A.U. chief distressed over African inaction on famine

African Union (A.U.) chief, Moussa Faki Mahamat on Monday said he was shocked by the inaction of Africans on famine and drought in some countries.

This statement was during an address to heads of state at the A.U. summit at its headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

“In the face of the atrocious tragedy of famine in these regions, what has become of the values of solidarity and African fraternity? Where has our civil society gone? Where have our private sector and our patrons gone?

“The tragedies of our brethren in Somalia, in South Sudan, in the Lake Chad basin and in the Sahel challenge our deepest consciences and to the deepest of our beings,” Moussa Faki Mahamat bemoaned.

He took office in January this year as the chairperson of the AU commission at a time that the United Nations had warned against a risk of malnutrition and starvation for millions of people on the continent.

In the midst of humanitarian crisis, the former Chadian foreign minister said he believed that 2018 will be a year of financial autonomy for the organization.