...AU urges members to settle $45m debt
The African Union (AU) urged Ghana and some other member countries to settle some $45 million in membership arrears that has accumulated in the last 20 years, a report released by its Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) said.

The report said the pan-African body expects to collect up to $45,396,176 this month from 41 member states who have not paid for a period of four to 20 years.

"We are in a very difficult situation. We are facing challenges of inadequate financial resources which is hampering the activities of the commission to execute its responsibilities due to being unable to recruit more staff," AU Commission chairman Alpha Omar Konare told a meeting of the PRC on Friday.

The report said that Algeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya, Swaziland, Senegal, Morocco, South Africa, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Mali are the only countries that have cleared up their arrears.

The report indicated that Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Ghana, Guinea Bissau and nominally Somalia have big percentages of the arrears, which had risen to $64 million in the 1994/95 budget year.

The 53-member AU last year succeeded the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was much criticised during its 39 years of existence for being powerless in resolving Africa's myriad of conflicts.

The AU, loosely modelled on the European Union, will soon have a parliament and Peace and Security Council authorised to send in a stand-by peacekeeping force drawn from African armies in cases of conflict.

An AU Common Court of Justice and a common African currency are also planned.