THE TEST OF AFRICAN DIPLOMACY AND REGIONAL LEADERSHIP

The Test of African Diplomacy and Regional Leadership

By Dumisani O. Nkomo

The  year 2011 has been epitomized by an unparalled wave of popular “people’s” revolutions which have spread like a wild fire in North Africa and the Middle East .Critically the situation in Libya is of grave concern whilst the ouster of Laurent Gbabgo in the Ivory Coast is a stark reminder that Africa has to take leadership in issues that affect African countries .The season calls for Africa through institutions such as the African Union and  regional bodies such as the Economic Community for West African States [E.C.O.W.A.S ]  and the Southern African Development Community [S.A.D.C ]to take leadership in intra state conflict as this may have a bearing on regional security and the well being of the continent .

The North African/Middle East Contagion

The contagion effects of the popular uprisings or revolutions in Tunisia ,Egypt and Libya  in Africa and countries such as Yemen  and Bahrain are indicative of the manner in which “instability “or “revolution can be exported .Emerging empirical  evidence suggests that the rapid growth of the information super highway epitomized by the growth of social networking and global satellite media is contributing immensely to transnational stability or lack thereof .Dictators can no longer get away with wanton abuse of state institutions and suppression of the rights of their citizens .Thanks to satellite television and the internet the excesses of the Ugandan government  against the opposition ,the suppression of constitutional rights by the Swazi Monarchy and the rabid behavior of the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe are within the watchful gaze of the global community .

Similarly the resilience and energy of oppressed people in Tunisia ignited the flame of liberation and revolution in Egypt ,Libya and the Middle East .The cumulative effects as well as ramifications of the “Jasmine Revolutions “have caused a fundamental shift in global politics ,international relations ,regional power dynamics and diplomacy .If the African Union and regional l bodies fail to take the lead in robustly tackling intra state conflicts these institutions will soon be rendered irrelevant .

Significantly the intervention of the United Nations ,N.A.T.O ,the United States of America and France in Libya ,the Ivory Coast in the past six months may be indicative of the impotence of the African Union and the importance of African leadership in resolving African problems  in a more pro active manner .Whilst the African Union and ECOWAS spoke decisively against Laurent Gbagbo’s attempts to steal the elections in the Ivory Coast ,these actions were largely too little too late .Subsequently the United Nations passed resolutions 1973 and 1975 to deal with the crises in Libya and the Ivory Coast .Importantly the worst losers were the people of Libya and the people of Ivory Coast as over 3,000 people have died in the Ivory Coast and thousands more continue to die in Libya .

Obstacles to A.U Action

There are a number of factors  intrinsic to the design ,operations ,values and political culture of the African Union and African regional bodies which have affected the efficacy of African diplomacy and regional as well as continental peace building .These include but are not limited to the following :

1,Lack of financial and technical capacity to actively intervene and moderate political crises .

2.Lack of political will to effectively deal with emerging crisis situations within nation which  is a big factor because for a long time Africa has tolerated autocratic regimes in Egypt ,Libya ,Tunisia ,Zimbabwe ,Swaziland amongst other countries and the motif “African solutions for African problems” has become a euphemism for accommodating rogue governments .

3.Compromising Democratic Processes at the feet of Sovereignty is a major facto limiting the effectiveness of the A.U .Whilst the constitutive act of the African Union enshrines the importance and pertinence of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states  at the same time it calls upon member states to respect human rights ,good governance and democratic processes .There seems to be a stalemate as  to which comes first and which is more important :sovereignty of member states or the respect of democratic processes and institutions by member states .The rogue regime in Zimbabwe continues to argue that no country should interfere in its internal affairs .This is akin to an abusive father who threatens his neighbours because they have no right to stop him from excruciatingly beating his wife and subjecting his children to cruel ,inhuman and degrading treatment .Surely at one point the interests of the wife and the children have to take precedence of the ego of the abusive man .It is in this context that I would like to argue that Southern Africa has  to reign in rogue elements before they become a threat to regional peace and security .

I propose that the following steps be taken in order to ensure that African diplomacy and mediation becomes more effective and meaningful :

1.The African Peer Review Mechanism[A.P.R.M] needs to be strengthened by making the process more binding and putting in place enforcement mechanisms .At the moment the A.P.R.M is purely voluntary and non enforceable and only a handful of countries have completed the process .

2.Minimum standards of good governance contained in the Declaration on Democracy ,Political ,Economic and Corporate Governance should be internalized in national legislation and policies of  A.U member states .

3.The African Union and its regional bodies such as SADC should strengthen implementation of instruments  on democratic processes such as elections .Such instruments include the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections and the A.U Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa .

4.Setting up of effective implementation ,enforcement and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that Africa countries adhere to the standards of good governance that they have committed themselves to .

It is possible to create an Africa free from dictatorship ,genocide ,corruption and violation of  human rights .

Dumisani O Nkomo is a Zimbabwean based political commentator and opinion leader