Maastricht, 19 December. John Shinkaiye, Chief of Staff of the President of the African Union (AU), spoke to a Maastricht audience on the evolution of governance mechanisms in Africa (see pictures)
He gave a historic overview of the institutional evolution from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to the current African Union. In this, governance discussion has moved from an OAU “debating club” of heads of state to an AU that is a strong political and decision making entity – with the instruments and political will needed to implement policies and take action.
These changes reflect important developments in the international political arena after the end of the Cold War and are also an answer to pressure for change from within Africa. Calls for better governance resulted in a set of legal instruments focusing on democratic institutions, the rule of law, souvereignty of the state, human rights, and conflict prevention. The various bodies of the AU play an important role in the mainstreaming of the African people into decision making, the application of international values in governance, and capacity building. The European Union provides strong support to the action of its African counterpart.
In a relatively short time, the AU has made good progress. It also faces many challenges – such as the great diversity among its member states and their societies and cultures, the inclusion of non-state actors, dealing with corruption and conflict, and improvng the attitude of the international community towards Africa. The AU is determined to meet the aspirations of the African people.
João Gomes Cravinho, Portugal’s Secretary of State for Development Cooperation reacted to this presentation, underlining how valuable the transition from OAU to AU has been and how much this evolution demonstrates the evolution of the Afican continent and its capacities.
In this regards, the EU Africa Strategy, based on four pillars (peace and security, governance, regional integration and trade, and development) aims to further strengthen and consolidate the efforts of the AU through a dialogue between Europe and Africa. The big question now is if – and how – this Strategy should become a joint Europe-Africa Strategy with ownership from both sides and trhe active involvement of all interested parties. The Portuguese EU Presidency (second half of 2007) wishes to speed up the process to make sure that future Europe-Africa cooperation is based on solid political dialogue.
Reacting to these comments, Gertrude Mongela, President of the Pan-African Parliament underlined the importance of the various bodies of the AU: the Parliament puts the AU mandate into action and is “the voice of the African people”; further, it has developed a long-term strategic plan and plays a pro-active role in opening debates about issues such as migration and security and peace. Even if so far it is only a consultative body, it is evolving towards a legislative one. Once this transformation is fully in place, it will be able to “put its energy to transform Africa” and, more important, will hold African leaders accountable for their decisions, policies and actions.
The lecture opened the Maastricht Debates series.
