Mr Speaker, I think the question asked by the hon member is absolutely important. It is one of the questions which I believe the new chairperson of the AU will work on; it is a question in many directions. Firstly, there is the fact that the AU, after so many years, in terms of the bigger percentage of its finances, depends on the friends, so to speak, that limit the independence of the AU to take its own independent decisions. Certainly, because the people who hold the funds would pull the strings somehow or other, as the hon member is indicating; that is one of the issues that this new chair must address. And when she addresses those issues, she certainly needs the support of all of us. It starts with remuneration, but more importantly, the funds that would help the AU to carry out the programmes of the continent.
There are examples of difficulties that she has already discovered. For example, why is it that in other areas Africa could not move more quickly in dealing with the challenges of the continent? Precisely because if those donors or supporters don't want the AU to intervene with a different kind of approach and they want their own approach, then they could say that Africa cannot use their money for this approach or that one.
That is one of the challenges that the AU must work on and in fact develop an independent fund for. We must be able to deal with the countries that are not financing the organisation. That is one of the tasks that she will have to undertake, including the issue of the other countries, if that information is true - that they are not paying their own subscriptions. I think we should have a mechanism that must change the running of the organisation.
That is why, when we were campaigning, we projected that we need change in the AU to transform it so that it can work to advance the interests of the African people on the continent. So, that is one of the critical issues that we will all have to support her on, because I think she is already thinking about those matters. Thank you.