Sixteen former African Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers have launched a solemn appeal from Tangier demanding the expulsion of the pseudo-SADR from the African Union (AU).
The “Tangier Appeal”, issued at the end of a round-table held as part of the MEDays Forum, organized by Amadeus Institute November 2-5, stresses the need to correct the historical anomaly, legal aberration and political misunderstanding that is the illegal and illegitimate admission, and then the unjustified maintenance within the continental organization of the pseudo-SADR and its negative operational impact.
The former African officials who signed the document believe that the accession of the puppet entity to the AU is “in violation of Articles 3(b) and 4(b) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union,” noting that the so-called Sahrawi Republic is “an artificial entity imposed on the sole Organization of African Unity/African Union, against all legitimacy and legality.”
According to the document, this artificial entity “does not fulfil any of the constituent elements of a state, namely a territory, a population and an effective government,” nor does it enjoy sovereignty, independence, or international legal responsibility.
This puppet entity is “without added value” for the continent, the appeal signatories note, stressing that on the contrary it “hinders the effectiveness of the AU” and “threatens African unity and political and economic integration” of the continent, while “threatening regional stability and security.
The signatories of the document ask the Amadeus Institute and its African think tanks partners to elaborate a “White Paper” compiling the analyses and recommendations made at this round-table as well as those by conferences and meetings held previously in several countries of the continent.
The signatories also established a “Contact Group” entrusted with presenting the “Tangier Appeal”, and the planned “White Paper” to the African Heads of State and decision-makers of the African Union.
The Contact Group vowed to remain mobilized for the realization of this objective that is necessary for the credibility of the AU, and consequently for the future of the continent.
According to its initiators, the “Tangier Appeal” is inspired by the ideals of the Founding Fathers of Pan-Africanism, mainly promoting unity, solidarity, cohesion and effective economic cooperation among the independent and sovereign states of Africa.
The Appeal is also meant to commemorate the historic work of the Casablanca Group, its Pan-Africanist ideals and the memory of its illustrious host, the late King Mohammed V.
Similarly, the Tangier Appeal “warmly welcomes the solemn return, in January 2017, of the Kingdom of Morocco, a founding member state of the Organization of African Unity, to the African Union and the sustained efforts, commendable initiatives and sincere contributions that the Kingdom has not ceased to make, since then, to fulfil the objectives and actions of the continental organization.
The Contact Group of the Tangier Appeal is composed of the former Prime Ministers of Djibouti, Dileita Mohamed Dileita, and of the Central African Republic, Martin Ziguélé; and by the former Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Eswatini, Lutfo Dlamini, Liberia, Gbehzohngar Milton Findley, Gabon, Régis Immongault Tatangani, Malawi, Francis Kasaila, Senegal, Mankeur Ndiaye, Guinea, Mamadi Touré, and Kenya, Rafael Tuju.
The “Tangier Appeal” is also supported by several other personalities, including the former Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau, Augusto António Artur da Silva; and the former Foreign Ministers of Somalia, Mohamed Abdirizak Mohamud; of Burkina Faso, Alpha Barry; of Benin, Jean-Marie Ehouzou; of the Comoros, Fahmi Said Ibrahim El Maceli; of Cape Verde, Luis Felipe Lopes Tavares; and of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Leonard She Okitundu Lundula.