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African Union, Strengths and Weaknesses, Relationship of African Union, Origin and Mandate, International Institutional Law, Nature of International Institutional, Rationale for Personality, Attributed Powers, Implied Powers, Modes of Operation. This is not a lecture notes. Its teaching material for a complete course. It was prepared by faculty of law.
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2009
Chapter Three
Chapter Eight
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Course Information
This course deals with the basic principles of African Union Law. It is particularly designed to give students a working knowledge of African Union Law. It examines the evolution, structure, institutions, subject matter, sources of African Union Law and the position of African Union Law in the legal systems of the member states. It also examines the position of the African Union within the structure of international law, specifically in relation to other international structures such as the United Nations, Organization of American States, the European Union, and the World Trade Organization. Students will acquire the skills needed to do research on African Union Law as it affects governments, national legal systems, businesses and individuals. It also focuses on current events in the African Union with a view to establishing the role of law in all activities carried out by the Union.
Course Objectives
General Objectives
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
Understand the nature, subject matter, characteristics and sources of African Union Law Recognize the similarities and differences between the African Union and other regional and international organizations Develop the required professional skills for negotiation, advising and researching different aspects of African Union Law Appreciate the alternative ways in which international organization work at international, and regional level
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Specific Objectives
At the end of this course, the students are expected to:
Identify the sources of African Union Law by giving appropriate examples. Enumerate accurately those rights and interests of African Union protected by international and national law taking into consideration that Ethiopia is a seat of the Union‟s headquarters. Analyze the various African Union instruments by taking relevant cases. Demonstrate the required skills for negotiation, advising, researching and dispute resolution by actively participating in moot courts and simulation games. Show readiness to engage themselves in co-curricular activities by taking independent work. Compare African Union Law with similar laws of other international organizations. Display the necessary competence in identifying the various institutions and functions of the African Union. Assess those aspects of African Union Law by clearly explaining the role the member states as well as the AU as an organization Share their experiences with respect to international perspectives by participating in small group discussion, seminars, etc.
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Having regard to the instrumental character of Pan-Africanism in any form of African solidarity, it seems imperative to define what it is. A Martini, in his includes this in the reference last. defineds Pan as Africanism follows manner:
Pan-Africanism is an invented notion. It is an invented nation with a purpose…. Essentially, Pan-Africanism is a recognition of the fragmented nature of the existence of African‟s, their marginalization and alienation whether in their own continent or in the Diaspora. Pan- Africanism seeks to respond to Africa‟s underdevelopment. Africa has been exploited and a culture of dependency on external assistance unfortunately still prevails on the continent. If people become too reliant on getting their support, their nourishment, their safety from outside sources, then they do not strive to find the power within themselves to rely on their own capacities. Pan-Africanism calls upon Africans to drawn from their own strength and capacities and become self reliant. Pan-Africanism is a recognition that the only way out of this existential, social and political crisis is by prompting greater solidarity amongst Africans.
As can be inferred from the above quotation, Pan-Africanism is neither a name of an African organization; nor an ideal imagination of what Africa should be in the future. It is rather an engine for a continued African solidarity and integration that can spur the effectiveness of Afro- Centric regional integrations. It has served as such in different times in history.
The idea of Pan-Africanism would remain futile unless it is capable of taking an institutional form. It can be said that Pan-Africanism has so far undergone three phases of institutionalization. By institutionalization we are referring to the coming up of an organization that claims to further the ideals enshrined in the Pan-African movement.
The first institutionalization of Pan-Africanism is the series of Pan-African Congresses. In describing this form of institutionalization, Martini stated „Depending on how one chooses to interpret or define Pan-Africanism, the first attempt to institutionalize If the goatali is more them three gives, it has to follow the standardized from of quoting it Pan-Africanism can be situated either at the 1896 Congress on Pan-Africanism held in Chicago or at the creation of the African
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association in London in 1997. In both instances, the term „Pan-African‟ was widely used to signify the coming together of people of African descent”.
In 1900, the first Pan-African conference was held in London where a new organization called the Pan-African Association was established with the objective of securing the rights of the African descendants. From that time on wards, up to seven Pan-African congresses were held in Europe and Africa with similar objectives of creating African solidarity.
Discussion Questions
Why do you think is that the ancient Pan-African congresses were not held on African soil? What does Pan-Africanism mean to you? Can Pan-Africanism continue to be the basis of African integration and solidarity in the globalizing world? What does by institutionalization of Pan-Africanism mean to you?
The second institutionalization of Pan-Africanism came with the inauguration of the OAU in
One might dare to internalize the proper link between the aforementioned institutionalizations of Pan-Africanism. In connection with this issue, Martini Timothy has the following to say. The fundamental insight gained from the emergence of the organized Pan-Africanism is that the power of individual country or society is amplified exponentially when it is combined with the forces of other countries and societies. It is a similar way of thinking that animated and informed the founders of the OAU and the present African union. This same type of thinking is potentially expected to animate and inform future generations of Africans and their diaspora to be kin in promoting ever-increasing social, political and economic union.
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Prior to the birth of the OAU, there was an inter-state politics in Africa which was characterized by growing rivalry between the Casablanca and Monrovia group of states. This rivalry, at least for a while, hindered the realization of the OAU.
The Casablanca group was principally led by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Sekou Toure of Guinea, and Madibo Keita of Mali. The group vehemently opposed colonialism, racism and neocolonialism. Among other things, it opposed the Katanga secessionist movement, gave an extended support to Patrice Lumumba‟s efforts to oust the Belgians from Congo, demanded French withdrawal from Algeria and was sympathetic towards the Soviet Union due to concrete Soviet support to their activities. This group had a more radical approach involving the creation of the federation of African states with joint institutions with a joint military command.
