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Liberia has been elected 3rd Vice Chair of the new African Union Bureau. Liberia is represented at the AU Conference by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
The Liberian President welcomed the election of Liberia to high position in Africa and said it is a clear testimony of Liberia’s re-emergent on the International scene. She pledged to work tirelessly to ensure Liberia takes it rightful place on the world level.
Liberia has been devastated from a 14 year bloody crisis and President Sirleaf said she would commit her efforts to promoting the image of Liberia to remove it from the ugly past to another level where all Liberians would be seen as civilized and decent people.
At its 14th Ordinary Assembly being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, African leaders also elected  President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi as the new Chairperson, taking over from Muammar El Gaddafi, leader of the Libyan Revolution, Great Socialist People’s Libyan Jamahiriya, who was elected to office at the January 2009 Assembly meeting.
Other members of the bureau are Gabon as 1st Vice Chair; Uganda as 2nd Vice Chair and the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Jamahiriya as 4th Vice Chair.
Mr. wa Mutharika said he would prioritize food security in his term of office, adding that Africa should strive to achieve food security for its people and to feed its people before exporting. “I am, therefore, proposing that our agenda for Africa should focus on Agriculture and food security. I propose that our slogan should be “Feeding Africa through new technologies; let us act now”, the Chairperson said.
To support food production, the Chairperson suggested investment in the construction of infrastructure.
ICT, which is the theme of the Summit, would, Mr. Mutharika said “enable our farmers to access important information on agricultural products, advanced technologies, research findings, as well as markets”.
Other priority areas outlined by the Chairperson include encouraging the African Union to remain committed to the promotion of peace and security, democracy and good governance ; encouraging member states to ratify the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women and to ensure its implementation; and fighting against the marginalization of Africa by, among other things, ensuring that Africa’s collective voice is respected during the Doha Round of Talks, the Economic Partnership Agreements negotiations, climate change commitments, and debt relief initiatives.
Dr wa Mutharika urged the Assembly to begin to act on its resolutions. “Let us rise and take our place. Let us act now’, he added.