Matthew Wate
The 14th Ordinary Session Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union concluded on 02 February 2010 with a number of declarations being endorsed and the debate on integration, fanned primarily by the charismatic Colonel Quaddafi, hanging interestingly unfinished. Despite the Libyan leader’s desire to remain AU Chairman for a second term, he was replaced by the President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika. In his first address as AU Chairman, President Mutharika declared that the AU would stand in strong opposition to unconstitutional rises to power on the continent. 
In handing over the Chairmanship, Colonel Quaddafi was clearly aggrieved at having his bid for a second term thwarted, claiming "I do not believe we can achieve something concrete in the coming future". Quaddafi further explained that Africa must unite in order to compete with a changing and increasingly globalised world, “the world is changing into 7 or 10 states and we are not even aware of it”. His sentiments echo those of many pro-integration observers in Africa who claim that in order for Africa (especially its weaker states) to compete in a globalised economy and resist the pressure being placed on them by external powers such as the US, China and the European Union. The interesting element of the integration debate is that were Africa to take the giant step advocated by Quaddafi he would almost certainly end up pulling out of the negotiations before any Continental Government is formed. The Libyan President has been in power since 1969 and is well known to reject democracy and elections. If the AU were to move to establish a unified continental government it would certainly be founded on principles of democracy, free and fair elections and almost certainly include clauses on how many terms a President would be permitted to serve. These restrictions to power would be entirely unpalatable to Quaddafi and he would be forced to leave the government to other leaders in Africa. In fact, the present arrangement of Chairmanship and semi-integration that is the African Union is far more suited to Quaddafi’s style of leadership.
Another important question to ask about a continental government is how would an election work, if a method of proportional representation were chosen then surely some of the smaller states would be drowned out every time. There is of course another argument, one that has been learnt from the elections in the EU parliament. What has emerged in Europe, despite fears that Germany’s overwhelming population advantage would skew election results, is a series of allegiances and electoral partnerships that cross national borders that provide a platform for pressure groups who share interests if not nationalities to have their say at the continental level. What could possibly emerge in a continent-wide election is a selection of interest groups that are drowned out in national elections becoming powerful voting blocs at the continental level. As a practical example the issue of minority rights and cultural protection is an issue in many African countries, Kenya, Nigeria, Botswana and South Africa all have minority groups who struggle to gain a political voice at the national level, but were they to become united under an umbrella continental group could be a formidable political force. In many ways, continental elections could prove extremely tricky for leaders who are not democratic and accountable in their own countries, thus Colonel Quaddafi should be careful what he wishes for, it might come true.
There is no shortage of integration plans and grand proposal for fast-tracking the unification of Africa, what is lacking is a strong political will and indeed agreement at the highest level about the implementation of these plans. Additionally, Africa possesses a great many institutions that serve duplicated purposes in pursuit of integration, the different Regional Economic Communities (RECs)often have overlapping areas of interest and even membership; this can do more harm than good to the integration efforts. It is certainly apparent that African states cannot afford to have so many institutions and by concentrating resources and efforts into a single entity more could certainly be done to achieve the integration objectives. Yet there is a worrying reluctance to dissolve old institutions, how long will all the many different bodies remain active after they cease to be relevant? The large number of bodies and institutions generate an over-reliance on donor funding, who then come to control the agendas whereas a single thrust could surely ensure independence and an African led integration programme. Consequently, the efforts by COMESA, EAC and SADC at streamlining and synergising their work is commendable. This exercise will be watched carefully, since it covers most of the African continent and its success will go a long way in making the integration dream a reality. The only worrying concerns are about the internal weaknesses of these RECs themselves; are we not building our castles on quick sand?
This is all the more reason AU must adopt a more pragmatic and results orientated approach to integration; name changes are only relevant if the realities the names represent have also changed, the African Union must now make steps to Unify Africa. Additionally, the AU must grow teeth that can be used to sanction defaulters and enforce its members to abide by its statutes; especially the larger more powerful states. The AU must be the primary driver behind integration and all other institutions must gradually cede power and resources to the grand project of continental unification. All these changes require a political will that does not yet seem to exist in much of the continent and so the civil society, organised labour and business as social partners must play a role in pressuring governments into making the tough choices that will ultimately lead to the integration and prosperity of Africa.
Integration in Africa is certainly on the agenda to stay and although there remains broad consensus on the need to integrate there are still clear divisions on what integration means and just how far it should extend to. It will be vital that before Africa can conclude its integration efforts that the continent can agree on a set of values and a common set of rules regarding leadership and governance that everyone can be held accountable to equally.
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