Africa Unity Day – 46 years on

May 25, 1963, was the day the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed. The day was therefore set aside to be observed by all Africans as Africa Unity Day and a public holiday.

Though the OAD chalked some successes, it was faced with a lot of problems. Prominent among these were the lack of money to carry out its programmes, and the lack of courage and willpower to establis4 the unified military and defence strategy. The African High Command - which was proposed by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

The Command was expected to enable African countries to defend themselves and to combine the continent's military resources for common defence.

Dr. Nkrumah had cautioned that individual states, out of a sense of insecurity, might be drawn into making defence pacts with foreign powers which might endanger the security of the entire continent. Other problems were the influence of the colonial masters, political instability tough military coups, differences of political ideologies and linguistic barriers such as the Francophone and Anglophone that divided the continent.

Added to these woes, were the frequent walkouts, abortive summits, recriminations, accusations of treachery and corruption. The OAU was also faced with problems such as deliberations at its conferences and summits degenerating into talking shops with pious resolutions, communiqués and recommendations which never saw the light of the day. Consequently, the OAU lost its venom, relevance and importance.

It became a toothless bulldog. It literally became dead and' did therefore, not present a happy picture to the world.

It was against this sordid background that the African Union (AU) was born out of the ashes of the OAU on July 11, 2002. The genesis of the formation of the AU was that in September 9, 1999, Col. Muammar Al-Qathafi of Libya, organized an extraordinary OAU Summit in Sirtie, Libya, where he mooted the idea of replacing the 0AUwith the AU. In 2002, another OAU Summit was held in Lome, Togo at which the Consultative Act of the African Union, in terms of the Sirtie Declaration of September 1999, was approved. A lot of negotiations went on, culminating in the inauguration of the AU on July 11, 2002, in Durban, South Africa.

In his inaugural address, Mr Thabo Mbeki, the then South African President, who became the AU's first Chairman, stated inter alia, that there could be no sustainable development without peace. "We must end the senseless wars on our continent which have caused so much suffering to our people and turned many of them into refugees,” he emphasized.

The birth of the union was expected to provide African leaders with a new vision and dynamism to address problems confronting the continent. In fact, the coming into force of the African Union was regarded as marking a beginning of a new era of concrete action. It has set up a number of institutions such as the Common Parliament, a Court Of Justice and a Central Bank, which for instance would issue and manage a common currency. The Peace and Security Council has also been set up with a mandate to intervene in times of wars.

For centuries, Africa has been integrated into the world economy as a supplier of cheap labour and raw materials. This had drained Africa's resources rather than their use for the continent's development.

As we celebrate Africa Unity Day today, we must intensify our search for solutions to why Africa has been impoverished by slavery, corruption, disease and economic mismanagement.

“The challenge is for the people and governments of Africa to understand that development is a process of empowerment and self-reliance. Accordingly, Africans must not be wards of benevolent guardians, rather, they must be, the architects of their own sustained upliftment.

The time to act is now. What Africa must hasten to do is to harness and utilize her, enormous natural resources on a very large scale. Gold must be processed, so should agricultural and fish products. Timber must also be transformed to basic furniture before export.

These activities will provide employment, stabilize the prices of export products and increase income from these products. It cannot be denied that Africa's place in the global community is defined by the fact that the continent is an indispensable resource base that has served all humanity for so many centuries.

Africans should take advantage of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) which is an integral part of the African Union, to advance their cause. Through NEPAD, the leadership should set an agenda for the renewal of the continent. The agenda should be based on national and regional priorities and development plans that must be prepared through a participatory process involving the people.

African leaders should strengthen mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and resolution at the regional and continental levels, and ensure that these mechanisms are used to restore and maintain peace and security. Also, they should promote and protect democracy and human rights in their countries and regions, by developing clear standards of accountability, transparency and participatory governance at the national and sub-national levels. It is worthy to note that Ghana was the first country to undergo the Peer Review Mechanism under the NEPAD programme.

It is necessary to revitalize and extend the provision of education, technical training and health services with high priority given to HIV/AIDS malaria and other communicable diseases.

Another issue of great importance is that African leaders should promote the role of women in social and economic development by reinforcing their capacity in the domains of education and training. This is the time for Africans to declare that we will no longer allow ourselves to be conditioned by circumstance. We should determine our own destiny and call on the rest of the world to complement our efforts.

There is then the need to consider a unified foreign policy and diplomacy to give political direction to our joint efforts for the protection and the economic development of the continent. Through the common foreign policy, Africa can speak with one voice in the United Nations and other international conferences. The continent may even be accorded a permanent place in the Security Council.

It is for the continent to prove that African people can surmount the separatist tendencies in sovereign nationhood by coming together speedily, for the sake of Africa's greater glory and infinite wellbeing, into a union of African States.

The rest of the world is moving. The European Union, already has a common currency, the EURO, but Africa is still struggling with the fundamentals of democracy despite its former position as the cradle or birthplace of world civilization and human kind.

The Eco, the proposed common currency for ECOWAS, has not yet materialized. This is the time for Africans to declare that will no longer allow ourselves to be conditioned by circumstance.

We should determine our own destiny and call on the rest of the world to complement our efforts. Africa's status, as the birthplace of humanity, should be cherished, by the whole world as the origin of all peoples.

The African Union should add value to primary products and modernize agriculture. Besides, we must ensure market access by development partners, promote private sector and ensure good governance. Through these efforts, we shall be self sufficient and stop begging from the developed countries for a pittance.

The core values of democracy that is rule of law, separation of powers, representative government and human rights must also be embraced.

It's only through these, that the continent will be placed on the path of sustainable growth and development, and at the same time, make it possible for it to participate actively in the world economy and body politic. AFRICA MUST REALLY UNITE. Now is the time.

Source: Ghanaian Times