Resolution on the Inter-African Military Force of Interventions

CM/Res. 635 (XXXI)

RESOLUTION ON THE INTER-AFRICAN MILITARY FORCE OF INTERVENTION

The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Thirty-First Ordinary Session in Khartoum, Democratic Republic of the Sudan, from 7 to 18 July 1978,

Reaffirming its adherence to the fundamental principles of the OAU Charter and its firm determination to safeguard and strengthen the Organization of African Unity, to preserve the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States,

Conscious of the inalienable right of every State to take any measures it deems necessary to safeguard it sovereignty, freedom and independence and protect its security,

REAFFIRMS its determination to create and maintain the conditions of peace and security needed to ensure the economic and social development of Africa,

Considering that any initiative to establish a Pan-African force should be planned and taken solely within the frame work of the Organization of African Unity if it is to fulfill the aspirations of the African peoples;

Considering the attempt by non-African powers to threaten the peace and security of the African continent under the pretext of establishing an Inter-African collective security force;

1. AFFIRMS that Africa’s defence and security are the exclusive responsibility of the Africans;

2. SOLEMNLY DECLARES that the creation of an Inter-African force can be envisaged only within the context of OAU’s objectives and priorities for the elimination of the racist minority regimes of Southern Africa, the total liberation of the continent, and the safeguarding of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States;

3. CALLS FOR the reactivation of the OAU Defence Commission to consider the desirability of establishing an Inter-African Military Force under the aegis of the OAU;