accra , Ghana just before midnight yesterday. The three day summit, which was scheduled to last until the afternoon of July 3 overran, ending just before midnight. The main issue discussed was the call for the setting up of a Pan-African government. The Libyan leader, Muamar al-Gaddafi, and the Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade were advocates for its establishment as soon as possible. Gaddafi was in favor of a single African army, foreign policy and government. Others such as Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki were more inclined to a more gradual process of integration. Yoweri Museveni , of Uganda  preferred more economic integration to political union, as he felt Africa was too diverse to be under one government. The idea of a continental government was first advocated by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana in the mid fifties and sixties when he was the Ghanaian president. It however received very little support at the time. The host of the summit, John Kufuor of Ghana, Chairman of the Union, said there had been no winners or losers and that the debate had been characterised by tolerance and mutual respect. He said Africa's union was not being modelled on that of the USA nor the European Union but rather on model that would be unique to the continent. He was also keen on the rationalization of the various Regional Economic Commissions towards the realization of an African Economic Commission. The next summit is scheduled for Addis Ababa , Ethiopia in 2008.
The 9th summit of the of the African Union ended in , Ghana just before midnight yesterday. The three day summit, which was scheduled to last until the afternoon of July 3 overran, ending just before midnight. The main issue discussed was the call for the setting up of a Pan-African government. The Libyan leader, Muamar al-Gaddafi, and the Senegalese President, , were advocates for its establishment as soon as possible. Gaddafi was in favor of a single African army, foreign policy and government. Others such as and were more inclined to a more gradual process of integration. , of Uganda , preferred more economic integration to political union, as he felt Africa was too diverse to be under one government. The idea of a continental government was first advocated by of Ghana in the mid fifties and sixties when he was the Ghanaian president. It however received very little support at the time. The host of the summit, of Ghana, Chairman of the Union, said there had been no winners or losers and that the debate had been characterised by tolerance and mutual respect. He said Africa's union was not being modelled on that of the USA nor the European Union but rather on model that would be unique to the continent. He was also keen on the rationalization of the various Regional Economic Commissions towards the realization of an African Economic Commission. The next summit is scheduled for , Ethiopia in 2008.
D
Assembly
D
Accra
R
Abdoulaye Wade
,
R
Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki
and
D
Yoweri Museveni
A
,
D
Kwame Nkrumah
D
John Kufuor
D
Addis Ababa