Zimbabwe has signed five African Union treaties, including pacts on human and women’s rights, corruption and the environment, the AU said on Thursday.
The Southern African country’s permanent representative to the AU, Andrew Mtetwa, also signed protocols on Tuesday on the 53-member body’s proposed court of justice and an amendment of its constitutive act, the AU said in a statement.
Mtetwa pledged his country’s ”appreciation to the AU for continued support, particularly with regard to the assistance rendered by the former Organisation of African Unity [OAU] during the country’s [1970s] liberation struggle,” the statement noted.
The Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa has been the headquarters of the AU since its formation in July 2002 to succeed the OAU, which was also headquartered there from its formation nearly four decades ago.
The new body, loosely modelled on the EU, is to have a Pan-African parliament from mid-December and eventually a peace and security council, a common court of justice and a common African currency. — Sapa-AFP