Kikwete inaugurates AU council assembly...

African Union Chairman President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday launched the first Permanent General Assembly of the continental body`s Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC). In an address to members of the council at a ceremony in Dar es Salaam, he described the landmark development as a measure of the AU leaders` commitment to abiding by the letter and spirit of the legal requirements the body ought to meet. ``The Constitutive Act of the AU is designed to be a partnership between governments and all segments of civil society in the African continent,`` said the AU chairperson. He explained that, by establishing ECOSOCC, the AU was creating a people-oriented, people-centred and people-driven community in the AU in which all stakeholders were effectively represented. ``This is the first time that an institution such as the AU that began as an inter-governmental organisation is incorporating non-state actors as full partners in the policy making enterprise,`` said the AU Chairman. ``Our ECOSOCC is not an allied or associated body of the AU. It is more or less a civil society parliament made up of elected representatives of civil society organisations of member states and the regions of the continents,`` he added. He further noted that the council`s birth meant that civil society organisations in Africa have now got a formal platform where their voices could be heard and considered. The council`s newly elected Presiding Officer, Akere Muna of Cameroon, said ECOSOCC would concentrate on the sensitisation of the people of Africa on the challenges facing the continent.