Nigeria's largest opposition party will join the new government after the two sides agreed to work together on electoral reform and reviewing last-minute privatisations by the previous administration. The rival parties announced the deal on Wednesday after two days of talks called by President Umaru Yar'Adua.

From Cape Town to Algiers, many Africans welcome Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's plan for a United States of Africa with a strong voice on the global stage, but most say it simply comes too soon for a divided continent. Gaddafi, long regarded as a pariah in the West for his anti-colonial rhetoric, is touring West Africa to promote the long-standing plan for a pan-African government which will be put to a summit of the African Union on 1 July in Ghana.

Liberia's auditor general accused a senior economic adviser to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of striking and threatening him in parliament after he denounced a phantom department in the presidency. Auditor General John Morlu said presidential adviser for economic affairs Morris Saytumah hit him after he told Liberian legislators he had discovered two departments in the national budget with identical roles.

The 9th Assembly of the African Union Heads of States and Governments will convene from 1-3 July 2007 in Accra, Ghana under the theme, ‘The Grand Debate on the Union Government.’ It is significant that the debate takes place nearly two years since the ratification of the African Union Protocol to the Charter of African Women’s Rights, and three years since the adoption of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, which reaffirms the commitment of African states to advance the agenda of gender equality. Both instruments provide a critical framework to address the rights of women and girls in Africa. To date, 21 countries have ratified the protocol on Women’s Rights, leaving 32 yet to ratify. The delay in ratification of the protocol by member states of the union undermines the universal achievement of continental standards on women’s rights.

Interview with Andiwo Obondoh, Christian Children’s Fund.

Andiwo Obondoh is the Regional Adviser for Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) Africa, based in South Africa. In March, Emily Mghanga interviewed him on the upcoming Grand Debate on the Continental Government during the next African Union Summit, June – July 2007. This interview is one of several interviews with African citizens and CSO leaders on the AU proposal for Continental Government. Emily Mghanga of th Pan Africa Programme Oxfam edited this interview.

The African Union -Civil Society Organisations Pre-Summit in Accra has ended with a call on member countries to resist pressure from European Union towards the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in December.

Participants called on African leaders to extend the deadline for conclusion of the negotiation on the EPA by at least year years. That they said would enable African governments to conduct independent impact assessment on the EPA policies.

Today, June 23, civil society organisations from across Africa met during the Continental Conference organised by the AU Ghanaian Civil Society Coalition. A communique entitled 'From a “grand debate” to grand actions for a united Africa' was adopted and will be presented to the Assembly of Heads of States. The communique states: 'There is a clear consensus among us in favour of rapidly accelerating continental integration in order to respond to current and future economic, political and social challenges. Accordingly, we support the proposal for the establishment of a Union Government. We believe that the Union Government must be a People’s Union and must be built on values of participation and democracy in its construction and implementation at continental, regional and national level. The communique full text is available at

Interview with Professor Atukwei Okai conducted June 23, 2007 in Accra, Ghana following an address by the Professor to the 'Continental Conference on Accelerating Africa’s Integration and Development in the 21st century' organised by the Ghanaian Civil Society AU Coalition.

Professor Atukwei Okai is a widely published author and acclaimed poet. He is Secretary-General of the Pan African Writer’s Association (PAWA). This interview was conducted by Selome Araya for the AU-Monitor.

We, the representatives of the undersigned civil society organisations from Darfur, are honoured to address your august assembly on the occasion of its 9th Ordinary Session. This session comes at a historic moment when Africa celebrates the golden jubilee of Ghana’s independence as the first nation in sub-Saharan Africa to break its colonial shackles. However, despite Africa’s remarkable achievement in defeating colonialism, the continent still faces serious challenges that need to be addressed with the same resolve and vigour. An example in point is the catastrophic human rights and humanitarian situation in Darfur (Sudan). Africa is commendable for its ongoing efforts to end this unacceptable situation by African means and through the deployment of a joint AU and UN hybrid peacekeeping force in the region. In this regard we wish to pay homage to all African soldiers that have sacrificed their lives in an attempt to protect their brothers and sisters especially the most vulnerable women and children in Darfur.

President Denis Sassou Nguesso's ruling party is expected to be the big winner of legislative elections on Sunday in the African republic of Congo, where opposition complaints have had little impact. Sassou Nguesso, a former Marxist army officer, has been back in controversy this week after French prosecutors started investigating allegations that he used embezzled state funds to buy luxury Paris apartments.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the use of violence by members of the national police and United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) against several journalists, including Daylue Goah of the privately-owned daily "New Democrat" and Evans Ballah of "Public Agenda", during a student demonstration on 19 June 2007. Goah was seriously injured.

