Sunday 1 February 2015

The OAU - Organisation of Africa Unity circa 1963 - now known as the A.U - African Union

"Men who are in earnest are not afraid of consequences".
- Marcus Garvey -

'Addis Ababa means New Flower.
It was founded in 1887, by Emperor Menelik II, by the site of a hot spring. Addis Ababa is a large, sprawling, hospitable city with 2 million people. It is important as a focal point of the struggle to end colonial occupation, and the center for the organization of African unity and sovereignty.

Through the efforts of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, representing the Monrovia Group of African states, and President Sekou Toure of Guinea, acting on behalf of the Casablanca Group, the leaders of 32 independent African states were brought together at Addis Ababa in May 1963. After two days of speeches, a charter creating the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was approved on 25 May (Africa Day).

The charter was signed within half an hour the next day as 30 heads of state and prime ministers mounted the podium in groups of four to non-stop thunderous applause. Addis Ababa was alive with excitement. Abdel Nasser, Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Leopold Senghor, and all the other great founders of Africa's post colonial states were there. Together they went out and planted trees to symbolize African unity;.
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