He was responding to a proposal by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gadaffi at a recent African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Skelemani said in an exclusive interview with Mmegi in Gaborone yesterday that many African leaders were against rushing the creation of the USA government, citing logistical problems as well as their national beliefs and interests.
Skelemani said they have long called for the strengthening of regional economic communities like the Southern African Development Community (SADC), East African Community (EAC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA). "We are not going to accept this. We have always said that we can only form a union government through these blocs," he said. Even the renaming of the African Union, to be called African Union Authority, came as a surprise to most leaders at the Addis summit. Skelemani said the announcement was made and the response was a round of applause in the Hall. He added that they were told that 'The Elders' had agreed on it but it remained a puzzle who the elders are. "The main debate came when we enquired about what the mandate of the 'Authority' would be as well as its powers. The secretariat was given a few minutes to make a draft of what its role will be and there was no agreement," he said. The Foreign Affairs Ministers were given three months to look at the draft document and to report back to the secretariat.
