Africa: Is the African Union Capable of 'Silencing the Guns in Africa'?

[TomSea]

Africa: Is the African Union Capable of 'Silencing the Guns in Africa'?

Cape Town — This year's African Union (AU) summit, which draws the continent's heads of state and government together in Addis Ababa in the coming days, is being held under the theme, Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa's Development. While the principal aim of a campaign to be launched at the summit is removing illegal weapons from circulation, the ambitious scope suggested by the theme's title begs the question: are the AU and its constituent bodies fit for the purpose of building peace?

When the African Union succeeded the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 2002, the focus of the pan-continental body changed from one largely concerned with liberation from colonial and apartheid rule to one of encouraging "increased cooperation and integration of African states to drive Africa's growth and economic development". Among the most important of a range of objectives aimed at fulfilling this vision was for the newly-constituted grouping to "promote peace, security, and stability on the continent".

Since then, the AU has wrestled not only with intervening in disputes between member states, but also with how to move away from the OAU's principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states and to step into the domestic affairs of countries where there is civil conflict.

Read more at: https://allafrica.com/stories/202002040793.html

[Fishrrman]

[Cyber Liberty]

LOLz.  Nope.