by Joseph Ngwawi – SANF 07 No 31
The African Union (AU) has instituted an audit of its institutions as debate escalates on the form of a proposed Union government.
Chairperson of the AU Commission, Alpha Oumar Konaré, said the AU will finalise the audit “before it can conclude the debate of the formation of a Union government.”
Existing AU institutions are the AU Commission, the Pan African Parliament (PAP) and the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC).
Other institutions of the AU are the AU Court of Justice, the African Central Bank, the African Investment Bank, and the African Monetary Fund, but these are yet to be launched.
The commission is the secretariat of the AU, playing a central role in the day-to-day management of the continental body.
It is headed by a chairperson elected by the AU General Assembly comprising the leaders of the 53 African countries. The chairperson is assisted by a deputy chairperson and eight commissioners responsible for various sector portfolios.
The previous election method has been criticised for giving member states power over proposing and supporting individual candidates. It was also accused of leading to weak lines of accountability for the chairperson and poor cohesion within the AU Commission.
Konaré said the AU may have to think of a transitional formula that should see a new commission come into effect in January 2008.
The term of the current commission runs out this year. Konaré has already indicated he will be available for re-election.
Discussions during the Ghana summit of AU leaders in June will be devoted to the formation of a United States of Africa, a vision first mooted by Ghana’s first post-independence president, Kwame Nkrumah, and other African leaders in the 1960s.
According to an ambitious plan revealed at a meeting of civil society organisations (CSOs) held in Johannesburg, South Africa, the proposal to be presented before the African leaders will include a three-phase transition towards creation of the Union government.
The proposal was developed by the Committee of Seven tasked by the AU to produce a roadmap on the United States of Africa.
The first phase – running from this year to 2009 – will witness the formal launch of the Union government.
It is envisaged that during this period a new executive commission – comprising of a president and vice president appointed by General Assembly as well as commissioners appointed by the AU Executive Council – will be in place. The council comprises of the ministers of foreign affairs of AU member states.
The second phase will run from 2009 to 2012 during which the Union government is expected to be fully operational and the constitutional groundwork for the United States of Africa will be laid.
It is envisaged that all the required structures of the United States of Africa at national, regional and continental levels will be in place during the final phase running from 2012-2015.
This will include the creation of a legislating African parliament directly elected by universal suffrage with proportional representation. This will mean that countries with large populations will have more members of the reconstituted PAP compared to the smaller countries.
There is, however, a lot to be done before the dream of a United States of Africa can become a reality.
A unified African government would demand, among other things, a unified strong economy underpinned by a convergence of economic indicators, and an effective continental parliament.
Africa has an interesting mix of economic performances, with some of the countries doing very well while others are not.
Set up in 2004, the PAP is advisory for the first five years, not legislative, and thus faces the challenge of being taken seriously in its deliberations and interventions.
As delegates to the CSO consultative meeting in South Africa heard, another challenge for the march towards the Union government will be the popularisation of the idea among African people.
The CSOs concluded that while the long-term vision of a Union government is desirable, current efforts are excessively focused on institutional reforms “rather than mapping out the implications for strengthened African citizenship and needs more popularisation and consultation with citizens.”
The popularisation and consultations may have to take the form of national debates and public awareness programmes on the issue, the CSOs said.
“After carefully studying the Study for the Proposal for Continental Government and the Study into the Modalities for Continental Government, it is clear that without the full involvement and participation of African women and men, the vision of a People’s Union will not be realised. In this regard, the Pan African Parliament could play a pivotal role in catalysing informed dialogue at both continental and national levels,” the CSOs said in a communique issued at the end of their conference.
It was agreed that CSOs must also take the lead on generating an informed public debate on the issue.
More than 30 African and international CSOs working in more than 25 African countries participated in the first Consultative Dialogue with the Pan Africa Parliament under the theme “Building Effective Mechanisms for Civil Society Engagement with Pan African and Regional Institutions”.
The dialogue took place on the sidelines of the 7th Ordinary Session of the PAP held from 7-18 May under the theme “African Union Government”.
