On February 15, during the 38th Summit of the African Union (in) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, African leaders elected Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Djibouti, as new president of the commission of The African Union (AUC), the executive, the branch manager of the continental body. He prevailed on Raila Odonga, the former Prime Minister of Kenya, and Richard Randriamatto, the former Foreign Minister of Madagascar.
Youssouf is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Djibouti since 2005 and succeeds Moussa Faki Mahamat, the former Prime Minister of Chad, who served two consecutive four -year terms as a chief of the AUC. In his official manifesto, he undertook to advance governance and democracy, strengthening institutional capacities and the promotion of peace and security, among other objectives.
Youssouf assumes his functions at a precarious time in Africa and should take advantage of his diplomatic expertise, in particular to approach the conflicts which rage in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Youssouf seems to defend peace and work for substantial positive changes in countries through the continent in the years to come. But its success is far from being guaranteed, because African leaders generally hesitate to give up an important power for the AU and its affiliated organizations.
The African Court on the Rights of Human and Peoples (ACHPR) published a report in March 2022, which revealed that in July 2021, only 7% of its judgments had been fully respected, 18% had been partially respected and a important and a substantial 75% had not been respected at all.
In addition, the report mentioned that several African countries have clearly told the Executive Council that they do not adhere to the decisions of the Court. This may explain why last year’s ACHPR report omitted these statistics.
Most African leaders resist the taxation of rigorous external surveillance measures – critical interventions that their countries cruelly need to prevent war and instability. Therefore, it is not very certain that what Youssouf could accomplish in the next four years.
The successes and failures of its predecessor, Moussa Faki Mahamat, can offer indications on what the new president AUC could expect to achieve in the coming period.
During a ceremony to mark the official start of his mandate on March 14, 2017, Mahamat was sweating. He had undertaken to “make the commission a tool capable of translating into reality the vision of our leaders and the aspirations of our peoples”, and “to silence arms and make an Africa without conflicts by 2020” .
Eight years later, the performance of its administration was marked by a combination of limited achievements and many unresolved challenges.
Mahamat played a decisive role in the mediation of the Hostilities cessation agreement (COHA)A historic peace treaty signed between the Ethiopian government and the Liberation Front of the Tigray people (TPLF) on November 2, 2022 in Pretoria, South Africa. This agreement ended the 2020-2022 devastating TIGRAY war. Despite this crucial achievement, however, he could not “silence firearms” in conflicts in Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Mozambique – although it is not for lack of ‘effort.
In his speech to the 37th ordinary session of the assembly of the African Union on February 17, 2024, Mahamat expressed his deep frustration in the face of the illiberal actions of African leaders, which he chose not to name, apparently in an attempt animated to rationalize its various various failures.
He underlined the ongoing conflicts on the continent, the resurgence of military coups in Central and West Africa, and the overwhelming reluctance of certain AU member states to lead elections considered to be credible. On the latter, he rightly declared: “Instead of being happy peaceful transfer or maintenance of power, the elections have become, through the extent of their irregularities, factors to deepen crises. »»
At the same time, he stressed that many African leaders have largely ignored the architecture of African peace and security (APSA), the prevention, management and resolution plan, and its counterpart, the ‘African governance architecture (Aga). The aim of AGA is to promote and defend the rights of humans and people, to improve democratic institutions and culture, and to guarantee good governance and the rule of law.
Mahamat also deplored the fact that institutional reforms within the Continental Union have not effectively addressed questions related to the powers of the ASC and its president. “Although the President of the Commission is recognized in the texts as the legal representative and the” accountant “of the organization, he is paradoxically deprived of sufficient room for maneuver to act urgently on strategic issues.”
Then, he offered a lively criticism of African leaders, alleging that they have “the frantic tendency to make decisions without a true political will to implement them”. This led to the lamentable and impracticable scenario where, according to Mahamat, 93% of the decisions made in 2021, 2022 and 2023 were not implemented.
Such a systematic challenge, he added, is perceptible both at the level of the Member States and regional communities, the Member States often not being respected and negligently violating the resolutions established by continental organizations. Pleasant, he warned that without transformative changes, the organization would not be able to respond effectively to the socio -political challenges present on the continent.
African leaders are, without a doubt, an important obstacle to the socio -political and economic advancement of the continent. They take pleasure in attending the AU transforming into a consciously weakened entity which is mainly addressed to their egocentric and unscrupulous objectives.
It is therefore imperative that Youssouf, in his role as successor to Mahamat, has granted many independent authorities and resources to strictly respect the organization’s conventions, in particular with regard to APSA and AGA.
Without that, he can unfortunately be as powerless to solve the most urgent problems on the continent as his predecessor.
In 2002, the AU introduced the African peer (APRM) mechanism to allow member states to voluntarily assess their governance practices. However, its effect was minimal. Given the current conflicts and inadequate governance that persist across the continent each year, Africa clearly requires a complete regulatory framework for annual and impromptu national assessments.
Consider the situation in Sudan.
For three decades, the AU has made its eyes on the illegal, autocratic and deeply inhuman actions of the regime of President Omar Al -Bashir – actions which slowly opened the way to the coup of April 11, 2019. The abolition of ‘Al-Bashir in the blow then prepared the ground for another military control on October 25, 2021 and the current civil war.
The inaction on and the inability to impose good governance have set the ground for failures similar to Mozambique.
The profound incapacity of the Fritimo party in power to establish an inclusive democracy, to guarantee economic stability and to provide fundamental services has rendered the province rich in Fertile Cabo Delgado Gounds Ground for Insurrection. From October 2017, an armed rebellion in the province led to the movement of more than 1.3 million people, compromised the health care infrastructure and led to a critical humanitarian crisis. The AU and its different bodies have done nothing but look at these tragedies take place.
Indeed, in the two scenarios, the AU had the opportunity to implement decisive and timely governance interventions to advance peace, stability and socioeconomic well-being. This was not the case, or, more specifically, he couldn’t.
Unfortunately, Addis Ababa was historically stripped of the authority required to analyze and respond to bad leadership. Mozambique and Sudan are only two examples among many. The AU has also not been able to face the fate of political prisoners in Eritrea, a democratic decline in Tunisia and the brutal repression of the years of opposition chief in Uganda, to name it than a few.
Given the persistent disdain of the essential protocols of AU which causes troubles through the continent, it is crucial that the new president of the ASC does not take a passive position in the next four years. Its office must have the unequivocal power to hold African leaders responsible for their political excesses and their faults.
Youssouf can forge a legacy of peace and socioeconomic transformation in its new role, but it must first ensure that the AU begins to work in the best interest of its main stakeholders: 1.5 billion people of Africa.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
