A better Africa is possible, official says Cites obstacles in bid for stability

• Originally published in the Boston Globe on March 26, 2005 [here]

By Madison Park, Globe Correspondent  |  March 26, 2005

With more help from the world's superpowers, many of Africa's woes could be solved within several years, the spokesman of the African Union said Thursday evening.

But Desmond Orjiako acknowledged in a speech at Northeastern University in Boston that many obstacles remain on the continent's path to economic and political stability.

Speaking to nearly 100 students, academics, and others, Orjiako touted Africa's future and the progress of the 53-nation, pan-African organization. Orjiako has spent 13 years as a spokesman for the AU and its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity.

''If great countries like the United States, France, Britain, and all of them come together and stand by us, Africa's problems will be resolved by 2007 -- all of them," Orjiako declared.

He credited the African Union for bringing more stability to the world's poorest continent.

''Africa now has fewer wars, with concerted efforts made to resolve them," said Orjiako, adding that the African Union has responded to the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region, where it has dispatched about 2,200 peacekeepers, and worked to end unrest in Somalia and Burundi. ''More than ever before, we have made fruitful efforts to build the bridges of peace across the continent."

After the speech, Orjiako described the situation in Darfur as a series of ''heinous crimes," but stopped short of declaring it genocide. ''For it to be called genocide, there must be an intent to commit genocide amongst the government," he said. ''From our perspective, we have not been able to establish that policy as the government's policy."

The Darfur region has been racked with violence since February 2003. As many as 2 million people have been displaced and tens of thousands killed, according to the United Nations, which has called Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Last year, the US Congress and Colin L. Powell, then secretary of state, separately declared the killings a genocide.

Orjiako, who is from Nigeria, said ''significant progress" has been made in reducing violence in Darfur. He also said other nations are winning the fight against governmental corruption, including in Togo, where the military-appointed ruler stepped down last month and promised elections.

Orjiako said multiparty systems and substantive democratic overhauls were slowly blossoming in African nations.

However, the African Union has not been asked by Zimbabwe's officials to observe the parliamentary election on Thursday, he said. Zimbabwe's government, led by President Robert Mugabe, has been criticized as repressive.

''There's no reason to doubt" that Zimbabwe could have a fair vote, Orjiako said, ''if it is conducted by an independent commission and observed by an international community as well as the AU."