The battle for spoils in the African Union Commission has reached a new crescendo. AU and its institutions have entered turbulent waters and have been captured by external non-state members namely. Something has to be done urgently to save AU from total collapse.
The conflicts in Libya, the DRC, Sudan, Somalia, Mali, and now Niger bring to the fore the need for a total reorganization of AU and in particular AUC so as to halt what is coming in years ahead. The die is cast. The chips are falling where they must. It is sad.
I state without fear that power does not entertain a vacuum and in the AUC of the AU there is a vacuum. Someone must step in to stop a crisis of legitimacy from happening. Forget about Peace & Security organs that don’t have direction. It is neither here nor there.
It is a hanging inferno. More military coups are on the way. Many more conflicts coming in Africa as a result of bungled elections and foreign influence. That is the sad truth. The AUC and AU are on autopilot.
An organization in deep crisis. AUC is in total disarray. The staff of AUC is confused, irate, and yearning for a better African leadership but can’t find any on offer in the current leadership that is captured by external dark forces.
Our AU has a problem. The left of AUC and the right are all fragmented, disorganized, elitist, and, in certain respects, poorly resourced and even clueless about what is taking place in Africa. This applies to most, if not all, of the AU institutions. The countries too are affected by the tough challenges of the times.
The most fragile institutions in some African countries (the military) now seem to be taking advantage of the situation to stage Military coups. The military in some West African states has the top brass stench of corruption. The middle and lower ranks are angry. Will this anger in most francophone states boil over and become “boom”? A putsch from below?
The truth is that when elected to office some politicians in Africa begin to accuse each other and give a chance to divisions that see the military on the streets. The current coups are all a result of bad civilian rule. But the AUC has no clue on how to stop these plots or the sabotage that is hatched by external powers because it is already captured.
The continent is at the edge of a contrived precipice. The juntas are here once again. Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan, and Niger are not good signs of our new democracy. The juntas are uniting again in Africa like they did in the 1960s-1980s when coups were the norm in Africa.
If more states in West Africa fall to military regimes, expect a domino effect across West Africa and to a large extent the entire Africa. This is not what we want in these bad economic times when the world is in an economic meltdown.
But can the AUC be saved? After all, it is still in place and limping. And are the AFRICAN citizens rooting for the Generals to return to the Streets? , Are they bitterly averse to such prospects?
The truth is that some civilian governments in Africa have failed woefully. Poverty, corruption, and economic meltdown are their highest achievements in the 66 years since independence. No light at the end of the pit and there is no tunnel here.
Africans must work hard to reactivate AUC to have, a mass coalition that must do everything to save democracy and national stability in most African nations before it is too late. This is the immediate task of a new AUC. The old one has collapsed.
The new AUC must truly care about ‘democracy’ and ‘national stability’. The latter is about ‘survival’ as an institution, a matter of law and order, peace, and above all African citizens’ security- are all under threat.
In Africa, the former is about the freedom to choose who governs us. This too is under serious threat due to bad institutions that conduct our elections.
Most elections in Africa create chaos instead of peace. The trouble starts with the vote count and results announcement. Post-election confusion ‘.
This confusion goes on and in some countries the amount of destruction of property and loss of lives is huge. Africa must look at their Constitutions which were cut and pasted that create chaos.
If wishes were horses they would let our African people prevail. But wishes are not horses. So let’s Act now on AUC to save our continent.
Say No to the external capture of AUC. And let’s make Democracy work for the African people, not for France and other non-party members.
To do so, we need serious new blood at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa. The current AUC and its organs, as constituted, are dead.
I end by restating what Plato said “Risky as it is, you see, I must attempt to speak the truth, especially when I am speaking the truth” Our continent is at crossroads with a dead AUC.
