Head of Government of Morocco Abdelilah Benkirane (Alchetron)
In the intervening period, there have been disgusting maneuvers by the Kingdom of Morocco to appear as if it is a rightful member of the African Union (AU) while it is not – since AU member states had barred its membership of the all-African continental body as it transformed itself into a Union from its former status as an organisation – the Organisation of African Unity – (OAU) way back in 1984.
The Kingdom’s agents of disinformation had even given the impression that Morocco was represented and even addressed the 27th AU summit in Kigali, Rwanda mid last month prompting the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa to formerly disclaim in a press statement. Here goes the AU disclaimer available on the AU website: “The African Union seeks to clarify that the Kingdom of Morocco did not attend nor address the 27th Assembly of Heads of State that was held on 17-18 July 2016, in Kigali, Rwanda.”
According to informed diplomatic sources, Morocco’s manoeuvres are part of its overall strategy to seek membership of the AU as soon as possible with the agenda of ousting the state of Western Sahara from the continental body as its priority.
According to these sources, the Kingdom of Morocco’s intrigues against the POLISARIO Front’s state of Western Sahara is bound to fail because that state has long been admitted into the AU and enjoys majority support by all member-states of the AU.
Secondly, Morocco is in clear of violation of the charter of the AU which is principled on the need to respect former colonial inherited borders which flies into the face of the Kingdom which annexed Western Sahara as part of its Kingdom with the departure of Spain as an erstwhile colonial power.
According to the Saharawi ambassador in Dar es Salaam: “Morocco has always been contemptuous of the AU with its King describing AU meetings as “tamtam” conferences! At one stage the kingdom even refused to receive an AU envoy, former Mozambican President Chissano.”
“If Morocco wants to join the AU, it has to abide by its charter obliging member states to have no territorial ambitions of fellow member states. But Morocco has an agenda: to have the state of Western Sahara out of the AU.
This is absolutely unacceptable,” said the envoy. And by the way, when we reflect on liberation struggles against colonialism in Africa, we see that colonial powers have never been inside Africa, but have come outside the continent. In East Africa, an erstwhile colonial power was Britain as much as France was in West Africa.
But the thought that a country in Africa can ever be a colonial power over another African country appears strange if not farfetched.
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