Row in Ethiopia over Nkrumah’s statue in front of $200m China-funded new AU building

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New AU building with Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s statue. Photo credit: AU

Some Ethiopian citizens are unhappy about the presence of the statue of Ghana’s first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah in front of the China-funded new $200 million African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

President John Evans Atta Mills assisted by Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Dr Jean Ping, Chairman of the African Union Commission unveiled the statue moments after the building was inaugurated.

The Reuters news agency reports February 10, 2012 that a row has broken out in Ethiopia over why the country’s late emperor Haile Selassie I was not accorded the same tribute, with opposition officials expressing dismay over the snub.

“No one deserves more recognition than Haile Selasse when it comes to fighting for the African cause. Not Nkrumah, not anybody else,” former opposition party chairman Gizachew Shiferaw told Reuters.

Some Ethiopians living abroad are said to have added their voices over the absence of Haile Selasse’s statue.

“He (Haile Selassie) has the legal, moral, historical and diplomatic legitimacy to have his statue erected next to Kwame Nkrumah, we believe,” Reuters quotes a letter written by a group of Ethiopian expatriates to the AU’s deputy chairman Erastus Mwencha.

Opposition members are suspecting a political motive for snubbing the emperor as Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is widely known for criticizing him as a dictator.

But addressing the Ethiopian parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Meles defended the Nkrumah statue as the news wire quoted him saying “There is nothing political about the statue.”

Nkrumah was an automatic choice when it came down to picking one statesman as an African symbol, he noted.

“I think it is even crass and disrespectful to question why a statue has been erected in Kwame Nkrumah’s honor,” he said.

Officials at the AU are yet to comment on the matter.

By Ekow Quandzie/View the original article here

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