As African leaders gather in the Ethiopian capital to wine and dine as part of the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the African Union, most ordinary Africans continue to question the Union’s relevance to their everyday lives. While no doubt the AU has undergone some transformation since its founding on 25th May 1963 as the Organization of African Unity (OAU), but certainly, the lofty dreams that its founding fathers had in setting it up have so far eluded ordinary Africans, a majority of whom not only continue to wallow in abject poverty, but after more than five decades of independence, their basic human rights are still being trampled upon by their very leaders with impunity. And yet, the very organization which was supposed to protect them has done virtually nothing in that regard.
While we frequently hear other regional blocs like the European Union not only making pronouncements about the rights of their citizens, but they also frequently issue public statements about the daily violations of the rights of Africans by their own governments. Yet, rather than make public statements about such violations being daily committed against ordinary Africans, the AU would instead defend the interests of the very perpetrators of such violations.
The quotation below by a Malawian blogger, Dannie Phiri seems to quite clearly sum up the ills currently afflicting our continental body.
“The AU is a toothless organization that cannot do anything on its own; it couldn’t even build its own headquarters. It is an organization that cannot act against atrocities by any of its member states yet loudly protests when others intervene. An organization that always declares elections free and fair even in situations where everybody else sees different.” (New African magazine – May 2013. No. 528)
Therefore as our leaders are celebrating in Addis Ababa with pomp and gaiety, there is hardly anything to show for it as far as the lives of ordinary Africans are concerned. As mentioned by Phiri, it was quite a shame that it took a ‘donation’ by China for the AU to get an imposing new building as its headquarters in 2012 while we have seen some African leaders displaying their wealth in the form of mansions and chateaus in various western capitals, many of which are just as imposing or even more expensive than the AU HQ.
The new transformations at the AU include changing of the name from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 2002 to the African Union (AU), as well as increasing the frequency of its jamborees from once a year to twice a year are merely cosmetic as there is hardly any positive impact on the lives of ordinary Africans. For instance, while these leaders are wining and dining in Addis Ababa, some of their opponents and critics back home are either languishing in jail on trumped up charges, ‘disappeared’ or even killed. Yet still, such naked violations of the rights of Africans by their own governments are hardly ever mentioned at AU summits, apparently because most of the leaders have similar skeletons in their own cupboards.
However, we have seen how quickly the leaders would come to the defense of their peers when such issues are raised by others from outside or they are indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for violating the rights of their people. A good case in point had been the backing these leaders have always given to some of their peers indicted by the ICC even when it has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt that most of those indictees have committed atrocities against their own people.
We have seen, for instance, that when Uhuru Kenyatta was indicted by the ICC in 2012, hardly anyone was interested in his plight, but immediately after he was elected President of Kenya and became a member of the exclusive ‘AU club’ we have seen some of his peers beginning to his defense and vilifying the ICC for indicting him.
It is indeed a shame that it takes outside bodies such as the EU, the US State Department or others to raise concerns about the maltreatment of ordinary Africans by their own leaders while the AU always chooses to turn a blind eye to such violations. A good case in point had been the frequent arrests and detentions of perceived opponents of the regime of President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia and the arbitrary closure of media houses simply for not singing praises of the regime, and yet both the AU and the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) behave as if nothing has happened. For instance, we recently witnessed the kidnapping and illegal detention incommunicado of a prominent religious leader for more than five months, simply for criticizing the executions of death row inmates by the regime, only to be ‘pardoned’ by President Jammeh and released without any charge or explanation for his detention. While the EU and the US government, as well as some rights groups issued several statements condemning the illegal detention and continuously expressed concern about his safety, neither the AU nor ECOWAS ever issued any public statement about it, as if the welfare of the people of the Gambia does not concern them.
As regards elections, it has been established beyond any reasonable doubt that the AU always seems to see things from the perspective of the incumbents. For instance, during the Gambia’s presidential elections in November 2011, while the opposition and the other interested parties, including ECOWAS agreed that the entire process was flawed and therefore not free and fair, the AU election observer mission gave the results a clean bill of health as being free and fair and a true reflection of the will of the Gambian people.
Let us hope that the AU will use the occasion of its golden jubilee to reflect on its past actions and henceforth try to represent the will and aspirations of ordinary Africans, otherwise, it will continue to remain the toothless bulldog that it has always been with no relevance to the lives of the people in whose names it claims to exist.
ENDS