The AU: Countries need to walk the talk

DELEGATES to the Pan African Parliament (PAP) have wound up a two weeks’ Session in the small urbane outskirt of Johannesburg, Midrand.They have, once again been grappling with the elusive and sometimes illusive notion of an African Union. It should be noted, that the body skipped one of its previous sessions due to lack of funds to convene the event, and was therefore running behind schedule this time. The parliament’s objectives, stipulated in the protocol to the treaty establishing the African Economic Community and the AU, is to act as the legislative organ of the Union. But during the session, questions abound in the corridors and on the floor of the house, as to how feasible the notion of an African Union was, especially with the level of commitment being exhibited three years down the road. In their concerns after the opening of the sixth ordinary session, members expressed concern over the rigours they had to go through in their countries, to obtain visas to South Africa, the host country and headquarters of the Parliament. Tempers flared with many members infuriated that, their host had no modesty to exempt them from the rigours that ordinary members of the public go through to get visas to of all things, a Pan African meeting. Others were vexed that a female Member of Parliament was near molested, contents of her bag spilled on the checking table as she cleared through Johannesburg international airport. “We do not need visas to come to South Africa for the Pan African Parliament meetings. We are not coming here to look for jobs, we only come here to attend our plenary, then go back to our countries. Where are our privileges,” a clearly disgusted delegate complained on the floor of the house. Mood.This tone set the mood for the two weeks meet, in which members vented anguish at foot-dragging countries that show lack of commitment to the ideals of the union, non-performance by structures of PAP, and intransigence of the west. And the problem did not stop at frustrating individual members, since it spilled on to the issue of committees not being able to raise quorum, as many members were not able to travel due to visa problems. Commitment.The above scenario did raise the question of whether there is enough commitment on part of the African governments and body politic, to work towards transcending border barriers and building the spirit of an African Union. Whereas there was unanimity on the economic benefits of bargaining as a continental bloc, the political willingness to go beyond national boundaries and belong to one entity called Africa was lacklustre. There was also the question of whether we are not running before the horse to market, by jumping onto a bandwagon of a continental bloc, before we are even able to hold together regional blocs. How can Uganda or Kenya for example purport to belong to a United Africa, before it has effectively belonged to one East Africa? Then there was the issue of whether the union, together with NEPAD can purport to know the priority issues in each member country, to be able to negotiate with the west on behalf of all member states. The more reason, it was observed, members often go behind the back of collective bargaining, and strike their own individual deals with enthusiastic giants like china, outside the continental negotiating mechanism. PAP Fund.Perhaps one of the highlights of the occasion was the launching the PAP Fund by venerable former South African President Nelson Mandela, which symbolised the struggle for internal solutions to Africa's financial woes. The fund will act as the basket for pooling assistance from member states of the African Union (AU), companies and individuals from the continent. It will also allow PAP to seek financial and related support from foreign governments and organisations for implementation of its programmes. Prominent people from the public and corporate sectors from the continent were picked as trustees of the Trust Fund, to ensure accountability. Mr Mandela challenged African leaders to expand the democratic space in their countries so that people could enjoy the fruits of the freedom they fought for.