Expulsion of ‘SADR’ from AU Will Enable this Organization Regain Credibility and Neutrality – Gambian Former FM –

The African Union (AU) can regain all its credibility and neutrality and can actively contribute to the resolution of the dispute over the Moroccan Sahara, provided that this African body proceeds to the expulsion, or at least, the suspension, of the ghostly “SADR”, underlined Lamine Kaba Bajo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Gambia. This expulsion or suspension will make it possible to overcome any failure of the AU and will strengthen the pan-African dynamic, already initiated by Morocco before its return to its African family, said Kaba Bajo at a seminar held in Accra by the Ghanaian think tank Imani Center for Policy and Education. The former Gambian FM stressed that “the positive dynamic of the opening of consulates in Dakhla and Laayoune reflects a consolidation of the recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara”. The opening of African diplomatic representations in the Moroccan Sahara also shows the continent’s growing alignment with the Moroccan position and the ambition of African countries to put an end to divisions and to stop the instrumentalization of this dispute which creates mistrust within the Pan-African Organization, he pointed out. “This current dynamic is presented by Morocco as the most modern and democratic form of self-determination which combines legal legality and political realism and which is in accordance with the principle of self-determination”, said Mr. Kaba Bajo. “The AU cannot claim to fully and effectively support the UN process, as long as it has not get rid of the political and ideological legacy of the Organization of African Unity (OAU),” he noted. The event brought together several Ghanaian and West-African stakeholders including prominent policymakers, experts, academics, business leaders, think tank and civil society representatives from the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal. The seminar aimed to debate and discuss the African Union’s (AU) current challenges in an objective, scientific and dispassionate manner, in the context of a highly intellectual and fact-based exercise with credible experts and influential decision-makers. Accra being the host of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement’s (AfCFTA) secretariat, the discussions focused on the challenges of regional and continental economic integration, with a special focus on the role of Regional Economic Communities.