African Leaders Assemble For OAU Meeting in Kinshasa Sept. 1967 - Mobutu | Awolowo | Kaunda | Obote

Discussion of the fourth conference of the OAU, in Kinshasa in September 1967. After an introduction the article describes the many shadows which the African political scene over the prospective conference, e.g. the public disagreement between governments as to whether the Organization should concern itself with the apparent disintegration of Nigeria or with the full-scale between Arab States and Israel. On political issues the Assembly reached agreement in many cases: the most unexpected resolution was that on Nigeria's civil war. Three seminal aspects of the meeting can be seen: 1. The OAU is developing its own weight against the forces in Africa running counter to the attempts of African States to organize their relations and policies on a continent-wide basis - 2. The conference has made a contribution towards narrowing the OAU's credibility gap: the most fruitful feature was its greater realism - 3. The Assembly functionned as official 'acceptance' of Pres. Mobutu as an African leader and it stabilized the Congo's internal situation.
+
#africa #kampala #congo