Organisation of African Unity

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The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) or Organisation de l'Unité Africaine (OUA) was established on May 25, 1963. It was disbanded July 9, 2002 by its last chairman, South African Thabo Mbeki and replaced by the African Union.

Its intended purpose was to promote the unity and solidarity of the African States and act as a collective voice for the continent. It was also dedicated to the eradication of colonialism and established a Liberation Committee to aid independence movements.

Its headquarters were established at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the invitation of its emperor, Haile Selassie I. The Charter of the Organisation was signed by 32 independent African states, among them members of the Casablanca Group, founded in 1961 and composed of "progressive states". At the time of its disbanding, 53 out of the 54 countries in Africa were members; Morocco left in November 12, 1984 following the admission of Western Sahara in 1982.

Though widely derided^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} as a bureaucratic "talking shop" with little power, Ghanaian United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan praised the OAU for bringing Africans together. Nevertheless, in its 39 years of existence critics argue that the OAU did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it "The Dictators Club".^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Autonomous specialised agencies working under the auspices of the OAU were:

Pan-African Telecommunications Union (PATU)
Pan-African Postal Union (PAPU)
Pan-African News Agency (PANA)
Union of African National Television and Radio Organisations (URTNA)
Union of African Railways (UAR)
Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU)
Supreme Council for Sports in Africa

Contents

1 List of Secretaries-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and
2 List of Chairmen of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) &
3 OAU Summits
4 OAU members by date of admission (53 states)

4.1 Notes

5 References
6 See also

List of Secretaries-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and

Secretaries-general of the OAU
Name	Beginning of Term	End of Term	Country
Kifle Wodajo (acting)	25 May 1963	21 July 1964	Ethiopia
Diallo Telli	21 July 1964	15 June 1972	Guinea
Nzo Ekangaki	15 June 1972	16 June 1974	Cameroon
William Eteki	16 June 1974	21 July 1978	Cameroon
Edem Kodjo	21 July 1978	12 June 1983	Togo
Peter Onu (acting)	12 June 1983	20 July 1985	Nigeria
Ide Oumarou	20 July 1985	19 September 1989	Niger
Salim Ahmed Salim	19 September 1989	17 September 2001	Tanzania
Amara Essy	17 September 2001	9 July 2002	Côte d'Ivoire
AU Chairmen of the Commission
Amara Essy (interim)	9 July 2002	16 September 2003	Côte d'Ivoire
Alpha Oumar Konaré	16 September 2003	Present	Mali

List of Chairmen of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) &

Organisation of African Unity
Name	Beginning of Term	End of Term	Country
Haile Selassie	25 May 1963	17 July 1964	Ethiopia
Gamal Abdel Nasser	17 July 1964	21 October 1965	Egypt
Kwame Nkrumah	21 October 1965	24 February 1966	Ghana
Joseph Arthur Ankrah	24 February 1966	5 November 1966	Ghana
Haile Selassie	5 November 1966	11 September 1967	Ethiopia
Joseph-Désiré Mobutu	11 September 1967	13 September 1968	Congo (Kinshasa)
Houari Boumedienne	13 September 1968	6 September 1969	Algeria
Ahmadou Ahidjo	6 September 1969	1 September 1970	Cameroon
Kenneth Kaunda	1 September 1970	21 June 1971	Zambia
Moktar Ould Daddah	21 June 1971	12 June 1972	Mauritania
Hassan II	12 June 1972	27 May 1973	Morocco
Yakubu Gowon	27 May 1973	12 June 1974	Nigeria
Muhammad Siad Barre	12 June 1974	28 July 1975	Somalia
Idi Amin	28 July 1975	2 July 1976	Uganda
Seewoosagur Ramgoolam	2 July 1976	2 July 1977	Mauritius
Omar Bongo	2 July 1977	18 July 1978	Gabon
Gaafar Nimeiry	18 July 1978	12 July 1979	Sudan
William R. Tolbert, Jr.	12 July 1979	12 April 1980	Liberia
Léopold Sédar Senghor (acting)	28 April 1980	1 July 1980	Senegal
Siaka Stevens	1 July 1980	24 June 1981	Sierra Leone
Daniel arap Moi	24 June 1981	6 June 1983	Kenya
Mengistu Haile Mariam	6 June 1983	12 November 1984	Ethiopia
Julius Nyerere	12 November 1984	18 July 1985	Tanzania
Abdou Diouf	18 July 1985	28 July 1986	Senegal
Denis Sassou-Nguesso	28 July 1986	27 July 1987	Congo (Brazzaville)
Kenneth Kaunda	27 July 1987	25 May 1988	Zambia
Moussa Traoré	25 May 1988	24 July 1989	Mali
Hosni Mubarak	24 July 1989	9 July 1990	Egypt
Yoweri Museveni	9 July 1990	3 June 1991	Uganda
Ibrahim Babangida	3 June 1991	29 June 1992	Nigeria
Abdou Diouf	29 June 1992	28 June 1993	Senegal
Hosni Mubarak	28 June 1993	13 June 1994	Egypt
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali	13 June 1994	26 June 1995	Tunisia
Meles Zenawi	26 June 1995	8 July 1996	Ethiopia
Paul Biya	8 July 1996	2 June 1997	Cameroon
Robert Mugabe	2 June 1997	8 June 1998	Zimbabwe
Blaise Compaoré	8 June 1998	12 July 1999	Burkina Faso
Abdelaziz Bouteflika	12 July 1999	10 July 2000	Algeria
Gnassingbé Eyadéma	10 July 2000	9 July 2001	Togo
Frederick Chiluba	9 July 2001	2 January 2002	Zambia
Levy Mwanawasa	2 January 2002	9 July 2002	Zambia
African Union
Name	Beginning of Term	End of Term	Country
Thabo Mbeki	9 July 2002	10 July 2003	South Africa
Joaquim Chissano	10 July 2003	6 July 2004	Mozambique
Olusegun Obasanjo	6 July 2004	24 January 2006	Nigeria
Denis Sassou-Nguesso	24 January 2006	Present	Congo

