An African Command Post Exercise (CPX) that held in Addis Ababa, defined ways of readjusting defence mechanisms within the continent.

The complex nature of peace-keeping campaigns in Africa over the years has obliged the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union, AU, to go back to the drawing board to build the capacity of soldiers and members of the civil society within the continent for peacekeeping efforts. Consequently, 150 top military commanders and staff officers from all the five regions of Africa have since 2008 been brainstorming on the modalities to create a greater awareness on the African Standby Force (ASF) that is a vital arm of the PSC.

AMANI Africa or Peace Africa ended phase one of its capacity building move with a Command Post Exercise (CPX) that took place in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa from October 13-29, featuring military peace-keeping scenes in Carana, one of six nations on a fictitious island of Kisiwa located for the purpose of the exercise off the Horn of Africa. With support from the European Union and based on experiences gathered in other peace missions across the globe, the PSC has been bent on putting in place a fluid link between its Strategic Headquarters at the AU and the Mission Headquarters on the conflict areas for adequate information to permit the Council take informed decisions on any eventual hotspot within the continent. Thus, the CPX marked the end of a two-year process to test the peace-keeping capabilities of the ASF, without which the mission of the PSC will be meaningless.

Given that the AMANI Africa concept is new and the issues old enough, the PSC is out to gradually insert the new African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) into existing conflicts as well as others that may crop up.

The new way of looking at peace building in Africa intends to count heavily on various regional economic communities (RECs) with the understanding that neighbouring countries to any conflict zone stand a better chance of intervening and bringing about peace in such localities, since neighbours most often suffer most from instability within their vicinities. Also, the utilisation of military resources in any conflict area under the APSA structure will be dependent on the national legislations since the AU has no forces. The presence of soldiers from all the RECs has been an indication of the political will to get the project forward and Sivuyile Bam of the AU Peace Support Operations Division has stated that the next meeting of African Ministers of Defence, Safety and Security will be briefed on recent AMANI Africa activities.

For instance, following early indications by the ASF experts, the town of Douala in Cameroon could likely host the logistics base of the force thanks to the central position of the town in case of military intervention on any part of Africa. The evaluation exercise also envisages having a clear idea about the mode of intervention both by air, land or sea and with what effectiveness.

AU Intensifies Integration Moves

With 2010 declared The Year Peace, the African Union, AU, has been increasing moves to raise peace awareness and unify the continent.

The route to African Unity as dreamt of by the Kwame Nkrumahs who gave birth to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the modern architects of the African Union like Muammar al-Gaddafi may be long, but African Union (AU) officials are hopeful that the continent can meet its set goals. However, many are yet to see the visible signs that the transformation from the OAU to the AU has meant in the life of the continent. Consequently, several specialised structures now exist within the African Union to identify and foster the development ambitions of the African peoples.

Peace and Security Council (PSC): The Peace and Security Council was officially launched in 2004. It has a wide mandate although most of the provisions governing its functioning are yet to function. Besides peace building initiatives, the PSC works closely with the Situation Room at the AU Headquarters that keeps watch on happenings in all the countries thereby enabling the AU to have a Continental Early Warning System. Thus, the unfolding of political events in countries is keenly followed by the AU.

Perhaps, one of the greatest challenges that the structure will have to tackle for some time on the continent is unconstitutional change of power that has beset Africa since impendence. Putting it down black and white in Article 23 of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance adopted in 2007 in Addis Ababa, the AU is out to demonstrate its awareness of the need for member countries to install democratic rule. Evidently, that is not the easiest of tasks, looking at situations such as Guinea-Conakry, Madagascar etc.

Election Assistance: As if to ensure the existence of instruments that can enable the AU tackle the numerous problems posed by electoral squabbles across Africa, a new unit for Elections Assistance came into being in 2002 in Durban, South Africa. Since its inception, officials say they are working to ensure electoral process standards, mobilising funds for technical expertise, facilitating capacity building, having a data base for election observers, developing tool kits and training manual among others. Of course, AU experts grappling with the application of all this, know that despite the acceptance by African countries to set up such structures, the obstacles to implementing the values on the ground are many and varied.

Shared Values: Ensuring that the entire continent looks towards the same direction, be it in matters of peace, security, democracy, or human rights has never been the easiest of tasks since African countries began gaining independence. It is probably with this in mind that the January Summit 2011 of the African Union will focus on developing a set of shared values that can cut across the continent. This is where the shoe can actually pinch. For instance, answering the question of how to create commonalities among African people, can the integration of Africa be fast tracked? How do you instil a form of meritocracy in the African Public Service that will be acceptable to all? Apparently, the creation of the Political Affairs Department with the aim of ensuring an African Governance Architecture may help the AU carve out values that will make the entire continent identify with.

Humanitarian Actions: Besides handling man-made crises, the African Union has come to realise that nations must have a preponderant role to play in times of natural disasters and the humanitarian crises that come along with such disasters. Although the humanitarian actions of the AU are hardly visible on the ground, the existence of a department to cater for such needs allows African countries to adopt rules that can be binding in times of crisis. However, the absence of compliance mechanisms on the continent for decades now has not augured well for the implementation of decisions.

Year of Peace: “Make Peace Happen in Africa” has been another watchword at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. And for good reason. For instance by adopting the August 2009 Tripoli Declaration to proclaim 2010 as The Year of Peace and Security, African leaders are aware of the fact that “continuing conflicts are the greatest impediment to sustainable economic growth and development on the continent.” Thus, all activities and events by the AU this year have had peace and security as the focal issue. To the AU Chairperson, Jean Ping, “This is Africa’s moment to live for our people and to make history.” The days and years ahead will definitely tell if Africa would be able to overcome these challenges that have been stifling progress within the continent. It is only by effectively bringing the leadership under the same thinking cap that such ambitious dreams of unity in African can come to fruition.

Richard K. KOMETA

In all, those involved in the AMANI Africa cycle have been upbeat that it is the best way for the AU to plan, conduct and pursue the deployment of the ASF as well as build the continent’s capacity to mount an effective integrated operation. Such execution stands a better chance of increasing the AU’s autonomy in conflict management and prevention. Thus the AU Chairperson, Jean Ping indicated at the closing ceremony that the African Standby Force is a demonstration of the “ability of the African Union to deploy and manage multidimensional peace support operations at an elevated level of engagement”.