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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

McKinnon to Africa: “We share a common future”

29 June 2007

Secretary-General joins African leaders at Accra Summit

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon will be in Accra, Ghana from 29 June to 2 July 2007 attending the 9th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union.

Speaking ahead of his trip to the West African country, Mr McKinnon said that the Commonwealth and AU have long established good working relationship on matters of common interest on democracy and development.

“The ties that bind Africa and the Commonwealth go back a long way. These are ties that we would like to grow from strength to strength,” the Secretary-General said.

He added: “This very week, AU Commission Chairman Alpha Konare and I hope to sign a new Memorandum of Understanding which will help us to intensify the co-operation between the Commonwealth and the African Union in tangible ways that benefit both our organisations and constituents.”

Quoting Ghanaian founding President Kwame Nkrumah, Mr McKinnon said that the theme for this session’s Summit – The Grand Debate on the Union Government – is a cornerstone for addressing the challenges facing the continent.

“Over 40 years ago Kwame Nkrumah told fellow African leaders ‘Our problems as individual states are insoluble except in the context of African unity’” Mr McKinnon said.

“Conscious of this the Commonwealth will continue to work with Africa: individually, with African Commonwealth countries; and collectively, with the AU, New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), and the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). Ours is Nkrumah’s view, that nations’ challenges are best met in unity,” he said.

While in Ghana, the Secretary-General will meet Commonwealth Africa leaders and brief them on preparations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled to take place in Kampala Uganda in November 2007.

He will also brief them on ongoing 2005 CHOGM mandates, including the work of the Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding – which is focussing on identifying ways of promoting harmony among and within societies, as well as the

Commonwealth Committee on Membership – which is examining modalities for admission of new members among other things.

Note to Editors

Eighteen out of the 53 African countries belong to the Commonwealth. These are: Botswana, Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.

For media enquiries, please contact Julius Mucunguzi, Assistant Spokesperson for Africa on +44 79 222 99809 or +233 24578163; email: j.mucunguzi@commonwealth.int

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