Dr. Salim, Bregadier Mbita Receive Prestigious AU Award

By PATTY MAGUBIRA-- Former Secretary General of the defunct Organisation of the African Union, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, and Tanzania’s Brigadier General Hashim Mbita, have been honoured with the ‘Sons of Africa’ award.

They go on record as the first recipients of the new African Union's (AU) Son of Africa Award for their lifetime achievements in the promotion of peace and dignity on the continent.

The award is due to be presented on a regular basis to eminent Africans who have served the continent with great distinction.

The commissioner of the AU Peace and Security Council, Mr Simail Chergue, presented the award to the two eminent Africans during a ceremony held at Mount Meru Hotel in Tanzania’s northern safari capital of Arusha.


Brigadier General Mbita's daughter -- Sheila -- received the award on behalf of her father who could not make it to the ceremenoy due to his health challenges.

Sheila said she was pleased with the award given to her father as she joined Dr Salim in extending their gratitude to the AU council for recognizing their contributions.

Judge (rtd) Christopher Lihundi said he knew Dr Salim's leadership talent since he was the Secretary General of the defunct Organisation of the African Union also based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.


The AU in collaboration with the Tanzania Government organized a three-day retreat with the technical support from the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

The retreat has brought together the leadership of the AU Commission and its special envoys and representatives, members of the AU Panel of the Wise, and ambassadors, among others.

It is being held in response to a call this year to 'silence the guns' by the year 2020, and to develop coherent strategies for reaching this goal on the African continent as soon as possible.

The Arusha retreat will adopt a long-term and structural approach to understanding and responding to violence and instability on the continent and it will consider two specific threats of particular concern.

The first of these threats is the phenomenon of terrorist insurgencies and the ways in which local extremist networks relate both to global trends as well as to transnational organised criminal networks.


Secondly, the retreat will consider the emerging threat of climate change to peace, security and stability on the continent, a threat likely to grow over coming years and that, if not addressed, will undermine all efforts to silence the guns.
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