Why African Union doesn't seem to understand why it exists

The African Union (AU) is like a club of buddies whose purpose is to protect the interests of its peers regardless of how cheeky and wayward they are. The current state of affairs in Africa prompts the question; does the AU serve the interests of the African citizens or does it exist to protect the status quo of the African leaders.

The AU never calls out gross human rights violations, massacres and electoral theft. Instead, it issues congratulatory messages when despots tighten their hold on power and plunder the economies of their countries.

Article three of the Constitutive Act of the AU states that its objectives is to promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance and to promote and; protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments.

Article four, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, further states that it would function on the principles of respect for the sanctity of human life, condemn and reject impunity and political assassinations, acts of terrorism and subversive activities and condemnation and reject unconstitutional changes of governments.

If the four clauses in articles three and four are to apply, then the leadership and the entire membership of the AU has critically failed in the sense that the human and peoples’ rights have been grossly violated.

Since 2020, Africa has seen countless episodes of untold suffering for its subjects ranging from macabre state-sanctioned killings, ethnic and racial cleansing and enforced disappearances. The violation of the right to life must be a top priority for the AU and all measures must be put in place to ensure that all the member states found culpable are sanctioned.

Sudan and South Sudan are currently carrying out mass killings and wiping out sections of their populations. Based on a careful analysis of the law and available facts, in December 2023, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that members of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed war crimes in the country. The Secretary also determined that RSF and allied militias committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

In the conflict, militias and state agencies continue to commit genocide. For instance, the RSF and allied militias systematically murdered men and boys on ethnic basis, and deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of sexual violence. Those same militias targeted fleeing civilians, murdering innocent individuals escaping conflict, and prevented remaining civilians from accessing lifesaving supplies.

Tanzania, Kenya, Cameroon and Uganda have suppressed civic actions by use of lethal force often killing demonstrators acting under the same laws, which allow demonstrations, and picketing especially during electoral and other reform-related actions. This has left thousands dead and others missing.

While the AU brags about operating on the principle of protecting the sanctity of human life, condemnation and rejection of impunity and political assassination, acts of terrorism and subversive activities and condemnation and rejection of unconstitutional changes of governments, the opposite is true.

For instance, from 2022 to date, Kenya has responded to demonstrations with killings, enforced disappearances, torture and illegal arrests and prosecutions. In Uganda and Tanzania, many people have been killed during political campaigns. Tanzania has for the first time unleashed terror on its people after staging one of the most fraudulent electoral processes in Africa and beyond.

While all this has been happening, the AU has either been congratulating the fraudulent election winners and endorsing the culture of impunity in total disregard to its purpose and existence.

For the AU to be seen as resourceful and worthy, it must act in accordance with its objectives and principles. Currently, it’s merely a dummy institution that doesn't seem to understand why it exists.