The Monrovia group, on its part, was constituted by the Brazzaville group including most of the moderate Francophone states such as Ivory Coast, Gabon, Niger, Senegal, Monrovia, etc. In addition, it had members like Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria and Somalia, which were neutral towards the rivalry between Casablanca and Brazzaville groups. It stood for the protection of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its members. It defended the principle of mutual non-interference in inter-sate relations and welcomed interstate technical and economic cooperation. Instead of snapping the ties with the west, the Monrovia group sought western cooperation in the process of promoting development. The rivalry between the Casablanca and Monrovia groups was not, however, an unbridgeable gulf that could prevent the birth of the OAU. article Harshe stated three basic justifications for this historical scenario. To begin with, like the Monrovia states, the Casablanca states were also getting absorbed in the world capitalist economy despite their sporadic tirade against neo- colonialism and imperialism. The penetration of western finance capital in the extractive sectors of Guinean economy and Ghana‟s membership of British Commonwealth amply illustrated this position. When succinctly expressed, both groups were eventually moving in the same direction. Secondly, despite their theoretical differences, both groups were keen to regulate and promote inter-state cooperation in Africa. Thirdly, though on their own ways, both groups aimed at liquidating colonialism and racism.
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Harshe concludes that both groups had a lot in common. These commonalities were backed by the mediatory efforts of uncommitted (i.e. not strictly a proponent of either group) states like Ethiopia gave birth to the Organization of African Unity. Having passed all these ups and downs, the OAU was formally established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in May, 1963. The OAU Charter presented both views but using the vision of the Monrovia group as its core.
Wolfer states the tension in early days of the OAU and the compromise adopted as follows. “The main contention that surrounded the founding of the OAU is well known: whether the institution should lead to a union of states or merely to an association of the independent units.” Nweke, also states “The OAU was the product of a compromise between African statesmen who wanted political union of all independent African states and those who preferred functional cooperation as a building block towards the construction of an African socio-psychological community”.
The above statements can create a historical link between the OAU and the African Union. In the contention that surrounded the founding of the OAU, the latter statement views the OAU as an association of the independent units prevailed over the creation of a union of states. The latter view had to wait for another favorable historical ground to be a reality. Wolfer state that the former position which failed to be operational has left its foot prints in the naming of the organization. He states “the agreed name [for the organization] was proposed in French by President Hubert Maga of Dahomey (possibly at the instigation of President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana); and President William Tubman of Liberia insisted that the English translation be organization of ( emphasis added ) African Unity, rather than organization for African unity”.
The Assembly of the African Union has passed the Durban Declaration in tribute to the OAU and the launching of the African Union. The Durban Declaration describes the OAU in the following manner:-
The establishment of the OAU was a statement of determination to define Africa, not as individual countries but as collective bound together by geography, history and destiny. It was a self-empowering decision to find a framework for cooperation and forum for advocacy for African‟s causes and for joint action. This determination found concrete expression in the
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Many of the purposes and principles of the OAU were keen in those days. Most of them are, however, not pertinent to the contemporary situation of Africa. A clear exemplification of such a holding may be the last that state the principle of the OAU i.e., affirmation of a policy of non- alignment with regard to all blocs. By now, the mentioned blocs, the capitalist and socialist blocs are no more in rivalry. That is way a need was felt to bring a timely organization for Africa.
It can be argued that the African Union was conceived in the womb of the OAU. Stated other wise, though the objectives and principles of the African Union and the OAU are different, as is evident from the surrounding historical conditions, the idea of establishing the African Union was consolidated inside the OAU. Baimu shares this opinion as “It was noted that in the period between 1966 and 1999 efforts were made to realize African unity through the means of economic integration. This was expressed theoretically in a number of OAU declarations, resolutions and plans of actions that were adopted between 1968 and 1980, and in concrete terms in the formation of several sub-regional blocs.”
The conception of the African Union inside the OAU is highly reflected in a number of resolutions, decisions and declarations adopted by the OAU Assembly of the Heads of States and Government with a desire to realize African economic integration. The Monrovia declaration of commitment on the guidelines and measures for national and collective self-relations in economic and social development for establishment of a new international order called for the creation of the African Economic Market as a prelude to an African Economic Community, and the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) which was adopted by the second extra-ordinary summit of the OAU in April 1980 and envisaged the creation of an African Economic Community by the year
The idea of continental economic integration was concretized in the 1991 Abuja Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community, which was adopted under the auspices of the OAU on 3 June 1991 and entered in to force on 12 May 1994 after the requisite number of ratifications was attained. Article 6 of the Treaty envisages the establishment of the African
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Economic Community, AEC, as an integral part of the OAU upon passing six consecutive stages over a transitional period not exceeding thirty-four years. The Abuja Treaty envisions the establishment of the AEC as a goal that should be achieved through encouraging the formation of sub-regional economic bodies which would eventually amalgamate to create the AEC.
Article 4 of the Abuja Treaty enumerates four basic objectives of the AEC. These are:
1. To promote economic, social and cultural development and the integration of African economies in order to increase economic self-reliance and promote an _endogenous and self-sustained development;
With the coming into force of the Abuja Treaty, the OAU committed itself with the realization of the aforementioned objectives and therefore it has to coexist with the AEC. The gradual operation of the OAU based on both its Charter and the Abuja Treaty made it clear that there is an emerging need to come up with an institution that would combine OAU‟s political nature and the AEC‟s economic character. At the same time, the end of the millennium led to a sense of urgency among African leadership to reposition the OAU in order to set the African continent as a whole on a firm path to development and peace in the new millennium. It was in this context that the forty four African leaders met in Libya from 8 to 9 September 1999 at an extraordinary summit of the OAU called by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, to discuss the formation of a „United States of Africa‟. The summit basically aimed at „strengthening OAU‟s capacity to
