THE APRM DEBATE: RESPONSE FROM MR. MAKHA DADO SARR, APRM PANEL CONSULTANT ON RESTRUCTURING

AUTHORITY TO PUBLISH MAKHA DADO SARR'S RESPONSE
Dear Mr. Okungu,
I would not object to post the process I have described but not as part
of the response of the Secretariat since I am not one of its members. But
I was a resource person for the Panel and, in that capacity, I trust the
latter would not object to making the process known, especially after the
publication of your article not attributing the authorship of the
proposal to the entire Panel.

As I have indicated in my previous message, the AU Sub-Committee on
structures is yet to meet and Member States, particularly those in
participating countries, would have ample opportunity to make their views
known with respect to the prposed new structure which they may improve or
reject.

The objective is to have a structure that would make the APRM process
more effective.
Best regards,
Makha D. Sarr

MR. MAKHA DADO SARR'S RESPONSE
Dear Mr. Okungu,
My attention was drawn to your article above related to the ongoing
transformation of the APRM Secretariat into an African Union Office for
APRM.

Although you have not mentioned me by name in the article, and since I
am, to a certain extent, directly involved in this process as a
consultant of APRM Panel, I am compelled to unambiguously clarify that I
am the only author of the original draft proposal of the new structure of
the AU Office for APRM.

As you may be aware, the Office, with an official structure, is to be set
up as an autonomous out posted arm of the African Union, following the
signing of a Host Country Agreement between the Government of the Republic
of South Africa and the African Union Commission on October 9, 2008.
The structure is to be officially communicated by the African Union to the
Department of Foreign Affairs of South Africa in order for the latter to
formally provide permanent accreditation to the officials who would be
recruited.

The original draft proposal of the new structure was first reviewed by
the Panel and then commented upon by the staff of the APRM Secretariat
through written submissions.

It was subsequently revised three times at the request of the Panel
before its approval by the latter in January 2009 for submission to the
African Union Subcommittee on Structures.

The Subcommittee has not yet met and, if requested by the Panel, I am
prepared to formally present the proposed structure at the meeting of the
Subcommittee that would consider it.

The proposed structure has therefore not been developed by the
Chairperson of the Panel, and by Dr. Jerome, as you have stated in your
article. Naturally, I trust you would understand that I should feel
offended if this information you have received was correct.

As briefly explained above, it is the entire Panel, after three
deliberations and taking into account the comments of the staff of the
APRM Secretariat, that is responsible for putting up the proposed
structure for the consideration of the African Union Subcommittee on
structures.

The rationale of the proposed structure, based on country reviews that
have taken place so far, including the one of Uganda which I have
participated in , is to make the Office more effective both in carrying
out future country reviews and in developing and deepening further the
thematic areas, particularly the questionnaires guiding the methodology.

It is my view that these two functions of the APRM process, though
interrelated, are not presently well defined and delineated, as it is
explained in the introductory note forwarding the proposed draft
structure to the African Union Commission.

The proposed structure is therefore intended to address this major
weakness. Having consstently fought against ineffective structures, I
would not be proposing unnecessary and costly bureaucracies for an Office
whose primary objective is to improve governance and efficacy in
political, economic and social development in Africa.

Finally, as a former Director of Division in the ECA, when Professor
Adedeji was its Executive Secretary until he resigned in 1991, I find it
disrespectful to suggest that he would be seeking to become the first
Director General of the new office. Indeed, even his then close
collaborators, would not think of applying to such position.

I hope this would clarify the issue related to the origin and nature of
the proposed structure of the AU Office for APRM. Naturally, I stand ready
to provide further clarification if needed.

Yours sincerely,

Makha Dado SARR,
Former Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA), Addis Ababa,
Former Special Coordinator for Africa and Least Developed Countries,
United Nations, New York;

Email mdsarr@orange.sn