By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE –
“This is not just another city. This is Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia,” declared South Africa’s first elected black President Nelson Mandela on his arrival in Lusaka on February 27, 1990.
Mandela was on his inaugural trip abroad 16 days after being released from nearly three decades in prison.
His statement signified the special place Lusaka, and indeed Zambia, had in regional and continental politics in which the country distinguished itself in supporting freedom, peace and unity among African countries.
Next month, the words of Mandela will again come alive as the African Union (AU) convenes in Lusaka for the fourth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (MYCM) from July 14 to July 17, 2022.
This will come some 59 years after African founding leaders, among them Ghana’s Nkwame Khrumah and Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda, met on May 25, 1963, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to establish the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
On July 9, 2002, the OAU was replaced by the African Union (AU), which, since then, has been spearheading Africa’s interests in political and economic integration, besides supporting the total eradication of colonialism and neo-colonialism from the continent.
Dr Kaunda’s legacy will loom large over the fourth AU MYCM, which will be preceded by the 41st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the AU and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs).
This is because the MYCM would be held just over a year and a month since Dr Kaunda’s death in Lusaka on June 17, 2021, at the age of 97.
Dr Kaunda was described as “the last of the generation of African leaders who fought colonialism.” Dr Kaunda is credited for having widely contributed to the emancipation of Zambia as well as most countries in the region and beyond, by allowing freedom movements of neighbouring countries to be based in Zambia.
He is also credited to have made Zambia a haven a peace where more than 73 tribal groupings have lived together in harmony since the country’s independence in 1964.
Dr Kaunda’s decision to hand over power peacefully after losing elections in 1991 won him global respect as a true democrat.
In May last year, Dr Kaunda was honoured with a special award by the AU in recognition of the role he played in the liberation of Zambia as well as Africa.
The special award coincided with Dr Kaunda’s 97th birthday celebration on April 28, 2021.
He was described as having been a sole survivor of Africa’s liberation struggle heroes who launched the AU’s forerunner, the OAU, 59 years ago.
Besides basking in Dr Kaunda’s legacy, the MYCM is earmarked to take place in the newly inaugurated international conference centre named after him.
The new US$65 million facility, which is a new wing of the historic Mulungushi International Conference Centre, was built specially for the AU mid-year meeting.
It was inaugurated on June 1, 2022, by President Hakainde Hichilema, who said the conference center was not just an honour to Dr Kaunda, whom he described as Zambia’s “founding father, fallen hero, great Statesman and Pan Africanist”, but that it was also a symbol of the country’s unwavering friendship with China, which built the facility for the Zambian Government.
Last month, on April 22, an African Union Commission delegation, led by the AU Commission’s Deputy Chief of Staff Ambassador Tordeta Ratebaye, visited Lusaka to engage with Zambian officials on preparations for forthcoming mid-year meeting on the following thematic areas: COVID-19 regulations, facilities, legal, protocol, security, communication and publicity, information systems and procurement.
The AU envoy expressed satisfaction with preparations after meeting the Zambia officials.
“As the secretariat of the AU, the commission works closely with member states, and we are in Lusaka with our experts to support Zambia in the organisation of the fourth mid-year coordination meeting. We are happy with what we have seen so far,” Ambassador Ratebaye said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Chambo Mbula said Zambia was committed to hosting the MYCM in July and had already set up the necessary structures.
According to information of the AU website, the MYCM will focus on the status of regional integration, while the 55-member Executive Council will meet prior to the MYCM to prepare documentation and also discuss the AU budget for 2023.
The MYCM brings together the bureau of the Assembly of the African Union, the RECs, the AU Commission and the Regional Mechanisms (RMs).
It is aligned to the AU institutional reforms, particularly the pillar on managing the business of the AU efficiently and effectively, at both political and operational level.
The MYCM was instituted by an African Union Assembly decision in 2017, and the first such meeting was held in July 2019 in Niamey, Niger.
About 13 heads of State and Government are expected to attend the MYCM, which will be preceded by the AU 41st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council.
The council will be attended by Foreign Affairs ministers from the AU’s 55 member States.
According to Zambia’s Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Stanley Kakubo, the MYCM will attract some 800 delegates.
The 13 heads of State and Government, who are anticipated to attend the MYCM, would be drawn from Libya, Congo, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Egypt and Chad.
Others will come from Sudan, Malawi and at least one East African country.
“As you may recall, the last time Zambia hosted a meeting of the
African Union was in 2001. This meeting is, therefore, an important undertaking for Zambia, as the country has not hosted a meeting of this magnitude in a long time,” Mr Kakubo told private sector breakfast meeting in Lusaka recently.
The MYCM, which will attract journalists and other visitors in addition to the 800 delegates, will focus on issues of alignment and coordination between the AU and the RECs in the integration of the continental agenda.
Zambia, which has adopted economic diplomacy to foster economic interests in relation to trade promotion and attracting investment through channels of diplomacy, is expected to spare no efforts to promote the country as a leading foreign investment destination.
Being a peaceful country endowed with unmatched natural resources in terms of minerals, arable land, abundant sources of water, favourable climate and weather patterns as well as a youthful population, the country will use the MYCM to build on the rich legacy of its founding fathers.
The occasion will also serve to entrench Lusaka’s and indeed Zambia’s revered place among AU member states as a country that has contributed greatly to the continent’s freedom, and continues to be instrumental in forging Africa’s future.