The AU Commission Chairperson says Africa has to lead the war against the sect.

“We must act now, and act collectively against this progressing threat. We must work diligently towards silencing the guns by the year 2020, and nip in the bud this threat to African prosperity, peace and human security.” This was the declaration of the African Union Commission Chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma during the opening ceremony of the 26^th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union in Addis- Abeba on Monday, January 26, 2015 on the urgency of the offensive against Boko Haram. The fight against Boko Haram is reportedly one of the main topics to be discussed during the summit of the Council that comes up tomorrow, January 29, 2015 in Addis-Abeba.

Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said she was, “deeply horrified by the tragedy Boko Haram continue to inflict on our people, kidnapping young girls from school, torching villages, terrorizing whole communities and the senseless killing”,  and urged that, “We should all declare this state of affairs as unacceptable!”.

She said that the Commission has accelerated its ongoing consultations with member States and other partners on how to deal with Boko Haram and it will be on the agenda of the Peace and Security Council, who will report to the Summit. Boko Haram, the AU Commission Chairperson said, was not just a threat to some countries but to the whole continent; “It is a global threat that must be met globally but with Africa in the lead,” she said.

Concerning the fight against Ebola, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma lauded the effective contribution of Africans. She disclosed that over 800 medical and health professionals from the continent are in the field in the three Ebola-affected countries; Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone  and the number will be scaled up to 1,000. 

The joint fight against Ebola was paying off, “as we begin to see the decline in mortality and infections,” she said. RFI cited Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa who said during the opening of the Addis-Abeba session that the external debts of the Ebola-affected countries amounting to three billion U.S. Dollars (about FCFA 1,744 billion) be cancelled as a relief measure.