African ministers in charge of foreign Affairs, gathered within the executive Council of the African Union, voted in favour of the project of the Charter of Lomé on Thursday, October 13, at the end of their meeting.
This step paves the way for the adoption and signature of the said Charter by the Conference of the heads of State and Government of the African countries that will take place on Saturday 15th October at Radisson Blu Hotel 2 Février in Lomé.
This stage of the work of the Executive council follows that of the Committee of permanent representatives (Corep) held at the beginning of this week.
Insisting on the importance of the signature of this Charter, Professor Robert Dussey stated during a work session that: “give up such an asset to development, abandon it to the hands of hackers and drug traffickers and traffickers of all kinds; the divestment of the responsibilities that are ours in terms of protection of maritime spaces and natural resources on which they abound, would be to curb our impulse toward a progress that ensures the well-being of each and everyone.’’
“We have reached a stage in our existence where the declarations of good intentions and speeches will no longer suffice. We need to surpass our will, exceed the framework of mere intention and acts strongly, which are the cement of all the actions that we will conduct for the safety and security of maritime spaces”, he continued.
“It is in this context that we consider that the adoption of Charter’s draft of our Union on the security and safety and maritime development in Africa by the Conference of heads of State and Government of the African Union will be a step forward and a sufficient reason to believe in the future of our continent”, he added.
Bernard Yao Adzorgenu
