Arguments on Union Gov't not rated above other issues

Accra, July 2, GNA - Ghana's Foreign Minister on Monday has described as "strange and rather infantile" arguments that the issue of a Union Government was being rated above other the political issues affecting the continent such as Darfur.

"At the beginning of every day there is only one thing someone can do at a time. But we all end up doing many things at the same time sometime," Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the on-going African Union Summit, he said there were urgent issues, but in finding and clarifying them, it was very important to have a secure future of the continent.

He was responding to questions that leaders on the continent preferred the union government idea above pertinent issues such as Darfur and Somalia and other parts of the continent. "Yes, there are urgent issues of significant importance like Darfur, but all is towards finding a better way of organising our affairs which is bound to have an impact on some crises like the conflict in Darfur and Somalia.

"We have reached a certain understanding on national and continental level on what is going on. Great attention is being given to the matter and therefore we should not be put in the either or situation. That, with the greatest respect, is rather infantile and is part of the double standards where Africans are always considered differently."

Asked why the seeming shift towards the Union Government idea, Nana Akufo-Addo said the fact that Africa was considered poor, did not mean that we should not go ahead with this agenda.

"There are parts of Europe where I have seen poverty just like anywhere on this continent. But that does not stop them from sometimes holding all-night sessions in Brussels to call something a treaty or a non-treaty. It does not stop you from making arrangement for integration."

On arguments that the Sudanese President was not at the AU meeting, Nana Akufo-Addo said he did not really have to be here. "He may be sorting something at home. What we need to do is to improve the quality of our governments, deal with critical issues such as Darfur, Somalia, create a stronger African Union and resolve fundamental issues. We will then be in a better position to deal with the matter." He expressed optimism of an African President sooner than later.