Egypt's Minister for Environment has been put on the spot after he apparently insulted African leaders during a UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi.
The Minister, Dr Khaled Mohamed Fahmy Abdel Aal, referred to African leaders as 'Dogs and Slaves' after division arose during the discussions.
Mr Mohamed made the offensive remarks while dismissing contributions by African Heads to a debate regarding the resolution for an environmental assessment on Gaza conflict.
“During our consultations with Egypt, the head of the Egyptian delegation and current President of AMCEN dismissed our concerns by informing that they would speak in their sovereign capacity and to that extent, referred to sub-Saharan Africa as dogs and slaves, in Arabic,” a memo written by chairperson of the African Diplomatic Corps (ADC) Technical Committee Yvonne Khamati cited.
Ms Khamati and other leaders including Foreign Affairs Minister Amina Mohammed are now demanding Egypt to apologise over the remarks, stating that the Minister's statements were "undiplomatic, irresponsible, uncivilised and insulting".
“The utterances of Egypt expressed by the Office of the President of AMCEN and the head of the Egyptian delegation have no place in the unity of Africa. We believe that the utterances made by Egypt have the potential to undermine UNEP and Africa as its host,” the letter read in part.
The leaders also want Egypt barred from representing Africa, stating that "Egypt's statement degraded and insulted the fabric of Pan-Africanism".
They further noted that the matter would be raised at the Heads of State Summit set to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, in July 2016.
The remarks by the Egyptian leader caused anxiety during the meeting which was held in Nairobi on 27 May 2016.
However, Egyptian Ambassador Mahmoud Ali Talaat dismissed the issue stating that it had been exaggerated.
“If there was any insulting, it is something we are investigating, but we should not take any decisions or anticipate anything without knowing it. Because I don’t think he said these things,” Talaat was quoted by the Nation.
