We only notice the problem when the persons concerned happen to be seized by a moment of indiscretion or when their ambitions get the better of them.
According to leaked secret intelligence documents, Dlamini-Zuma allegedly faced "an eminent threat" to her life in Addis Ababa in 2012.
The president is having his 91st birthday bash this weekend – but Zimbabweans hurt by the economy are not in the mood to celebrate.
Zimbabwe’s ruling party has called the EU’s lifting of a travel ban on President Robert Mugabe "inconsequential".
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s appointment as the new chairperson of the 54-nation African Union has drawn criticism from some.
The AU says that three peacekeepers and five Islamist gunmen were killed in the ensuing battle, which saw the gunmen infiltrate the base in Mogadishu.
Five women believed to be wives of Al Shabab members were killed by a soldier in retaliation for the beheading of his wife by the group.
Countries in the region should offer asylum to refugees who are fleeing the repressive state and dying at alarming rates in the Mediterranean Sea.
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/ 9 September 2014
The AU said lifting the travel ban would ease the economic impact of the restrictions, which add to continent’s woes.
The African Union will have to deal with a crisis of another colour altogether, even as a continental response strategy to illness takes shape.
A new African rapid intervention force is expected to be launched by October – but concerns remain about funding.
At 10, the toothless Pan African Parliament remains little more than a noble concept.
The effectiveness of Africa’s major geopolitical organisations continues to be called into question, write Dawn Nagar and Dan Kuwali.
Sadly, the Africa Union’s jubilee year witnessed a rise in terrorism and strife on the continent.
After 23 years as an independent nation, Somaliland is still being denied recognition, says president Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo.
Africa Day is on Sunday. How close has the continent come to achieving the integration the OAU founders had in mind when they formed the body in 1963?
Africans say the focus on its leaders is proof that the International Criminal Court is just an expensive and elaborate sham, writes Tim Murithi.
As South Sudan rebels battled government troops for control of the flashpoint town of Bor, the AU says it will impose sanctions over violence.
One person has been killed after African Union troops in the Central African Republic fired on demonstrators demanding the removal of the president.
French President François Hollande went to the Central African Republic where an operation to disarm rogue rebels has killed two French soliders.
As African leaders discussed a rapid-deployment emergency force, Jacob Zuma has spoken of a security unit that would "enable Africa to act swiftly".
President Jacob Zuma says ideas to replace Africa’s democratically elected governments from outside the continent must be rejected.
Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto says he will still co-operate with the ICC, despite a call from African leaders.
The African Union has backed a call to boost by about a third the number of troops in an African peacekeeping force in Somalia.
African nations have agreed that sitting heads of state should not be put on trial by the International Criminal Court.
How will Africans achieve a more prosperous and peaceful continent in 50 years’ time?
As preliminary results show Robert Mugabe will probably remain as Zimbabwe’s president, the African Union has declared the election free and fair.
With many observers barred from covering Zimbabwe’s election, the AU and SADC are becoming the world’s eyes and ears in a test of their credibility.
African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has flown into Harare to assess Zimbabwe’s preparedness for next week’s elections.
Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo will lead a team of 60 African Union monitors to Zimbabwe for the July 31 election, says the organisation.
The detention of the Chadian dictator is thanks in part to the body’s insistence that Senegal try him.
The interim Egyptian head of state who was appointed after the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi has dissolved parliament by decree, says a report.