Historical Background to the Formation of OAU,
The Organization of African Union, (OAU) was created May 25th, 1963 in Addis Ababa, following the signing of the founding charter by 32 African Nations. It marked unparalleled level of optimism as most of the states were countries that gained their independence recently. The OAU aimed to “promote the Unity and solidarity of the African States” by promoting brotherhood, and economic cooperation. The Tabo Mbeki’s foundation, in its memorial note of the 50th anniversary of the OAU states the objectives to be,
- promote the Unity and Solidarity of the African States
- coordinate and intensify their cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the peoples of Africa,
- defend their sovereignty , their territorial integrity and independence;
- eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa; and
- promote international cooperation, having due regard to the charter of the United Nations and the Universal declaration of Human rights.
The road to the formation of OAU
Years before the formation of OAU there were attempts made by leader to bring African States into formation of union. In 1958, for instance, conference of independent African states was held in Ghana. Subsequently, in 1961 another conference was held in Casablanca, led by Kwame Nkrumah, in the hope of creating a ‘common market place’ and an’ African Military command’. The Casablanca bloc wanted to form a federation of all African countries. Where us, the Monrovia bloc lead by Senghor of Senegal “felt that unity should be achieved gradually through economic cooperation” This group of pragmatic leaders include Senghor of Senegal, and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. In the years 1960 and 1961 12 French speaking African countries signed a charter establishing the “Union Africaine et Malgacle”. All these attempts by the different groups signify the strong desire by African leaders of the time to form a union of some sort. However, even if all these conference and meetings have one thing in common, brotherhood and solidarity among the African nations, their immediate plans vary from formation of immediate federation to gradual economic cooperation that will eventually bring unity. One can say the signing of OAU is the middle ground that bring the two extremes into one.
Signing of the Charter
Representatives of 32 African nations came to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on May 22nd 1963 ,and after three days of deliberation, the founding charter was signed on May 25th . The OAU charter strikingly states its ambitions and aspirations for the African nations and “peoples”. Heads of states, talk about their optimism of the reborn of Africa. Haile Selassie, who was elected as the first president of the OAU, in his acceptance speech said, “Today, Africa has emerged from this dark passage. Our Armageddon is past. Africa has been reborn as a free continent and Africans have been reborn as free men.” His counterpart, Kwame Nkrumah with a stronger and bolder tone, demanded for the unity of Africa. In his speech Nkrumah said "Our objective is African union now. There is no time to waste. We must unite now or perish.”
In general, one can see the atmosphere of the time was optimism and solidarity among states, and this has been reflected in the introduction part of the OAU's charter.
“WE, the Heads of African States and Governments assembled in the city Of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Convinced that it is the inalienable right of all people to control their own destiny, Conscious of the fact that freedom, equality, justice and dignity are essential objective for the achievement of the legitimate aspirations of the African peoples, Conscious of our responsibility to harness the natural and human resource of our continent for the total advancement of our peoples in all spheres of human endeavor, Inspired by common determination to promote understanding among our peoples and cooperation among our states in response to the aspirations of our peoples for brother-hood and solidarity, in larger unity transcending ethnic and national differences, Convinced that, in order to translate this determination into a dynamic force in the cause of human progress, conditions for peace and security must be established and maintained, Determined to safeguard and consolidate the hard-won independence as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our states and to fight against neo-colonialism in all its forms Dedicated to the general progress of Africa, Persuaded that the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Right, to the Principles of which we reaffirm our adherence, provide a solid foundation for peaceful and positive cooperation among States, Desirous that all African States should henceforth unite so that the welfare and well-being of their peoples can be assured, Resolved to reinforce the links between our states by establishing and strengthening common institutions, Have agreed to the present Charter. “
IN FAITH WHEREOF, We, the Heads of African States and Governments have signed this Charter.
OAU Achievements,
When the OAU charter was signed in May of 25th 1963, there were a total of 32 independent states in Africa, in the year that followed OAU assisted decolonize 21 more countries, and fought minority rule in South Africa and Angola. The OAU member countries trained and gave weapons and military bases to colonized nations battling for independence. National movements such as African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) received valuable training and assistance from member states to fight Apartheid. For instance, Nelson Mandela received weapon training in Ethiopia after he was flown with fake documentation as journalist:-
As OAU accomplishes the goals it set out in its charters; Eradication of Decolonization, Securing independence of freed states, National security, Consolidation of boundaries and Fight against minority rule, there were other challenges that starts to get abundant and prevalent. Internal conflicts in member states was one of these problem. The OAU in its charter Article three, "Non-interference in the internal affairs of States", clearly mention that it does not have mandate to help resolve conflicts with in member states. I believe this was the major cause that inspires the shift from OAU to African Unity in 2002.
OAU to AU
The change of times and priorities for current African rulers transpires the transformation of OAU to African Unity (AU) . Africa’s priorities shifted greatly in the period between 1963 and 2000. Abdulgawi A Yusuf, Judge of the International court of Justice in his lecture video in title “The Role of the African Unity in the Maintenance of Peace and Security in Africa” stated that priorities of African states shifted from decolonization and fight against minority rule, to bringing Peace and security in the continent; to building of Democratic principles and protection of human right and rule of law, and most importantly elimination of poverty which is accompanied by economic and political integration of the continent. In order to achieve these new objectives it was pertinent to abandon the charters of the OAU and move to the Constitutive act of the African Unity which among other things gave African Unity the mandate to "pick on", what formerly was known as internal affair of countries, in order to better assess and provide resolutions for conflicts that has infested the continent; conflicts with in member states.