The East Africa region supported the bid of Pual kagame, the president of Rwanda to takeover African Union chairmanship replacing the Guinean President Alpha Conde, who run the Union for a year, representing west Africa region.
There is a trend that the Union gets its new chairperson ever year in a round election culture that revolves in the Africa’s five regions–East, West, South, North and Central Africa.
Foreign ministers of the 12 countries of region held a discussion to have a common agenda for summit including supporting kagame’s bid, Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Youssouf told the media after the meeting.
The region will support Kagame as he promotes the continent, he said.
He said that the region count on the president that he will champion the agenda of the continent.
Ways to create strong cooperation among the east African countries to ensure peace and security, the South Sudan peace deal and off course corruption were also issues the foreign minister discussed in huddle, he said.
Agenda 2063, the continent’s biggest development program, which he said demand them make some compromises to reach to a common ground for economic cooperation
State minister for Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hirut Zemene on her part said that Ethiopia too support Kagame to lead the Union.
She also said that the security situation of South Sudan, which rivals agreed a ceasefire deal in Addis Ababa last month after much pressure from the international communities and IGAD, was also discussed.
According to her, the role IGAD played in bring the rival faction of South Sudan to reach a deal is recognized.
The rival factions are instructed to take responsibility, she added.