Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), 14 February 2026 (SPS) – The Sahrawi Prime Minister, Mr. Bouchraya Hamoudi Bayoun, affirmed today in Addis Ababa, during the proceedings of the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit, the African Union’s responsibility toward completing the decolonization of the last colony in Africa.
The Sahrawi official’s statement came in response to the Peace and Security Report on the situation in the continent, presented today to African leaders. He reaffirmed the steadfast Sahrawi position regarding the challenges facing the path of peace and stability in Africa and drew attention to key issues omitted from the report that directly affect the core of continental security.
In this context, the Sahrawi Republic stressed that the question of Western Sahara remains the last decolonization issue in Africa, and that ignoring it neither contributes to its resolution nor relieves the continental organization of its legal and historical responsibilities.
It also renewed its call to enable the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable and imprescriptible right to self-determination and independence, in accordance with the principles of international law and African law, considering this an indispensable prerequisite for establishing a just and lasting peace in the region and across the continent as a whole.
Below is the full text of the statement:
Statement of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic on the Peace and Security Report in Africa 39th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union Addis Ababa, 13 February 2026
Your Excellency, Mr. President of the African Union, His Excellency João Lourenço, President of the sister Republic of Angola,
Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government of Africa,
Your Excellency, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union,
Honourable Ministers,
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me, first of all, to express our deepest gratitude to the sister Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the warm welcome and constant hospitality it consistently extends to us, and to convey our best wishes for its continued prosperity, progress, and success.
I would also like to express my appreciation to His Excellency President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for his detailed presentation on peace and security in Africa. We reiterate that just and lasting solutions to African problems must be African, particularly in an international context characterized by structural imbalances and hegemonic tendencies that resort to coercion, violate international law, and privilege the logic of force.
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Given that the report makes no reference whatsoever to the evolution of the conflict between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the Kingdom of Morocco—the last case of decolonization in Africa—we wish to remind this Honourable Summit that this is an ongoing and persistent conflict, the omission of which will in no way contribute to its resolution, nor relieve the African Union of its responsibility following the resumption of war between the parties since November 2020.
Despite the efforts deployed by the United Nations to relaunch negotiations and overcome the stalemate, these remain insufficient. Morocco continues to deprive the Sahrawi people of their inalienable and imprescriptible right to self-determination and independence, in accordance with international law, African law, and the relevant principles of decolonization.
The responsibility of the African Union toward the Sahrawi people transcends the rights of the Sahrawi Republic as a Member State and goes beyond the principle of African solidarity. It is a historical duty that requires mobilizing all efforts to confront a new colonial offensive aimed at imposing an unacceptable fait accompli and depriving the Sahrawi people of their freedom, sovereignty, resources, and future.
Silence in the face of illegal occupation, expansion, aggression, foreign interference, and the plundering of African resources does not promote peace; rather, it intensifies conflicts and threatens the security and stability of the African continent as a whole.
For all these reasons, we urge the African Union to uphold its principles and to reject expansion and violations of the law in the last bastion of colonialism in Africa.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.” (SPS)
090/500/60 (SPS)
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