African Union: an Overview
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The African Union (AU) succeeded the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was formed in 1963. The OAU was a product of a compromise of 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 OAU was then transformed to AU in Sirte, Libya in 2001 with African leaders aiming to harmonize the economic and political policies of all African nations in order to improve pan-African welfare, and provide Africans with a solid voice in international affairs. The question today is: Has the AU achieved these objectives? To my view, there are lots of positives that can be pointed from the bloc, but I have pessimism that Africa will one day become a truly independent and united continent as were the dreams of the OAU founding fathers. I am not surprised that some people are questioning the achievability of OAU founding fathers' ideas. I do not want to liken pan-Africanists such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, just to list a few, to the great philosopher, Karl Marx, whose ideas are a mere critique of the status quo but offering little practical solutions to societal problems. While the OAU achieved its endeavor to liberate other African states, it was deemed too weak in its bid to make the continent realize pan-African dreams. The problem is lack of financial capacity due to the dependency theory [Africans depending on former colonizers on exploration of the continent's resources] that has made the continent unable to transform itself into a truly independent block. The main problem though has been inability by African states to refuse to dance to the tune of the former colonizer’s ‘divide and rule tactics.' As a result, divisions have rocked the continent to the extent that it is now difficult for African leaders to sing from the
INTRODUCTION
The African Union (AU) succeeded the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was formed in 1963. The OAU was a product of a compromise of 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 OAU was then transformed to AU in Sirte, Libya in 2001 with African leaders aiming to harmonize the economic and political policies of all African nations in order to improve pan-African welfare, and provide Africans with a solid voice in international affairs. The question today is: Has the AU achieved these objectives? To my view, there are lots of positives that can be pointed from the bloc, but I have pessimism that Africa will one day become a truly independent and united continent as were the dreams of the OAU founding fathers. I am not surprised that some people are questioning the achievability of OAU founding fathers' ideas. I do not want to liken pan-Africanists such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, just to list a few, to the great philosopher, Karl Marx, whose ideas are a mere critique of the status quo but offering little practical solutions to societal problems. While the OAU achieved its endeavor to liberate other African states, it was deemed too weak in its bid to make the continent realize pan-African dreams. The problem is lack of financial capacity due to the dependency theory [Africans depending on former colonizers on exploration of the continent's resources] that has made the continent unable to transform itself into a truly independent block. The main problem though has been inability by African states to refuse to dance to the tune of the former colonizer’s ‘divide and rule tactics.' As a result, divisions have rocked the continent to the extent that it is now difficult for African leaders to sing from the