NAIROBI: Recently, Opposition leader Raila Odinga accused the African Union (AU) of abetting human rights abuse and concentrating on withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He faulted the AU saying that withdrawal from the international court should be considered only after proper and effective legal infrastructures are put in place to ensure people responsible for violence in Burundi, Ivory Coast and Darfur are put to answer their alleged crimes.
The move by AU comes hot on the heels when Nairobi has put up a spirited fight and led in pushing for Africa’s withdrawal from the Rome Statue which created the ICC.
The continental body has been accused of ineptness and inability to deal with real problems facing the continent.
It is evident that due to AU’s weaknesses, the West has actually taken advantage and intervened in some crises facing the continent instead of African nations taking charge. It’s time for the AU to be more proactive. The AU must prove that it is not the same old Organisation of African Unity (OAU) that was well-known for its inaction and its solidarity with African leaders in the face of excesses committed against their own people. It would be pretentious to accuse the West of meddling in African affairs when those in charge have actually failed to secure their countries’ sovereignty.
The AU has watched as leaders mutilate their countries’ constitutions to extend their terms in office. It has failed to show leadership and stand by the African people in times of crises. Why was it hard for the AU to send troops to Cote d’Ivoire, for example even though the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) knew about the crisis. It took time before intervening.
Closer in Libya, why didn’t the AU send troops while Tripoli was burning at a time when strongman Muammar Gaddafi ‘butchered his own people? In Tripoli, NATO came in because there was a vacuum to fill. The AU dithered during the Ivory Coast conflict, a situation that led to a long-drawn out war.
The reluctance by AU has also been observed during African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). Many African countries have demonstrated a reluctance to send in troops. It is common knowledge that the AU has several times been accused of neglecting member-states or failing to intervene in many wanting cases.
The AU has failed to follow Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s vision of an African continent which enjoys autonomy and sovereignty in both material and intellectual terms. The AU and its member states have abdicated their intellectual and ideological responsibilities to Western donors.
With all these weaknesses, the AU carries the fundamental faintness and cannot be a platform to spearhead Africa’s agendas in the 21st century.
It is precisely because of its inabilities and weaknesses that its critics must now make a rallying call for a radical change in addressing Africa’s problems of security, poverty, democratisation and human rights.
The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
join