Mick Hartley

The new UN chief hits the ground running:

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for a “good governance pact” in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“I would like to invite you to work out a pact with yourselves and the people you represent as well as with all your international partners,” Mr Ban said.

He was addressing members of the DRC parliament at the start of a five-day tour of Africa – his first official foreign trip since taking office.

Good governance – it’s an exciting idea. Why has no one else thought of it? Once again again the UN shows the way.

Calling on the Congolese politicians to co-operate, he said: “This would be a kind of good governance pact, because restoring the state’s authority and ensuring the primacy of the rule of law across the country are indispensable for consolidating peace and democracy.”

Having sorted out the Congo, Sudan’s next in line:

Mr Ban is also due to meet President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan at the AU summit, which opens in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Monday.

Our correspondent says in theory the Sudanese leader has accepted the idea of a joint AU-UN peacekeeping force in the troubled region of Darfur, but it has not happened yet.

The UN chief said the situation in Darfur was “on the top” of his agenda.

Perhaps he’ll try the “good governance” line on Bashir. That should do the trick.