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ON THE WEB
| ISSN 0856-9135; No. 00228 |
July 13 - 19, 2002 |
ON THE WEB
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African Union should be based in Arusha. Ha!By Valentine Marc Nkwame
Well, there is no reason to celebrate yet, because in its place, another bureaucratic monolith, to be known as the African Union (AU), has been launched. Despite what cynics try to claim, there is a great difference between the old OAU (1963), and the new AU (2002). Apparently, OAU was the bush in which, African dictators allegedly used to hide, while AU is going to be the thickest in which, African dictators will be hiding in future .... In other words, AU is simply the same OAU with the letter “O” taken off! Never mind, there is one disturbing question: It is still not very clear which of the African cities is going to be the headquarters of the new AU. Libyan President; Muammar Quaddafi who allegedly came up with the AU idea sometimes in 1999, has suggested that, his country’s capital; Tripoli, should host the AU outfit. Before you start voting for Tripoli, it is also important to consider that, Kwame Nkrumah the former Ghanaian president is actually the one who proposed the African union, way back in the early sixties, thus Quaddafi’s AU idea was simply a rip-off .... So Tripoli is down! Some people feel that, since AU is actually OAU minus the “O” (for typing convenience), there is no reason why its capital shouldn’t be in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, where OAU headquarters used to be. Fine! But apparently no African leader wants to admit that AU is simply OAU minus “O”, so to effectively sell this ‘There are differences!” Idea, it wouldn’t be very advisable to have AU in Addis Ababa.... Or in Ethiopia for that matter. Tough riddle, however since AU was launched in Durban - Kwa Zulu Natal, in South Africa, and the country’s President; Thabo Mbeki is the current AU boss, why not have the union headquarters in Durban? Great idea! Unless of course when you ponder the distance from; Cairo to Durban and vice versa, mind you, some countries like Tanzania, don’t even have their own airplanes ...... Only expensive radars. So, where Oh, where should we establish the headquarters of our new AU alias; OAU minus “O”? The answer is simply: “Arusha!” Ghee, the right place and at the right time... This apparently is the time when some guys are contemplating transforming this little, dusty, town with only one main road, into a city. Tee, hee! Arusha is also the best choice mainly because, the town is in the middle of the African continent ... At the alleged centre point between Cape Town (and maybe Durban) and Cairo city. In reality of course, Arusha is at the centre point of remaining a dusty town that it is now, or becoming a curious city, it intends to be. Already Arusha hosts similar organizations, such as the East African Community (EAC), soon to become AC (Arusha Community) because it only seems to function here. There is also the UN-ICTR which stands for; United Nations International Tribunal for Rwanda. Hear that? It’s for Rwanda, but for some reason, UN-ICTR is in Arusha. Again never mind, but Arusha has the same major quality, shared among the other three potential AU headquarters, this major feature are the Tourist Attractions. Tripoli is a tourist city boasting a number of natural museums and so does Addis Ababa, the city at the foot of Mount Entoto, not to mention Durban, that haven of top less “Lay deez” dotting its beaches. There are also top less (semi-nude), “Lay deez” in Arusha, though we don’t exactly have beaches, only benches for them to sit on.... At night. Mind you, the AU chairman, Thabo Mbeki can always be housed in the same building, that his state house predecessor; Nelson Mandela, used to live in, while wrestling with Burundi rebel groups here in Arusha. Why! We can also do away with the name; Arusha, by taking out letter ‘A’ thus remaining with “Rusha!” a Swahili word with two meanings; “Jumpy!” and “Rip off!” Indeed. |
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Last modified:
July 12, 2002. Webmaster: WDJMallya |
