Posted on 07/10/2002 9:19:28 PM PDT by rwjst4
AU born amid rumbles of division
Joern Staby in Durban
THE African Union was born in Durban yesterday amid firm pledges from most African leaders to fight poverty, corruption and war by setting the continent on the path of peace, prosperity, development and good governance.
Waves of applause greeted leaders and dignitaries as they arrived in Durban's Absa stadium, reaching a deafening crescendo when President Thabo Mbeki and former President Nelson Mandela entered.
The colourful crowd of around 25 000 reserved its biggest cheer for Mandela, erupting into chants of "Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela" as Africa's elder statesman took his seat next to Kenneth Kaunda on a podium in front of the main stand.
"Imperialism and colonialism had sought to own and control Africa permanently, from Cape to Cairo. Africa's pride and courage ensured that Africans own and control Africa permanently, from Cape to Cairo," President Mbeki declared in his opening speech.
As late as Monday, however, there were serious divisions behind the scenes, as regional blocs vied for position and influence.
Libya's Muammar Gaddafi insisted that the union's founding charter be changed to create a single African country with a single army. His request was eventually turned down.
Guests at an evening state banquet were kept waiting for over three hours, as delegates struggled to hammer out a decision.
Sources said deep divisions emerged between members of SADC at a meeting about Nepad, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, on Sunday evening.
The plan, which gives concrete shape to the vision of the AU in the form of development projects across Africa, is regarded with suspicion by, among others, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Namibia, sources at the summit said.
Some leaders fear it is a way for the West to impose its conditions on the continent and to divide it into camps - those who obtain aid because they behave and those who don't.
Attempts to obtain comment from the Namibian delegation at the summit were not successful at the time of going to press.
Senior officials in the South African presidency told The Namibian that both the AU and Nepad had their origin and roots in Africa, and not in the West. Any talk of a sell-out of Africa was thus nonsense, the official commented.
"These initiatives come from Africa, and we Africans committed ourselves to our own ideas and ideals in the form of the AU," the official said under condition of anonymity. "We don't need the West anymore to do that, we are Africans."
Any talk of outside interference was an attempt to "distract from the problems the leaders of these countries were experiencing," the official said.
For this reason it was easy to understand why leaders like Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe found issues of good governance and democracy problematic, he added.
"Dictators can smell a whiff of democracy from a thousand miles away," said Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, Secretary General of the Pan African Movement in Kampala, Uganda. "Mugabe is one of them," he said.
Nepad also provides for a so-called Peer Review Mechanism (PRM), with the aim of exposing bad governance and undemocratic practice by African leaders.
While it is not compulsory and the details of the mechanism have not been decided, it is already a source of controversy.
"It is potentially democratising, which is why dictators don't want it," said Abdul-Raheem.
In his speech, Mbeki constantly reminded African leaders of their commitment to a better Africa.
"The Constitutive Act of the African Union is the supreme law of the continent which has been approved by all our parliaments, the parliaments of the people of Africa to meet the challenges facing Africa today," Mbeki said during his speech.
The first task, Mbeki said, would be to achieve unity, solidarity, cohesion and co-operation among the people and states of Africa.
"We must build all the institutions necessary to deepen political, economic and social integration of the African continent.
"We must deepen the culture of collective action in Africa and in our relations with the rest of the world," he said.
The second task, according to the South African president, was to mobilise all segments of civil society, including women, youth, labour and the private sector to act together "to maximise our impact and change our continent for the better".
The AU aims to replicate the European Union in fostering prosperity and democracy through social, economic and regional integration.
Unlike the OAU, the AU will have the right to intervene in member states in cases of war crimes and genocide.
That would be interesting to watch develop.
African Union is an oxymoron.
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