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Written by David Tash Lumu
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 22:15 |
 President Museveni is ready to take over the African Union chairmanship from Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi, but Kampala is worried that the Libyan leader might embarrass his estranged Ugandan colleague by boycotting the event. Relations between Libya and Uganda have gone cold since Museveni refused to buy into Gaddafi’s idea of forming a United States of Africa.
According to intelligence sources, President Museveni who last chaired the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now AU, in 1990, might consider chickening out of the continental Summit scheduled for Kampala in July next year.
Gaddafi, who last set foot in Kampala in March 2008, is likely to skip the Kampala AU summit as the assembly of African leaders gathers to replace him after completing his one-year term as AU chairperson. He took over on February 2, 2009.
Gaddafi, who used to be Museveni’s good friend, has already skipped what Uganda officials call “important” meetings in Uganda without sufficient explanation.
One such meeting was the just-concluded AU special summit on internally displaced persons and refugees, which as chairman of the AU, Gaddafi was supposed to open. To make matters worse, out of more than 40 leaders invited, only five turned up, leading to speculation that Gaddafi was behind the low turn-up.
BAD BLOOD
The nosedive in relations between Museveni and Gaddafi started and picked momentum in 2005 when the former reneged on supporting the latter’s campaign for one African government. President Museveni instead backed South Africa’s former President, Thabo Mbeki’s view of forming a continental economic union first. Since then, the relations between the two heads of state have gone cold.
Indeed, Gaddafi skipped Museveni’s swearing-in ceremony in May 2006 and has since turned down several invitations, apart from the March 16 - 20, 2008 Afro-Arab youth festival.
But during this visit, Gaddafi, together with businessman Habib Kagimu, paid a surprise visit to Buganda Kingdom, a move the government viewed as an attempt to embarrass Museveni, who was at loggerheads with the kingdom at that time. In fact, observers who viewed Gaddafi’s return to Uganda as a sign that the relations had warmed up, were taken aback by his Mengo visit.
It is against this background that analysts believe that the forth-coming Kampala AU assembly might be a disaster if the two long-serving African leaders don’t iron out their differences quickly.
The Chairperson of the AU is chosen by the Assembly of the African Union, which consists of 53 heads of state of member countries, to serve a one-year term.
GOVT REACTS
According to Regional Co-operation minister, Isaac Musumba, preparations for the assembly of the Africa Union summit are underway.
“Uganda is ready to host this important event in July next year (2010),” he said. Arguing that the AU is beyond individuals, Musumba added that Museveni is ready to take over as Chairperson.
“AU is beyond individuals. And its [AU] operations are beyond individuals. Uganda will host the summit in July next year, and it’s automatic that the country that hosts AU provides the chair. So, that speculation that Museveni is chickening out is baseless,” he said.
GADDAFI SUSPECTED
It is understood that Gaddafi, one of the sponsors of the 1981-86 guerilla war that brought Museveni to power, called him for a quick chat before the February 2009 summit in Addis Ababa started.
During their conversation, Gaddafi reportedly pleaded with his friend to support his push for a single government for Africa. Libyan diplomats have told us that Museveni gave Gaddafi’s proposal a nod of approval and the maverick self-styled “King of Kings” asked the Ugandan leader to deliver a strong speech that would persuade other leaders.
To Gaddafi’s utter disappointment, when it was Museveni’s turn to speak, he stuck to his long-held view of strengthening regional blocs first, before considering a single, African government.
Gaddafi treated Museveni’s cautious regional blocs sermon as betrayal. The angry Libyan leader told some African leaders, according to diplomatic sources, that if Museveni continued to joke around with him, he would undermine him (Museveni) the way he did with former South African President, Thabo Mbeki.
In fact, after the September 10-12 riots broke out in Buganda over the government refusal to let the Kabaka tour Kayunga District in his kingdom, President Museveni spoke of a foreign hand, and that hand was understood to be Gaddafi.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 05 November 2009 00:07 |
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