The Congress

The Congress of OATUU is the highest organ of the organization.  It meets once in every four (4) years.  Delegates to the Congress are composed of four (4) members from each national center.

Since its inception in 1973 the following Congresses and Extra-ordinary Congresses have been held:

1.1       Constitutive Congress:  April 1973 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;

1.2       Second Ordinary Congress:  Tripoli, Libya, April 1976;

1.3       Third Ordinary Congress:  Mogadishu, Somalia in October 1980;

1.4       Fourth Ordinary Congress:  Lagos, Nigeria in January 1985;

1.5       First Extra-ordinary Congress:  Accra, Ghana in February 1986

The main purpose of the First Extra-ordinary Congress was to resolve the crisis that developed at the Fourth Congress of January 1985 in Lagos.  The crisis was not resolved and it led to the split of OATUU into two (2) rival groups.

1.6       The Second Extra-ordinary Congress was held in Addis Ababa in
            October 1986 under the auspices of the Organization of African                      Unity (OAU).     

The Second Extra-ordinary Congress was prepared at the OAU Secretariat by the Committee of Wise men composed of the Ministers of Labour of Ethiopia, Benin, Congo, Egypt and Zambia, assisted by the representatives from each of the two warring factions of OATUU.

At the end of the Second Extra-ordinary Congress, unity was achieved again to the complete satisfaction of all the delegates to the Second Extra-ordinary Congress.

1.7      The 3rd Extra-ordinary Congress:  13th April, 1993, Cairo, Egypt;

This Extra-ordinary Congress was held for the sole purpose of amending the OATUU Constitution.

1.8      The Sixth Ordinary Congress:  Accra, Ghana in May 1995;

1.9     The Seventh Ordinary Congress:  Johannesburg, South Africa in September 1999.