AU AND THE AFRICAN PEOPLE
Eight years ago, the Africa Union was born out of the Organization of Africa Unity. Among the principal objectives of the new continental
body was to unify the 53 member states politically, socially and economically to make an impact on the African people. Even though very
little has been achieved since its inception, what is more troubling is the tendency of some AU leaders to side with fellow Presidents and
Head of states against the citizenry.
In June of 1989, Omar al-Bashir overthrew the elected government of Sadiq al-Mahdi to become President of Sudan (that was twenty years
ago). After presiding over the murder of hundreds of thousands of Darfurians and displacing over a million more, the International Criminal
Court in March accused him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s western region of Darfur and issued a warrant for his arrest.
Many countries, organizations and world personalities strongly protested the d carnage in the Sudan. The United States of America called it
genocide. After the indictment, the AU immediately swung into action and demanded the court withdraw the warrant until after a year in the
interest of peace and stability in the Sudan. Some African leaders threatened to pull their countries from the membership of the court if the
demand was not met. Enter Botswana. The foreign ministry issued a statement saying al-Bashir will be arrested and sent to The Hague if he
ever set foot on the soil of that country. Botswana believes (and wisely so) that it is the responsibility of the Sudanese president to
defend himself, just like anybody else and that the sympathies of the AU should lie with the victims, not the perpetrator.
The crisis in Zimbabwe will always be a shameful chapter in the history of the AU. The world watched with indignation as former South
Africa president, Thebe Mbeki, who was the chief AU and SADC negotiator struggled to protect the Robert Mugabe presidency against the will
of Zimbabweans. Once again Botswana and a handful of African countries refused to recognize Mugabe as president and demanded he stand
aside for rerun of the polls by a credible organization. The rest is history and posterity will not forget the pain and suffering of the
people of Zimbabwe under the watchful eyes of the AU.
The AU has to date not issued a single statement on the emerging dictatorship in the Gambia. It is worth noting that countries outside the
continent and organizations both inside and outside Africa continue to worry about the looming crisis in Yahya Jammeh’s Gambia.
Observers believe most African leaders lack credibility in resolving the continent’s problems. The current AU chairman has been head of
his country for over forty years yet nobody elected him President. A fifth of the continents presidents continue to hold office twenty to
over forty years after finding their way to the presidency of their countries. There is the coup makers club. There those who regularly hold
and rig elections and there is also this relatively new group who amend constitutions to extend their stay in power. To most African
leaders, they are the ordained leaders of their countries.
Africa is a continent very rich in resources yet the most deprived. The quality of its manpower compares favorably with all others on the
planet. The level of political leadership is mediocre.
Is there any possibility that the present political leadership will be able to lead us to the ‘promised land’?
Kwabena Sah
Charlotte, NC .
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