POLITICS: Donor Funding Still Needed to Get the African Union Up, Running

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Anthony Stoppard

CAPE TOWN, Jul 2 2003 (IPS) - The operating costs of the African Union are expected to reach as much as 100 million U.S. dollars a year, once all its structures are up and running.

"We are talking about a budget, at some point, of more than 100 million U.S. dollars a year," says the Interim chairperson of the AU Commission, Amara Essey.

Essey was among the delegates from 28 African countries who had gathered in South Africa to discuss preparations for creation of a Pan-African Parliament. The meeting, held in the South African Parliament, in the port city of Cape Town, ended on Jul. 1.

The African Union, which replaced the Organisation of African Union (OAU) last year, is expected to have a myriad of structures that will try to tackle the problems facing the continent. Key among them will be the AU Commission, which will oversee the day-to-day running of the Union; the Peace and Security Council, that will tackle conflicts on the continent; and the Pan-African Parliament, which will attempt to create legislative framework to bind national states to high standards of good governance.

The protocols creating these structures are expected to be further discussed, and some adopted, at the Second Ordinary Session of the African Union in the Mozambican capital of Maputo, from Friday. The first AU summit took place in the South African port city of Durban last year.

But, there is concern that African states – many of who are too poor to meet the basic needs of their people, much less fulfil their existing international obligations – simply cannot afford the cost of getting the African Union up and running. Some, like Djibouti, Mauritania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had been unable to pay up their annual subscription fees when the OAU’s operating budget was just 31 million U.S. dollars. As a result, the Union and its structures may end up being dependent on donor organisations and foreign aid.

"I think it would be shameful if this is treated as yet another donor-driven, European looking and American looking institution. I think the motivation behind it and the political imperatives that make it necessary, means we should build it with our own resources," the general secretary of the Uganda-based Pan-African Movement, Tajudeen Abdul Raheem, told the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

For now, donor funding and international aid is likely to play an important part in helping to get some of the AU structures functioning. The Group of Eight (G8) – comprising the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany, Russia, Italy, France and Russia – has indicated that it will support AU efforts to boost Africa’s capacity to undertake peace-keeping operations.

Strengthening the peace-keeping abilities of African countries is also on the agenda of U.S. President George W. Bush, who will be visiting Africa next week.

But, in a move likely to affect peace-keeping operations, Washington has suspended military aid to South Africa after Pretoria refused to sign a deal which would give U.S. citizens immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. The United States fears the court could become a forum for politically motivated prosecutions of Americans, and has been working hard to sign deals, which would give its citizens immunity from prosecution, with individual countries.

South Africa, along with 35 other countries, has been penalised for refusing to sign the deal. The South African government is still considering its response to the U.S. action.

Many of the protocols which will create the structures – and costs – of the African Union have yet to be ratified by the majority of AU member states. The protocol creating the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, for example, has only been ratified by six countries.

The protocol creating the Pan-African Parliament is one of those closest to being ratified. By the beginning of this week, 18 countries had ratified it. The African Union has 53 member states, but only a simple majority of 27 is needed to bring the protocol into force.

South Africa has offered to host the parliament, which will consist of five delegates from each AU member states. At least one of the delegates, who will be chosen by national parliaments, must be a woman. The parliament is expected to meet for at least two months each year, when it is up and running. As yet, there is no firm date for its launch.