Kenyan Nobel prizewinner, Professor Wangari Maathai, is to head a new body aimed at bringing "people power" to Africans, the African Union (AU) announced on Tuesday. Speaking at the launch of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, the AU commission chairman, Alpha Oumar Konare, said it represented an historic opportunity for African civil society.