As we get closer to another African Union summit scheduled for 10th July in Kigali, Rwanda. Among other issues on the table will be how the continental body funds it's own activities. The European Union has been a major funder for the organization. Particularly peace-keeping and anti-terrorism missions among other important aspects like health, education, agriculture, and overall development. There have been difficulties with the European Union recently, and the Ugandan contingent is said to be withdrawing it's troops from the AU forces in Somalia.by December 2017. This parting of ways has reportedly been caused by operational, administrative and financial "frustrations". Including in the working relations with the EU and the Somali national army. A senior Somali military official reportedly says they are now able to defend their own country. He had hardly finished the press conference that an Al-Shabaab suicide bomb exploded at another hotel in Mogadishu killing 14 people. I wonder what that said about the Somali forces readiness. However, if Somali's want to remove all excuses by foreign forces to stay in their country as some claim, the trick would have been to disband the terrorist group immediately and act peaceful indefinitely. Meanwhile the European Union has in recent decades been a learning model for the African Union. Especially the political, economic and administrative structures that could be replicated. The single market strategy is definitely one policy that Africa needs to garner more political will for. We might then be in a better position of strength as one continental economic body. Especially when it comes to influencing international markets for our minerals and raw materials, or utilizing our comparative advantages to support the continent rather than bargain individually. That way we can count on each others strengths to get better bargains andcwe will have more control on commodity prices by uniting into one major international supplier called Africa. However with Britain now leaving the EU, and many EU countries now thinking along the same lines, there might be reason to review what is happening to Europe from a continental perspective. It might be time for Africa to close ranks even more tightly in facing a politically weakening EU. Many commentators are today already talking about the possibility of a European economic and political decline resulting from Brexit. The International Criminal Court topic is reportedly also on the AU Summit's agenda again. The subject is particularly personal to me having been a UN humanitarian field worker. I also have a fairly good working knowledge of issues relating to international transitional justice. I therefore know what I am talking about when it comes to post-war recovery, conflict resolution and the necessity to have neutral, dependable 21st century international mechanisms that can be trusted to dispense quality justice. A commodity impossible to find in conflict zones and in countries that are fighting themselves and their own citizens. One simple way to explain this is as follows: How is justice guaranteed when an accused person also controls the judiciary that is supposed to try him or her. All the courts on the continent are potentially unfit to pragmatically prosecute their own leadership. The reason why Kenyans for example sent their infamous post-election violence cases to The Hague. A neutral mechanism that is protected from local political influences, underhand coercive pressures, and other undue interferences, is therefore a definite necessity. When the International Criminal Court was first launched, it was actually deemed "a great moment for Africa". At the time, Archbishop Desmond Tutu happily called it “Africa’s court". Africans were elated to hear that. We imagined our war criminals and genocide perpetrators.finally being prosecuted, peace prevailing for generations to come, prosperity and development finally able to occur without hindrance from absurd conflicts, and most importantly, justice and democracy reigning supreme on our part of the world. People across Africa have since started using the ICC as a deterrent with which they can try and keep any errant leaders in check. Indeed many Africans are said to have since submitted files reporting their own president's and their cronies to the Chief Prosecutors Investigations Unit. They had no other alternative. Maybe the court could publish a list of all the serious cases reported so far and the corresponding crimes. The general public whom they serve, deserves to be regularly notified about such telling information. The impact could be meaningful in reducing, if not preventing such crimes from occuring. However, today if you remind the same African's about the Archbishop's initial words, they might ask Desmond Tutu to first go and raise his daughter in line with "African culture". Yet as we know, the African Union is primarily focused on establishing impunity for a chosen few. The very category that it intends to contain from abusing their own people. I am therefore not surprised that the current AU Chairperson has opted to forego a second and last term in office, deciding to resign next month instead. The political pressures from both sides of the debate must be untenable. Most of our other politicians also avoid this subject because they fear to loose supporters. I would have preferred that they make an effort to educate our African people into understanding that the court is actually good for them in this 21st century. They are usually the victims here and leadership is about leading them towards the light. And even if I am alone trying to explain this, does that make me wrong? Because when something helps protect you, your children and their descendants, and yet you support it's removal for other political reasons that actually don't benefit you the people, isn't that abit suicidal? My African brothers & sisters, the witchcraft making us act like this must be very effective. So we first need to quietly observe what is taking place. Those inciting Africans against the court on neo-colonialism grounds, are the same people we see in the news and on social media posting pictures of themselves as they travel to European capitals to receive kudos, champagne toasts, military aid, and other perks from those very same former colonial masters that they incite you against. True or false? So let's get some popcorn and watch what it is exactly that the "leaders" are doing for themselves. The 27th African Union Summit is scheduled to take place from 10th to 18th July 2016.
Written by Hussein Lumumba Amin. Kampala Uganda. 26/06/2016
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