The leaders assembled for the African Union summit in Kampala were sidetracked by the fight against terrorism but Egypt employed the occasion to revive traditional ties with the continent, writes Gamal Nkrumah For the past two weeks, the words "Kampala" and "terrorist bombings" have been synonymous. First there were threats of retaliation against Uganda by the Somali militant Islamists Al-Shabab Mujahideen. Then two blasts actually exploded in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Undeterred, the Ugandans went ahead with hosting the African Union summit in their capital, in which sense, the summit can be declared an unmitigated success. Its main theme was supposed to be "Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development". Inevitably, though, the Kampala summit could not escape being defined by the response of the Ugandan government and the African Union to the blasts that rocked Kampala two weeks earlier, and the international fight against terrorism dominated deliberations. Forty-three African heads of state and government attended the summit. Several key leaders, however, were conspicuously absent, including President Hosni Mubarak, who was represented by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Omar Hassan Al-Bashir of Sudan also stayed away. In his message to Africa's leaders, Mubarak conveyed three key messages: first, security as the basis for development in Africa. Second Egypt's commitment to accelerating African development. And third Egypt's positive participation in conflict resolution in Nile Basin nations, Sudan -- including Darfur -- and Somalia. "A unified Somalia is our objective," Mubarak stressed. Moreover, Egypt backs the idea of convening a conference on Darfur. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit met with United States Chief Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration to deliberate Sudanese affairs, including next year's referendum on the political future of southern Sudan. The Ugandan economy proved its resilience by remaining on course despite the blasts. Uganda, once described as the "pearl of Africa" by Britain's wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, has emerged as a showcase for African economic reconstruction. But the economy is only one of a host of challenges facing Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. In other areas the omens are far less promising. In a nation characterised by deep-seated political, religious and ethnic tribalism, Museveni is struggling to prove that after two and a half decades in power he still retains the ability to inspire. He has steered the civil war ravaged country through two decades of monumental economic and social achievements, including the containment of the HIV/AIDs pandemic, but much remains to be done. Paradoxically, while the Kampala blasts might have helped focus international attention on the small African nation at the heart of the troubled Great Lakes region, they also highlighted how vulnerable the country is to the forces of Islamist militancy. Yes, the summit ended without any more terrorists' disasters, but there is no time to lose if the terrorist threat is to be contained. Uganda, like Ethiopia and Kenya, has long warned of the threat to the region's political stability posed by Somalia's militant Islamists. It came as no surprise to the Ugandan authorities that Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the Kampala blasts. What is clear is that the African Union peacekeeping force (UNISOM) cannot single-handedly thwart the Islamist threat posed by the militants of Al-Shabab and other militias affiliated with Al-Qaeda. African efforts to contain the Somali crisis are hopelessly inadequate. One of the most important decisions to emerge out of the Kampala summit was to strengthen African peacekeeping forces with additional troops from Djibouti and Guinea. The optimists hope that hard times will force the AU out of the doldrums. Both Guinea and Djibouti are predominantly Muslim nations. And it is the first time that a West African nation -- Guinea -- geographically distant from Somalia takes part in the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia. "African countries have taken a long time to respond to this urgent matter, but after 19 years of instability in Somalia we believe that the AU is finally adopting a common position," a Ugandan Army spokesman told Al-Jazeera. He applauded the AU's "collective approach". Pan-Africanists have tried out many themes in an attempt to imbue the African Union with a sense of purpose. Now Somalia has emerged as a new focus. "We are committed to delivering an additional 4,000 troops," AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping told reporters in Kampala. Army officers from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia are currently on a fact-finding mission to Somalia. "Djibouti prepared a battalion six months ago. Guinea is preparing a battalion to be sent to Somalia immediately," says Ping. "Guinea's commanders are in Mogadishu preparing for the arrival of their troops." The United Nations, too, has signaled that it is standing by Africa in the fight against terrorism. UN officials indicated that they will coordinate with the AU. "Action will depend on the analysis that the AU delivers to us," a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told reporters in Kampala. Africa is grappling with contentious political issues beyond Somalia and terrorism, not least the distribution of Nile water. In a message delivered to his Ugandan counterpart by Nazif, President Hosni Mubarak noted that Egypt had no fundamental problem with the five upper riparian nations, including Uganda, that signed an agreement recently on the utilisation of Nile waters. Nonetheless, there was a chorus of regret that an issue as important as mothers' and children's health was eclipsed by terrorism. Minister Hatem El-Gabali in Kampala noted that Egypt topped the world ranking in the reduction of mothers' and children's mortality rates. Moreover, Egypt trains 160 African medical practitioners annually. The founding fathers of the AU may not have been entirely certain about their goals and objectives and the Union today is clearly pre- occupied with issues of global concern. But it is unfair to say that the AU betrays every sign of a debilitating loss of purpose. Africa is unravelling in a tangle of challenges and the sooner the continent's leaders get started on resolving these problems the better. On the most fraught issues, poverty and underdevelopment, it seems that the African leaders assembled in Kampala are hard at work. Sadly, their attention has been forcibly shifted to combating terrorism.
