When the 14th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the African Union (AU) opened on Friday in Accra, the large white banner behind the podium read: “The Grand Debate on Union Government”, which is the main theme for the Ninth Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly. The PRC ordinary session is the first of two ordinary sessions that would finally culminate into the summit of Heads of State and Governments scheduled for July 1-3. The other session to be held from June 28-29 would be the 11th Session of the Executive Council. Whereas the Executive Council is a council of foreign ministers of AU member states, the PRC is essentially made up of Ambassadors and High Commissioners from all the AU-member states. The Assembly (Heads of States and governments) meeting in July 2005 in Sirte, Libya, affirmed that the ultimate goal of the AU was full political and economic integration leading to the United States of Africa (USA). That goal was upheld again in Banjul, The Gambia, in July 2006. In November 2006, the Executive Council also concluded that, “all member states accept the United States of Africa as a common and desirable goal”. From the foregoing it appears the work of the delegates at the Ninth AU Summit is well cut out for them, but it is instructive to note that beyond the written agendas of the various sessions, there are several inputs from civil society groups and academia in particular that are also expected to shape the direction of discussions. Meanwhile, a group of young African leaders and student leaders also met in Libya, Tripoli, and issued the Tripoli Declaration in which they upheld the federation theory and suggested that this summit should, as of necessity result in some concrete steps such as common AU ministers of defence, trade, foreign affairs and education as a first step towards a union government. That group kicked against the gradualist approach and suggested that this approach had not helped in the past. Meanwhile, Africa is faced with the challenge of dealing with economic and political blocs all over the world and could no more afford to live with the gradualist approach. Several other groups and individuals have suggested that the decision to go for a union government should not be for only the politicians but should also involve the peoples of Africa, who are the ones those decisions would affect. Those on the other side have strongly opposed the idea of a union government now arguing that even the European Union did not have a union government as yet and that Africa would first have to concretize the various regional blocs on the continent. Delegates at the summit would also have to consider what name to give to the union provided a decision is finally reached for a common government - whether to call it United States of Africa (USA) or the United Nations of Africa (UNA). When Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and NEPAD, opened that 14th PRC ordinary session on Monday, he rightly noted that decisions to be taken during the various sessions were going to be historic in that they would have far reaching impact on the direction of the AU. He asked the delegates to put the interest of Africa ahead of their parochial country interests, saying that the purpose of the summit was to “strengthen our union to be a formidable force in the 21st Century”. Mr Patrick Mazimhaka, Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission, lauded Ghana for the “excellent organization” of the summit in terms of protocol and other arrangements. Besides the grand debate on the union government there are at least six more items on the main agenda for the Heads of States and Governments to deal with. They include the election of Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and appointment of Commissioners and the consideration of various reports and adoption of decisions and declarations. All the sessions would be held behind closed doors but the media would be allowed to cover the opening ceremonies and would either be briefed or given press releases after the various sessions. Source: GNA