Ambassador Kiplagat also called on the Heads of State and Government to place the APRM at the top of the agenda of their countries and to follow up its implementation regularly.

The new Chairperson of the APR Panel to succeed Ambassador Kiplagat is Prof. Dorothy Njeuma, of Cameroon. She takes over with immediate effect in conformity with the decision to rotate the Chair annually.

The Summit was attended by President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya ; President Bingu Wa Mutharika of Malawi ; President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique ; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda ; President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa ; President Omer H. A. Al-Bashir of Sudan ; President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia ; Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia ; and Pakalitha B. Mosisili, Prime Minister of Lesotho.

The Heads of State and Government of Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Mauritius, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda were represented by Ministers and senior officials.

The members of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons were also present together with the heads of the partner institutions — African Development Bank [AfDB], United Nations Economic Commission for Africa [UNECA] and the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] Regional Bureau for Africa.

The Chairperson of the APR Forum, President Obasanjo of Nigeria, thanked the APR Panel and the APR Secretariat for the good work done so far, and particularly for bringing the Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya review processes to the current stage. He also acknowledged the constant support provided by the strategic partners.

He reiterated that the APRM is a critical instrument for advancing reforms in governance and socio-economic development and emphasised that the APRM process is not a punitive instrument but rather a mechanism for identifying the strong and weak points, sharing them and helping to rectify the weak areas in governance.

Progress report on the country processes

Ambassador Kiplagat presented the status of progress in the country processes in the participating countries and thanked the strategic partners - UNDP, AfDB and UNECA - for their support. Dr. Graca Machel, Member of the APR Panel, who led an 18-member Country Review Mission to Kenya from 3 to 14 October 2005, presented the outline of the Kenya Country Review Report to the Forum. The best practices identified, the challenges and overarching issues, as well as the Programme of Action, were highlighted.

In his response, President Mwai Kibaki stressed the efforts deployed by the Kenyan Government in combating corruption at all levels and improving governance across the board in the country. The Government, he said, is making strides in devolving power to the regions and investing in education and health as a means of breaking the cycle of poverty.

The Forum debated some key issues arising from the Kenya report dealing with the issues of ethnicity and management of diversity among others. At the end of the discussion, the Forum noted that there should be further reviews of the good practices and challenges identified in the report. Hence, the need to convene a conference on “Managing Diversity and Nation-building in Africa”.

Prof. Dorothy Njeuma, Team Leader for the Rwanda Review, made a brief presentation to recall the main findings and recommendations of the Rwanda report which was presented in June 2005.

The Forum discussed the pertinent issues arising from the Rwanda report such as national reconciliation and nation building especially after the 1994 genocide, managing diversity and tackling corruption.

The APR Forum agreed to conduct in-depth discussions as well as the peer review deliberations on the Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya reports after the brainstorming session on NEPAD which is scheduled for November 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria. The next Summit of the APR Forum will be held in Abuja immediately after the brainstorming session.

The review reports of countries that have completed the review missions will be presented at the next APR Forum during the AU Summit in January 2007 in Addis Ababa.

Source : nepad news, august 4, 2006