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Posted: 07/29/2002 From: Mammo Muchie Title: Challenges to the African Union "A little revolution, now & then, is a healthy thing. It is as natural as lightening." Thomas Jefferson I was in South Africa between July 5 -15,2002 on a conference and lecture circuit and luckily witnessed closely the official launch of the African Union on July 9,2002. The spirit of the day was moving and the South African display to celebrate the re-birth of African unity was magnificent. Thabo Mebeki's speech brought in the achievements of the earlier generation of African leaders to underscore the inherited legacy of unification without let up. Leader after leader made speeches to the packed stadium and it looked for a moment citizen and leader registered the same aspiration to see Africa fully united. July 9, 2002 confirmed an important achievement that cannot be ignored or belittled. From leaders to ordinary people, from East to West Africa, from Cape to Cairo, a new wind of change to unfurl the unity of the African national idea gripped the African world. Unity became a shared aspiration. Africans- from the continent and the Diaspora- are all NOW for African unity. This has been the defining and crowning achievement of the moment. Today: Africa's time is expressed through its unity, its renaissance starts from unity. Its stake to claim the 21st century will come on the basis of unity. It is necessary to unite to eradicate poverty. Without a united defence and foreign policy it is difficult to turn Africa into a zone of peace, stability and security. The game in town is thus: unity, unity and unity. That shared understanding and realisation is a powerful spur that can generate a self- momentum and energy for converting our leaders rich rhetoric of unity into an important factor to bring about real unity. What Kind of Unity? Agreement on the desirability and necessity on African unity does not imply agreement on the forms of such unity. The African Union meeting has opened rather than closed the debate on how to unite. This is a wise step. It is important that there is real debate and popular participation in a matter as important as shaping Africa's united free future. Unity should not be seen as a "trade union of African heads of states." There are many types of leaders in Africa. A few like Mbeki are 'western style democrats'. A leader like Gaddafi has a concept of democracy based on the Islamic concept of achieving social rights as a basis for good governance. Both Mbeki and Gaddafi share a strong desire to unite the continent. For Gaddafi the extension of social rights to all Africa is part and parcel of his concept of human right. Western powers that are very comfortable to live in wealth, while large portion of humanity is poor, stress individual property right as human right and freedom. Some powerful leaders in the west and the journalists that back them underestimate that good governance is built from a base of social rights and not without it. Both Mbeki and Gaddafi bring ideas and resources to accelerate the big bang unification of the continent. South Africa is a powerhouse for providing the fuel for African unity. Libya has been pivotal in reviving and stimulating the African Union project by providing energy, vision and resources. The South African press was busy trying to drive a wedge between Mbeki and Gaddafi. They painted a picture of Mbeki as standing for good governance and Gaddafi for 'bad governance possessed with a crazy ambition to rule Africa.' It is important that Africans become a community of discernment and solidarity and not allow the crypto- apartheid infected press to sway their views. There is nothing new in what Gaddafi is saying. President Nkrumah has put it forward as a programme in 1963. It is admirable that Gaddafi has picked up those ideas now. Mbeki and Gaddafi should be supported. They both bring crucial dimensions to the union formation debate. The two leaders should be encouraged to work together to keep the momentum of Durban to carry Africa through to a union that, some may curse or dam, but none can ignore. African Union is bigger than the leaders that declared it One must not judge African Union by the failings of the current Heads of States. Of course, African leaders bring different and uneven intellectual and moral qualities to leadership. Some are dinosaurs. A few are energetic. Their deed and words often do not go together. They may speak of African unity while obstructing its realisation in reality. For example, some have not paid their dues to the OAU/AU. Lots have bank accounts abroad. We know all this. But what they did collectively in Durban on July 9,2002 is put their signature to a phenomenon that can potentially engulf them and may eventually outlive and side line them unless they strive to be in tune with Africa's time. Unity is now firmly on the agenda. It is open for all that care to intervene to participate and take it forwards much further than anticipated or expected by the leaders who signed to usher it. Such a process set in train will outlive their tenure. It will go beyond their control. Thus constructive criticism should concentrate in suggesting the type of unity that can expand Africa's collective opportunities. Rejecting the AU because of criticism of the heads of states is not helpful. Predicting that the AU will be another "toothless tiger" like the OAU is self-defeating. It is necessary to do everything to undo this prediction. Real debate and engagement begins when the feeling of being defeated is defeated by appreciating the on- going process and struggling to inject substantive input to shaping it. The issue of debate in the next six months is on the substantive issues of the speed of unification: incremental or big- bang! Is the peace and Security Council an alternative to a unified defence system based on a coherent foreign policy? Is the peer review mechanism donor directed or free? Institutions require incremental improvisations but concepts can be accelerated, and there are some problems like security where the big- bang approach is the only credible option to deal with it. All incremental approaches on security open Africa's future hostage to fortune. Indeed, the debate on the speed of unity requires Jefferson's "little revolution" to reverse the forty years of fragmentation that came as a price for the formal completion of continental de-colonisation and the end of white minority rule. Mammo Muchie |
