The African Union has continued to confound many Afropessimist critics both inside and outside Africa by making steady, even if very difficult and sometimes acrimonious progress, in the past two years since its formal inauguration in Durban, on July 9, 2002.

That progressive pull received a dynamic push with the election of former President of Mali, Prof Alpha Konare, as the Chairperson of the AU Commission and 9 other Commissioners (making a total of five men and five women each representing the 5 regions of Africa) at the Maputo Summit in July 2003.

Konare is a charismatic figure, convinced Pan Africanist and a man whose honesty of purpose and faith in Africa and her diaspora shows through easily. Despite being a former head of state, he does not appear to have lost his idealism. Many AU watchers are anxious that his idealism may not be shared by many of the heads of state and even those who do may not be willing to or are unable to put their money where their mouth is. The job of ensuring the union gets the proper political and financial support from our governments should not and cannot be left to Konare alone.

One fundamental difference between the old OAU and the new AU is that while the former was a Leaders' forum the latter envisages a people-driven Union with roles and various entry points for all sectors of our society. The potentially democratising institutions of the new Union have been taking shape in the past three years. They include elected Commissioners, the Pan African Parliament, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), mainstreaming of Gender, etc.

Initially attention was devoted to the Executive bodies like the Permanent Representative Committee, Executive Committee, Assembly of Heads of State and Commissioners. Now the gear has shifted to the potentially democratic and democratising institutions such as the Pan African Parliament, which was inaugurated in March this year and the statute on ECOSOCC which is due for approval at the forthcoming summit and launching in November.

The Summit is also expected to approve the protocol on women. Further progress will be made as the African Court on Human and Peoples rights become a reality. The why and how questions will also be deliberated upon with the draft vision, mission and strategic plan of the AU being brought for approval at the Summit. The Summit will have to decide too on where the permanent site of the Pan African Parliament will be.

Initially the Libyan Jamahirriya wanted to host it and South Africa made its willingness to do so known. Eventually Libya dropped its bid and Egypt entered the race against South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa, is my favourite for many positive reasons. The country has a dynamic parliament which Egypt does not have.

In the past one-year Konare and his team have been busy consulting, brainstorming and building consensus around the various aspects of institutionalising and operationalising the noble ideals of the Union.
By no means has everything been smooth sailing but the pace has been most encouraging. There is a new optimism but more than that there is a developing critical mass of leaders both in government and Civil Society who want the Union to work regardless of what those who never wish Africa well or have given up on us in any case, may say. Others can give up on us but we should never give up on ourselves.

Initially many Africans were (rightly, in many cases) suspicious and cynical about the AU. The criticism was mainly based on previous experience of grandiose ideas that ended up in paper graveyards and also the legendary lack of political will by many of our leaders. However, one has seen a steady pool of Africans especially in organised sections of Civil Society including NGOs who have been engaging the process and expanding the frontiers of entry points offered through the Constitutive Act of the Union.

I was at a pre-summit meeting of the AU/Civil Society Forum in Addis last weekend. No AU summit is now complete without a Civil Society Forum. Once the Summit approves the ECOSOCC statute and it is launched later this year the informal linkages that began in 2001 (the first OAU/Civil Society Forum called by Dr Salim Ahmed SAlim) will be given autonomous legal and political framework. By no means are Civil Society linkages limited to the ECOSOCC. Every aspect of the work of the AU demands Civil Society engagement and the Commission is actively encouraging it. Civil Society in Africa does not have a monolithic outlook.

Indeed some are guilty of the various criticisms we daily make of our governments. Its diversity is its strength. There are dangers that some Civil Society individuals and organisations who have had privileged access to the old OAU may still use their influence with the rump of the old OAU bureaucracy to privilege themselves but I am optimistic that this will not last for too long.

The very high transparency and democratic credentials as provided for in the Act of Union and emerging protocols will weed out usurpers as more organisations from an ever wider spectrum of both organised and unorganised CSOs and individuals claim their right to participation. More democracy is what we can look forward to not less of it. It is most disappointing that even at this late stage some ambassadors were still trying to prevent the ECOSOCC statute from being passed because their distrust of CSOs and NGOs and mortal fear of their capacity to advocate for accountability from governments.

However it is an indication of how far we have travelled that such ambassadors were an insignificant minority.

Many people including ambassadors sitting on the permanent representative committee have been anxious about the draft strategic plan of the AU, believing that it is too ambitious and costly. No doubt there are challenges ahead. How can a new organisation, whose predecessor was starved of its meagre annual budget of $45 million by reluctant member states and indifferent heads of government, hope to raise an annual $600 million to support its new institutions and mandate. I take the concerns seriously but I think they are misplaced. Lack of money should not prevent us from having dreams and working towards their realisation. Those who do not have dreams suffer nightmares. Has Africa not suffered enough nightmares?

I can neither believe nor accept a situation where our governments can fight unjust wars without going to donors or the IMF/World Bank but cannot find the resources when it comes to building a peaceful and united Africa. We all have a duty to help build and sustain the popular coalition and movement necessary to ensure that the Union fulfils its mandate. The AU should not and cannot be yet another donor-driven agenda. The responsibility is yours and mine.

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul Raheem is General Secretary of the Global Pan African Movement, Kampala, Uganda and Co-Director, Justice Africa (London) ([email protected] or [email][email protected])

* Please send comments to [email protected]