Organization of African
Unity (OAU) was formed on May 25, 1963 in Ethiopia with headquarters at Addis
Ababa. Within the period of formation, three groups existed in Africa, namely:
The Casablanca group which were the radicals that advocated pan- Africanist and
super-national state for Africa, which will take over all the sovereignty of
all impendent state in Africa. This group
includes: Ghana, Guinea, Mali,
Morocco, Egypt, Libya.
The
second group is the Monrovia group that
consisted of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia,
Tunisia, Togo, Somali.
They were the conservatives strongly opposed to the Casablanca group. They wanted African
countries to maintain relationship with their colonial masters while retaining
their independence. Their idea was to form a common organ where their interests
would be discussed.
The
third group was the Brazzaville group that
comprise all the French speaking countries of Africa.
They supported the ideas of the Monrovia
group. Hence the formation of OAU.
Organization
of African Unity OAU was formed with the following aims in mind.
1.
Promotion of the Unity and sovereignty of the African states
2.
Promotion of international cooperation within the framework of the UN
3.
Defence of their sovereignty and territorial integrity.
4.
Eradication of all forms of colonialism
5.
Collaboration of efforts to improve the living standard of Africans.
The African Union was a replacement of the
Organization of African Unity AU was first proposed by the Libyan leader,
Moammar Ghadaffi. OAU Assembly of heads of state and government in July 1999 in
Algiers
accepted an invitation from Col. Ghadaffi to the fourth extra-ordinary summit
in September in Sirte. The purpose of the extra-ordinary summit was to amend
the OAU charter to increase the efficiency
and effectiveness of the OAU. The theme of the Sirte summit was
“strengthening OAU capacity to enable it to meet the challenges of the new
millennium”. The summit concluded on 9 September 1999 with the Sirte
declaration aimed at;
1.
Effectively addressing the new social, political and economic realties
in Africa and the world.
2.
fulfilling the people’s aspiration for greater unity in conforming with
the objectives of OAU charter and the treaty establishing the African economic
Community (AEC)
3.
Revitalizing the OAU to play a more active role in addressing the needs
of the people.
4.
Eliminating the scourge of conflicts
5.
Meeting global challenges
6.
Hamessing the human and material resources of the continent to improve
living conditions.
AU is not a second OAU but a
replacement of it. While OAU was meant to promote unit and solidarity among
newly independent states and also was instrumental to decolonization, the AU
does not only promote unit and international cooperation but also serves as
organ of struggle against re-colonization and imperialism in the age of
globalization. Hence, in the new AU, economic, social and human integrity of
individuals as well as states are subjects of the organization, AU takes a
different dimension. The sanctity of state. By extension, the success of
sovereign independence of states is linked to the affairs of their states and
by extension the AU. Hence, in as much as other organs in the OAU still exists
in AU, the peculiar attribute of AU lies in the provision of economic and
social councils, promotion of democracy, involvement of civil society and
liberation of Africans under threat of extinction from their governments e.g.
genocide, etc.
The AU adopts the conflict
prevention, management and resolution strategies of the OAU as stipulated in
the Cairo
declaration. AU also made provision for the establishment of a pan-African
parliament, court of justice and permanent representatives committee. The peace
and reconciliation committee would have to determine and act in time to prevent
crimes against humanity. Emphasis will be placed on this later.