The African Union’s Peace and Security Council has elected Uganda and Tanzania as members.
The African Union’s Peace and Security Council is a 15-member council made up of members from each of the bloc’s five regions, and it is the bloc’s permanent decision-making body for conflict prevention, management, and resolution.
The AU Executive Council elects council members, who are then ratified by the Union’s Assembly.
The Council voted on February 3 during the bloc’s 40th Ordinary Session of its Executive Council in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
“Uganda obtained 34 votes in the third round of voting, in a race that also attracted the United Republic of Tanzania and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Uganda has been elected for a two-year term from 2022 to 2024 and will be joined by Tanzania and Djibouti as the representatives of the Eastern Region,” Uganda’s Foreign Affairs ministry said in a statement.
Other members elected are Morocco and Tunisia (Northern Region); Cameroon, Burundi, and Congo (Central Region); Nigeria, Ghana, the Gambia and Senegal (Western Region); and Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe (Southern Region).
Uganda last served on the Peace and Security Council in 2018 and authorities say this election was on account of Kampala’s active engagement in “almost every peace and security initiative in the region.”
Uganda has played a role in de-escalating tensions in the South Sudan crisis by sending troops to the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and Somalia.
The country recently dispatched troops to the eastern DRC to flush out the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group with ties to Uganda and a history of attacks on civilians in both countries.
