Addis Ababa, Jan 15 (IANS): The African Union (AU) disclosed that its annual summit will be held from February 12 to 16, with the election of the AU Commission (AUC) senior leadership set to be a focus of the event.
In an announcement released Tuesday, the AU said the summit, under its theme for 2025, "Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations," will be held at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Xinhua news agency reported.
As part of the summit, the AU Executive Council meeting, comprising foreign ministers from AU members, is slated to take place from February 12 to 13, followed by the assembly of African heads of state and government from February 15 to 16, according to the announcement.
The AU said that elections for the AUC senior leadership, including the next AUC chairperson for the 2025-2028 period, will be conducted during the Executive Council and assembly sessions.
All the eight senior leadership positions of the AUC are open for candidates, guided by the regional allocation of the portfolios. The positions include the AUC chairperson, the deputy chairperson, and six commissioner posts.
Last month, the three candidates vying for the AUC chairperson position, Djibouti's Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Kenya's former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and Madagascar's former Foreign Affairs Minister Richard Randriamandrato, announced their priorities for advancing the union's aspirations for an integrated, united and prosperous Africa.
During a televised debate broadcast live to African citizens, they elaborated on their vision and strategies for implementing the Agenda 2063, the AU's 50-year continental development blueprint, and driving Africa's transformative vision for a prosperous, united, and peaceful Africa.
In a concept note on its theme for 2025, the AU highlighted that reparations, including reparatory justice, for historical crimes and mass atrocities committed against Africans and people of African descent have always been part of the complete decolonisation process of the Organisation of African Unity, now the AU, since its inception in 1963.
The AU said that in the past three decades, it has taken several decisions and supported initiatives to spearhead and promote the advancement of the cause of justice and the payment of reparations to Africans, and the restitution of cultural artifacts, relics, and heritage pillaged during colonisation and enslavement to the African countries where these items were looted and stolen.