SADC countries sign Tangier Appeal to expel SADR from AU

Two SADC countries – Lesotho and Madagascar – have joined the Gambia as the latest nations to sign the "Solemn Appeal for the expulsion of the SADR from the African Union", known as the "Tangier Appeal".

The three new African countries put pen to paper on Saturday in Marrakech during this first meeting to follow up on the "Tangier Appeal" three former Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Lesotho, Madagascar and Gambia became signatories of this Appeal, first signed on 04 November 2022 in Tangier.

These are Lesego Makgothi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Lesotho, Patrick Rajoelina, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Madagascar and Lamine Kaba Badjo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Gambia.

With these new countries, the number of signatories now stands at 19.

The "Tangier Appeal" was initially signed by former Prime Ministers and former African ministers from Guinea-Bissau, Djibouti, Central African Republic, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Benin, Comoros, Liberia, Gabon, Malawi, Cape Verde, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Kenya.

During the Marrakech meeting, the 19 signatories reiterated their commitment to work together and to exclude this non-state entity from the African Union.

The former African Prime Ministers and Ministers also considered that this exclusion, which is legitimate from a legal point of view, should not be regarded as an unattainable goal, as it is part of a favourable continental and international dynamic where realism and pragmatism prevail and because it represents an indispensable prerequisite for the return of the impartiality and credibility of the Pan-African Organization on the Moroccan Sahara issue.

“Based on the various recommendations of the Pan-African Intellectual Campaign on the stakes of the African Union in the light of the Sahara Issue, debated during five sub-regional seminars, organised between May and October 2021, in Nouakchott, Dakar, Accra, Dar Es Salaam and Kinshasa, the signatories of the “Solemn Appeal for the expulsion of the pseudo-“sadr” from the African Union”, debated a draft “White Book” and unanimously adopted it.

“This ‘White Book’ titled ‘The African Union and the Sahara Issue - Final deliverable of a deep and inclusive Pan-African Intellectual Reflection’ the culmination of the Pan-African Campaign and a faithful reflection of the meetings and debates held.

“This "White Book" develops an irrefutable factual and legal argument. It is a legal and political reference that spells out the vision of a united Africa and renewed Pan-Africanism.”