OAU Summits

It includes ordinary and extraordinary summits.

Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 22-25 May 1961.
Cairo(Egypt) : 17-21 July 1964.
Accra (Ghana) : 21-26 October 1965.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 5-9 November 1966.
Kinshasa(Democratic Republic of the Congo,formerly Zaire) : 11-14 September 1967.
Algiers(Algeria) : 13-16 September 1968.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 6-10 September 1969.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 1-3 September 1970.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 21-23 June 1971.
Rabat(Morocco) : 12-15 June 1972.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 27-28 May 1973.
Kampala(Uganda) : 28 July. - 1 August 1975.
Port Louis(Mauritius) : 2-6 July 1976.
Libreville(Gabon) : 2-5 July 1977.
Khartoum(Sudan) : 18-22 July 1978.
Monrovia(Liberia) : 17-20 July 1979.
Freetown(Sierra Leone) : 1-4 July 1980.
Nairobi(Kenya) : 24-27 June.1981.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 6-12 June 1983.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 12-15 November 1984.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 18-20 July 1985.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 28-30 July 1986.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 27-29 July.1987.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia), Extraordinary Summit : Oct. 1987 .
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 25-28 May 1988.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 24-26 July 1989.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 9-11 July 1990.
Abuja(Nigeria) : 3-5 July 1991.
Dakar(Senegal) : 29 June. - 1 July 1992.
Cairo(Egypt) : 28-30 June 1993.
Tunis(Tunisia) : 13-15 June 1994.
Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) : 26-28 June 1995.
Yaoundé(Cameroon) : 8-10 June 1996.
Harare(Zimbabwe) : 2-4 June 1997.
Ouagadougou(Burkina Faso) : 8-10 June 1998.
Algiers(Algeria) : 12-14 July 1999.
Sirt(Libya), Extraordinary Summit : 6-9 September 1999.
Lomé(Togo) : 10-12 July 2000.
Lusaka(Zambia) : 9-11 July 2001, It is the last summit of OAU.

OAU members by date of admission (53 states)

25 May 1963 :

Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Léopoldville)1966-71 and from 1997 Congo (Kinshasa); 1971-97 Zaire., DahomeyFrom 1975 Benin., Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory CoastFrom 1985 Côte d'Ivoire., Liberia, Libya, MadagascarSuspended Dec 2001 - 10 July 2003., Mali, MauritaniaSuspended 4 August 2005., MoroccoWithdrew 12 November 1984., Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, The Sudan, TanganyikaTanganyika and Zanzibar merged 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which was renamed Tanzania 1 November 1964., TogoSuspended from 25 February 2005., Tunisia, Uganda, Upper Volta From 1984 Burkina Faso., Zanzibar.

13 December 1963 :

Kenya

13 July 1964 :

Malawi

16 December 1964 :

Zambia

Oct 1965 :

The Gambia

31 October 1966 :

Botswana, Lesotho

Aug 1968 :

Mauritius

24 September 1968 :

Swaziland

12 October 1968 :

Equatorial Guinea

19 November 1973 :

Guinea-Bissau

11 February 1975 :

Angola

18 July 1975 :

Cape Verde, Comoros, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe

29 June 1976 :

Seychelles

27 June 1977 :

Djibouti

Jun 1980 :

Zimbabwe

22 February 1982 :

Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)

Jun 1990 :

Namibia

24 May 1993 :

Eritrea

6 June 1994 :

South Africa

Notes

References

"OAU After Twenty Years"; Pub. Praeger; ISBN 0030624738; (May 1984)
"Africa's First Peacekeeping Operation: The OAU in Chad, 1981-1982" by Terry M. Mays, Pub. Praeger; ISBN 0275976068; (April 30 2002)
"African Exodus: Refugee Crisis, Human Rights, & the 1969 OAU Convention" by Chaloka Beyani, Chris Stringer, Pub. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights; ISBN 0934143730; (July 1995)
[Report] on the Rwandan Genocide in 2000.

Organisation of African Unity

OAU Summits

OAU members by date of admission (53 states)

Notes

References

See also