On February 15, throughout the thirty eighth summit of the African Union (AU) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, African leaders elected Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the international minister of Djibouti, as the brand new chairperson of the African Union Fee (AUC), the manager department of the continental physique. He prevailed over Raila Odinga, the previous prime minister of Kenya, and Richard Randriamandrato, Madagascar’s former minister of international affairs.
Youssouf has been Djibouti’s international minister since 2005 and takes over from Moussa Faki Mahamat, the previous prime minister of Chad, who has served two consecutive four-year phrases because the chief of the AUC. In his official manifesto, he has dedicated to advancing governance and democracy, strengthening institutional capability, and fostering peace and safety, amongst different targets.
Youssouf assumes workplace at a precarious time in Africa and is predicted to leverage his diplomatic experience particularly to deal with the conflicts raging in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Youssouf seems poised to champion peace and work for substantial optimistic adjustments in international locations throughout the continent within the coming years. However his success is lower than assured, as African leaders are typically hesitant to relinquish important energy to the AU and its affiliated organisations.
The African Courtroom on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) launched a report in March 2022, which revealed that as of July 2021, simply 7 p.c of its judgements had been absolutely complied with, 18 p.c had been partially complied with, and a considerable 75 p.c had not been complied with in any respect.
Moreover, the report talked about that a number of African international locations have made it clear to the Government Council that they won’t adhere to the Courtroom’s selections. Maybe this explains why final yr’s ACHPR report omitted these statistics.
Most African leaders resist the imposition of rigorous exterior oversight measures – important interventions that their international locations sorely want to forestall battle and instability. Therefore, it’s lower than sure what Youssouf may accomplish within the subsequent 4 years.
The successes and failures of his predecessor, Moussa Faki Mahamat, could provide some clues as to what the brand new AUC chair may count on to realize within the coming interval.
At a ceremony to mark the official begin of his time period on March 14, 2017, Mahamat was oozing with confidence. He had pledged to “make the Fee a device able to translating into actuality the imaginative and prescient of our leaders and the aspirations of our peoples”, and “to silence the weapons and realise an Africa freed from conflicts by 2020”.
Eight years later, his administration’s efficiency has been marked by a mixture of restricted accomplishments and lots of unresolved challenges.
Mahamat was instrumental within the mediation of the Cessation of Hostilities Settlement (CoHA), a landmark peace treaty signed between the Ethiopian authorities and the Tigray Individuals’s Liberation Entrance (TPLF) on November 2, 2022, in Pretoria, South Africa. This accord introduced an finish to the devastating 2020-2022 Tigray battle. Regardless of this important achievement, nonetheless, he was unable to “silence the weapons” within the conflicts in Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Mozambique – though it was not for lack of effort.
In his handle to the thirty seventh Atypical Session of the Meeting of the African Union on February 17, 2024, Mahamat voiced his profound frustration with the intolerant actions of African leaders, who he selected to not identify, seemingly in a spirited try to rationalise his varied failures.
He pointed to the continuing conflicts on the continent, the resurgence of navy coups in Central and West Africa, and the overwhelming unwillingness of sure AU member states to conduct elections which are thought to be credible. On the latter, he rightly stated, “As an alternative of being joyful modes of peaceable switch or upkeep of energy, elections have change into, via the extent of their irregularities, components for deepening crises.”
On the identical time, he emphasised that many African leaders have largely ignored the African Peace and Safety Structure (APSA), the AU’s blueprint for battle prevention, administration, and determination, and its counterpart, the African Governance Structure (AGA). The aim of the AGA is to foster and defend human and folks’s rights, improve democratic establishments and tradition, and assure good governance and the rule of regulation.
Mahamat additionally bemoaned the truth that institutional reforms inside the continental union haven’t successfully tackled the problems associated to the powers of the AUC and its chairperson. “Though the Chairperson of the Fee is recognised within the texts because the Authorized Consultant and ‘Chief Accounting Officer’ of the organisation, he’s paradoxically disadvantaged of adequate margin of manoeuvre to behave urgently on strategic questions.”
Then, he provided a pointy critique of African leaders, alleging they possess “the frantic tendency to make selections with out actual political will to implement them”. This has resulted within the woeful and unworkable situation the place, in line with Mahamat, 93 p.c of choices made in 2021, 2022, and 2023 weren’t acted on.
Such systematic defiance, he added, is noticeable at each the extent of member states and regional communities, with member states usually disregarding and carelessly violating the resolutions established by continental our bodies. Alarmingly, he warned that with out transformative adjustments, the organisation can be unable to successfully reply to the sociopolitical challenges current on the continent.
African leaders are, unquestionably, a big barrier to the sociopolitical and financial development of the continent. They benefit from witnessing the AU develop right into a consciously weakened entity that primarily caters to their self-centred, unscrupulous goals.
It’s subsequently crucial that Youssouf, in his function as Mahamat’s successor, be granted ample unbiased authority and assets to implement strict compliance with the organisation’s conventions, notably with respect to APSA and AGA.
With out that, he could sadly be as powerless to resolve the continent’s most urgent issues as his predecessor.
In 2002, the AU launched the African Peer Overview Mechanism (APRM) to permit member states to voluntarily consider their governance practices. Nonetheless, its impact has been minimal. Given the continuing conflicts and insufficient governance that persist throughout the continent annually, Africa clearly requires a complete regulatory framework for yearly and impromptu nationwide assessments.
Contemplate the scenario in Sudan.
For 3 many years, the AU turned a blind eye to the illegal, autocratic and deeply inhumane actions of President Omar al-Bashir’s regime – actions that slowly paved the best way for the coup of April 11, 2019. The elimination of al-Bashir within the coup subsequently set the stage for an additional navy takeover on October 25, 2021, and the current civil battle.
AU inaction and incapacity to impose good governance set the scene for comparable failings in Mozambique.
The ruling Frelimo occasion’s profound incapacity to ascertain an inclusive democracy, guarantee financial stability, and ship basic companies has made the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado fertile floor for rebellion. Starting in October 2017, an armed insurrection within the province has led to the displacement of greater than 1.3 million individuals, compromised the healthcare infrastructure, and resulted in a important humanitarian disaster. The AU and its varied our bodies did little greater than watch these tragedies unfold.
Certainly, in each situations, the AU had the chance to implement decisive and well timed governance interventions to advance peace, stability, and socioeconomic well-being. It didn’t, or, extra precisely, it couldn’t.
Sadly, Addis Ababa has traditionally been stripped of the requisite authority to analyse and reply to unhealthy management. Mozambique and Sudan are simply two examples amongst many. The AU has additionally been unable to take care of the plight of political prisoners in Eritrea, democratic backsliding in Tunisia, and the years-long brutal repression of opposition leaders in Uganda, to call however just a few.
Given the persistent disdain for important AU protocols that prompts unrest throughout the continent, it’s essential that the brand new chair of the AUC doesn’t tackle a passive stance within the coming 4 years. His workplace should be endowed with the unequivocal energy to carry African leaders accountable for his or her political excesses and failings.
Youssouf can forge a legacy of peace and socioeconomic transformation in his new function, however first he should get the AU to start out working in the very best pursuits of its main stakeholders: Africa’s 1.5 billion individuals.
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
