Thousands of people started packing the Absa rugby stadium in Durban on Tuesday morning to attend an extravaganza to formally launch the new African Union.
Three stands at the stadium were covered with AU flags and the national colours of Organisation of African Unity (OAU) member states.
A festive spirit was in the air as the crowd on the eastern stand swayed to lively music pumped out of massive speakers on the field.
What has been dubbed the ”Spectacular” will feature a parade by Bafana Bafana and the Senegalese national soccer team.
Also on the programme are performances by a brass band of 320 members, a mass choir of 300 voices, the Cape Minstrels from Cape Town and popular local musicians.
A Boeing aircraft and three Cheetah fighter jets will fly overhead after a national salute by 800 SA National Defence Force members. A 21-gun salute will also be fired.
Pamphlets with the words of the new AU theme song were dished out to the crowd. It ends with the words: ”Africans arise, unite. And be free.”
A few kilometres away, African heads of state opened the first assembly of the AU. Upon entering the historic plenary session, each African leader was accompanied by a child holding a flag of his country.
The leaders were scheduled to adopt rules and procedures of the four key organs of the AU.
These are the Assembly of Heads of State, the Executive Council which comprises foreign ministers, the Permanent Representatives Committee, and the statutes of the AU Commission.
The Executive Council will carry out directives of the heads of state, meeting at least twice a year.
The permanent committee is to comprise permanent representatives to the union charged with preparing work for the council, while the Commission will replace the OAU secretariat.
A protocol for the Peace and Security Council for Africa is also to be adopted. The body will be mandated to intervene in the affairs of member states to help stem war, conflict and other human right abuses.
This represents a major departure from the way things were done by the OAU, which attached overriding importance to sovereignty and non-interference.
South African President Thabo Mbeki is to deliver the opening address at the stadium. He will be followed by five heads of state — from Kenya, Gabon, Togo, Zambia, and Sehrawu Arab Democratic Republic — each representing a region of the continent.
Members of the crowd on the eastern were holding large framed photographs of African presidents, with the flag of the country concerned below.
After the stadium launch, the presidents will reconvene at the International Convention Centre for closed round-table discussions.
The topics on the agenda are strengthening multilateralism, the empowerment of women, and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
They will then get down to serious business, discussing conflicts in various parts of Africa and the establishment of a single African defence force. – Sapa