WHY THE AU MUST PROTECT ITS INSTITUTIONS FROM LOOTERS AMONGST US

By Jerry Okungu
Berbera, Somaliland
April 3, 2009

The West has been laughing at our continent for many decades now. The common joke is that Africans are known for conceptualizing wonderful ideas but never see them through. They say so many African initiatives have come and gone after draining the continent’s resources to the bone. Others have actually been taken over by the more serious European and American experts.

A case in point was the former East African Community whose model was adopted by the now thriving European Union. We are yet to realize the EAC common Market despite the 1999 Treaty giving it the roadmap.

The reason NEPAD and APRM initiatives caught world attention was because they were as original as they could be. Their protocols spelt out how to get the continent out of the political quagmire and economic doldrums.

NEPAD focused on infrastructural development, cross border movement, liberalization of the aviation industry and free movement of goods, people and services as its ultimate goal. Yes, founding African Heads of State like Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Mbeki of South Africa and Obasanjo of Nigeria foresaw an Africa of super highways, efficient railway systems and luxurious waterways. They also conceptualized the establishment of an undersea cyber optic cable to provide the much needed communications network for the continent.

As they deliberated about these grand ideas with the G8 and other development partners, they also zeroed in on the one area that had made the West despise African leaders for decades. Institutions like the World Bank, the IMF, the European Union and even the US had always complained that part of Africa’s permanent poverty was its exploitation by its corrupt and brutal political leaders. And they had many examples to refer to. They had Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Daniel arap Moi of Kenya, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and a handful of military leaders in West and Central Africa that had suffocated their citizens to death.

For this reason, the AU finally decided that this ogre of corruption and poor governance had to be tackled head on by Africans themselves.

To prove their seriousness, two secretariats were set up in South Africa for NEPAD and APRM to deal with these two agenda; APRM to tackle governance iniquities as NEPAD championed infrastructure. National chapters were also set up to be coordinated by the South African secretariats.

Five to six years down the line; NEPAD is limping badly. It is doing so badly that at one time President Abdoulaye Wade threatened to discontinue his country’s membership because its noble goals had been abandoned by its successive chief executives. Instead, they had substituted tangible programmes with endless conferences around the globe that swallowed ever contribution made either by African memberships or friendly donors that had bought into the idea.

Today, one would be lucky to hear any media mention of NEPAD across the continent.
For the last four years, all attention shifted to APRM; the organ that was seen as the cure of Africa’s governance problems. With eminent persons chosen from the seven regions of the continent; the world at first believed that their choice was commendable given that some of them had made their careers in international engagements.

However, as time passed; Africa painfully realized that some of the eminent persons never lived to the reputation of Caesar’ wife. Although some of them have fallen to the usual African temptation to exploit institutional resources for personal gain, the sad part of this saga is that these institutions are losing credibility at home and abroad at a faster rate.

If people charged with appraising African countries in the areas of good governance are themselves not governing the APRM institution using best practices, how can they rate countries and give credible reports to the Heads of State? If right now they are being accused by their staff and other development partners for lacking transparency and accountability in the use of institutional resources, why should this continent continue engaging in such a lost cause?

As a Kenyan, I know my country contributes my taxes to sustain the APRM and NEPAD Secretariats. As a citizen of Africa, I have every right to demand accountability and transparency from the people entrusted with these institutions’ management.
If in raising alarm at the unacceptable goings on whether in South Africa or in Kenya, I may lose some friends and former colleagues, so be it.

The AU must reign in on errant managers of its institutions without exception. Sacred cows have plundered this continent for too long. We must put a stop to this madness.

jerryokungu@gmail.com