Benin President elected AU Chairperson

BENIN President Thomas Yayi Boni has been elected African Union (AU) Chairperson on a one-year term rotation basis. Mr Boni was elected during a closed session of the 18th Ordinary Session of the AU heads of State and Government Assembly. He takes over the chair from President Teodoro Obiang Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea whose mandate for the year 2011 has come to an end. The newly elected Chairperson would manage the affairs of the AU and represent the continental organisation for a one year mandate. According to the rotation principle, the Chairmanship of the Union for the year 2012 was given to a West African country. The Heads of State and Government of the AU endorsed the Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS) decision for Benin to take the turn at the helm of Africa’s highest organ. The newly-elected Bureau of the Assembly include Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni as first Vice-president (Eastern Region) Tunisia’s Dr. Mohamed Moncef Marzouki got the position of second Vice-president (Northern Region) while Jacob Zuma of South Africa is the third Vice-president (Southern Region). In his acceptance speech, Mr Boni underlined priorities of his mandate which include promoting peace, stability and security. On the theme of the Summit, “Boosting Intra-African Trade,” the newly elected Chairperson said the solution to the challenges Africa was facing relied upon the Africans themselves to resolve them head-on. Mr Boni urged fellow leaders to strive for more stability and security, reinforce continental integration, and promote infrastructure development in order fight poverty effectively.