Stunted Growth

It started as the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, metamorphosing into the African Union (AU) but has witnessed a stunted growth since then.

We hardly remembered it safe when its failings come up for queries and when its birthdays are observed as mandatory holidays across the continent.

Many do not understand what the holiday is all about, even as they savour a day off their daily efforts at eking out a living on an economically harsh continent.

Africa has never needed a more decisive and robust intervention of the continental organization as in recent times when she appears to be overwhelmed by a medley of challenges.

What we should be doing today is perhaps look at the shortcomings of the organization against the backdrop of the challenges the continent is enmeshed in, instead of pretending that all is well about an almost snoring organization which needs help to keep afloat in a continent in turmoil.

With a stunted growth there is no doubt that the Union is unable to shoulder the socio-economic burdens of the continent.

Indeed, the founding fathers, should they be following developments of the continent in the spiritual world, they would have squirmed, disappointed at the report sheet of the organization which they toiled to found.

The AU is nowhere near achieving its objectives save its symbolic existence as our response to the European Union (EU).

We would be showing sincerity when we regard the AU as more of a symbolic body than one active and meeting its objectives of responding effectively to the challenges of the continent.

With many years since independence behind them, most African leaders still do not show appetite for democracy, especially the limits to their rule. The proclivity to clinging on to power – if this means amending the constitution or even spilling of blood – is never a problem to the continent's many dictators as the continental body looks on arms folded.

It is lamentable that even under such situations the AU has never been able to crack the whip. In any case, it does not even possess such whip let alone crack it.

It is at best a talking Union rarely seen in action save issuing statements when her citizens suffer from the repercussions of bad governance. Her main achievement in recent times is its operations in Al Shabab-infested parts of East Africa.

Africa continues to suffer pestilence, bad governance, corruption and avoidable bloodshed as the continental union watches from the sideline too weak to intervene meaningfully.

When some parts of the continent came under the weather struck by the Ebola epidemic, it took international organizations outside the continent alongside individual countries, to respond to their distress calls.

As we pop champagne, let us hope and pray that the next time we are marking the establishment of the continental union we can dangle a positive score sheet with relish. Happy birthday AU.