OAU transformation postponed

The transformation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) has been postponed just two months before it is scheduled to happen, it was announced on Tuesday.

Senior figures overseeing the transformation believe more time is needed to complete the process of setting up the 17 key components of the new body. No time frame within which this process will be completed has been given.

The decision was taken following a meeting of the Eminent Persons Advisory Panel (EPAP), which opened in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on 3 May. An OAU spokesman said in a statement: "The consensus at the end of the three-day meeting was that there was need for the transition period to the African Union to be extended." The EPAP is the body overseeing the transformation of the OAU into the AU.

In spite of this, however, the AU will be officially launched in Durban. South Africa, between 8 and 10 July.

It is envisaged that the AU will function along lines similar to the EU. Its 17 components will include a Pan-African parliament, a court of justice, a central bank and a body equating to the United Nations Security Council, which will seek to resolve conflicts on the continent.

The concept of the AU was the brainchild of the Libyan leader, Col Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi, in March 2001. Its aim is to achieve "greater unity and solidarity" among African countries, thereby to strengthen their capacity to defend their sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. The time frame for the transition from the OAU to the AU was expected to last one year, and to be overseen by OAU Secretary-General Amara Essy, who took over in September 2001.

Dr Yakubu Gowon, the former Nigerian Head of State, who chaired the EPAP meeting, said that one year was too brief a period within which to complete the work needed to effect the transformation. The EPAP was set up during the OAU summit it in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, in July 2001 to help Essy with the transformation process.

A statement released by the OAU after the Addis Ababa meeting said: "The EPAP identified economic cooperation and integration supported by adequate financial backing by member states as the engine to propel the developmental efforts geared towards the establishment of an effective African Union. Accordingly, it called for the establishment of an African Union Development Trust Fund, which, it said, would help to generate and attract extra budgetary resources to support developmental projects."

The OAU has a budget of about US $31 million, and its headquarters is in Addis Ababa. Senior figures at the OAU told IRIN that the AU would require a budget of $500 million if it were to be taken seriously by the international community.

"The launching is as scheduled. The launching has nothing to do with the transition period. This is not a delay. The transition period is talking about the time to put efforts in place to make the whole organisation come into full effect," an OAU spokesman said. He added that the extension had nothing to do with a shortage of funds.

The decision by the EPAP will still have to be ratified by the OAU, but this is regarded as a rubber-stamping exercise.