African Citizens Passport Issued To African Ministers During Opening Executive Council

During the opening ceremony of the Executive Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, several civil society organizations personally issued African Citizens passports to 53 national delegations. The organisations intend to raise the profile of African citizenship in the Proposal to establish Union Government.

The passport is a response to a growing demand by African citizens for an easing of restrictions on travel within Africa by African Governments as a pre-condition for African citizenship.

Speaking at the ceremony Emmanuel Akwetey of the Ghana AU Civil Society Coalition forcefully argued, “We cannot have a union of African states or even a continental government without continental citizenship. If citizenship is the fundamental basis of any democratic national state, why shouldn’t it be so at the level of the Africa Union?”

The passport is green, consistent with the official colour of the African Union. It carries an Africa logo and calls on African Governments to allow the bearer “to freely pass, trade, work and reside in all parts of Africa with full rights, entitlements and responsibilities of citizenship”.

Millions of African refugees, travelers and undocumented workers currently living in neighboring countries are exposed to discrimination and the denial of the rights to an identity, to freely work and access essential services.

“The Grand Debate must prioritise full citizenship status for women, particularly for women who marry across nationalities and currently lose their rights as a result” says Una Thompson of the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition.

Hakima Abbas of Fahamu argues that “a simple demonstrable decision the Heads of States, led by the current AU Chairperson, could take in the next few days, would be to abolish the need for visas for African citizens traveling within Africa. This would move the debate from, just that, a debate to a decision that would capture the imagination of 832 million African people”

The first passport has been issued to Hon Nana Akufo-Ado, Ghanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and South African artist Hugh Masekela. The passport can be downloaded from http://www.aumonitor.org

Full media advisory: passport_media_advisory.pdf

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