African secondary school head teachers will today resolve to seek the observer status in the African Union.
They are meeting at Pride Inn Hotel in Mombasa for the 10th African Confederation of Principals.
The incoming ACP President, Indimuli Kahi, who also chairs the Kenya Secondary School Headteachers Association, said they have decided to take up President Uhuru Kenyatta’s challenge to seek observer status mandate at AU. He will take over from South African Thembekile Ndlovu.
On Tuesday, Uhuru promised the more than 1,200 ACP delegates that he will support their bid to join the AU, so they can have a platform to engage heads of state.
“I promise, if you do that, I will also use my position to lobby my colleagues to ensure that all African countries are associated with this confederation and thereafter create a platform in which you can engage the leaders of African states,” the President said.
Yesterday Kahi told journalists they have taken Uhuru’s challenge seriously and they will work with the Ministry of Education to achieve this goal.
“We will be resolving in this conference as ACP to apply for observer status at the African Union. Once that has been done, we will liaise with the Ministry of Education through CS Amina Mohamed to start the process of registration,” he said.
Kahi said ACP cannot sell the agenda to the AU heads of state on its own and they will ask Uhuru to help. “The President has assured us of his support and we shall use Kenya as a platform to get that status,” he said.
He spoke on the sidelines of the ACP conference. Kahi said when they get observer status at the AU, they will lobby other African nations to join ACP.
So far, ACP has a 12-member countries. Kahi said they need to have the remaining 40 African countries come on board so they can have a single voice as teachers.
Policies are formed without the input of the people in the respected field of study and that is why it is important to have one voice, Kahi said.