Statement at the Fifty Seventh Ordinary Session of Council of Ministers

"For the few years that I have been closely associated with the OAU, I have observed with considerable trepidation, tendencies of loosening up in terms of our commitment to the organization and gradually yielding ground to forces of hesitation and despair. Those who have been with the OAU much longer have a much.more vivid perception of the situation. Today the concern is not just African Unity but also that of African leadership. In Dakar last year, I drew attention of the Summit to this problem when I stated that the challenge in Africa is now that of leadership. The leaders of Africa need to inject the kind of political will which will nurture and sustain the momentum for change in the Continent. The events of the last few months underscore this preoccupation. That is not all. I see disturbing signals that Africa is losing the zeal, energy, sense of solidarity, unity of purpose and action. Our will to fight, to stand for what we collectively believe in as a continent, seems to be caving in under the burden of the hard economic times our countries are going through." Dr. Salim, February 15, 1993