Concerns that Ivorian leaders might block the UN from helping to organise and supervise long-delayed elections were allayed on 19 June following a meeting between with a UN Security Council delegation and the country’s president and former rebel leader-turned-prime minister

Burundi’s future appeared rosy as international donors pledged US$665.6 million in May for a three-year poverty reduction plan, but a brewing political crisis could upset everything, say observers. The crisis, both within the ruling party and outside it, began early in 2007 when Hussein Radjabu, chairman of the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD) party, was sidelined.

Following complaints lodged by right groups, French authorities have instituted a preliminary inquiry against Presidents of Gabon and Congo Brazzavile who are accused of embezzling their public funds to acquire properties in France. Presidents Omar Bongo and Denis Sassou Nguesso have been scolded by rights group for illegally siphoning millions of the tax payers’ money to buy magnificent edifice in France.

The United Nations Security Council has agreed to set up a three-member panel of experts to probe into the “hidden wealth” of the former rebel-turned President of Liberia, Charles Taylor. Experts will try to uncover Mr Taylor’s wealth he had acquired from illegal blood diamond and timber trade in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Something is brewing at the Kenya Police Airwing and it ’s not smelling too good. Documents have come to light regarding the award of a US$12.8 million (Ksh 840 million) contract to overhaul 4 Russian built helicopters operated by the Kenya Police Airwing.

The African Union extended the mandate for its Darfur peacekeeping mission until the end of the year on Friday and said it hoped efforts to deploy a hybrid AU/United Nations force would be speeded up. The AU's Peace and Security Council also called for financial and logistical support for its AMIS operation in the troubled Sudanese region, where its African troops have not been paid for three months at a time.

President Umaru Yar'Adua and other African leaders have been called upon to devise strategic ways of establishing effective, meaningful and people-oriented African Union (AU) Government. Foreign policy experts made this call yesterday at a roundtabble discussion on AU Government organised by the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), to review the socio-economic and political prospects of African integration in the face of deepening crisis of under-development.

On July 2007 the ordinary Assembly of Heads of State of the African Union will meet to discuss the nature of the continent’s integration agenda and the progress that has been made. This is the next, and probably the most important step to date in what started off as a desire to create continent-wide ministerial portfolio and has now grown into a full-scale drive to establish a Union government for the continent. This intergovernmental forum will assess the state of the Union and attempt to map a way forward in terms of nature, scope and time frame of a continental arrangement. In the lead-up to the grand debate there has been substantial consultation among interested parties at country and regional level across aimed at soliciting and articulating the views of the African people on the proposal for a continental government.

It is within this context that civil society groups met in Midrand, South Africa to first and foremost reaffirm the need for broad based consultation and input of the peoples of Africa. The meeting underlined the importance of the Pan African Parliament in seeking out and representing the views of their constituencies in the matter. The meeting stressed the primacy of democracy and rights-based governance. The groups also emphasized the need for governments to facilitate the input of their citizens on the issue. Of equal importance was the free movement of citizens of the continent through the abolition of visa requirements as well as exploring mechanisms for economic sustainability.

Nigerian civil society groups echoed these views when they met in May. The meeting concluded that whereas the idea of a Union government was desirable, there were challenges that needed to be overcome before the vision became a reality, such as common political and cultural values, identity, citizenship integration and state power. Again the issue of democracy and human rights was highlighted as an area of grave concern, and although fora such as theirs were taking place there was a need for greater attention to maintaining the vital link between the leaders and the people they represent in as far as the latter’s views were expressed and taken into consideration. Needless to say, this is a major challenge given that there still is a dearth of true democratic representation on the continent.

In June civil society groups in Kenya met to discus the proposed union government. In addition to echoing calls for greater attention to democracy, governance, human rights and free movement and economic participation for citizens across the continent, the meeting called for public access to information about the process, principles of good governance within the AU and African peoples sovereignty over the continent’s natural resources.

Debate in Ghana focussed on the institutional implications of the Union Government, as well as the need for the people of Africa to participate fully in the process. Concern was raised about foreign interest in the process, as well as the risks inherent in modelling western constructs of integration. As one speaker put it, “if indeed Africa has to come together in a continental and economic bloc, we all have to go back to school and unlearn what we have learnt in order to connect top the peculiar circumstances of Africa”.

Two schools of thought seem to emerge in the discussion. One favours a rapid formation of a Union government as a clear sign of intent and determination that will drive the process on. In other words, the political will involved in forming the union will provide the necessary impetus to ensure success of the venture, and advance the goal of a United States of Africa from a nebulous dream cherished since the heady beginnings of Pan-Africanism to a concrete reality. The other seems to favour a more gradual process based on strengthening the existing framework of the AU to ensure before creating a full-fledged United States of Africa. This school of thought is cognisant of the shortcomings of the AU as it exists today, and the challenges faced even at the level of regional economic communities in trying to forge greater integration.

African scholar Demba Moussa Dembele point to the lack of political will as evidenced by numerous agreements on regional integration dating back as far as thirty years that still remain unimplemented. He attributes this to a lack of willingness of leaders to put the interests of the continent above the personal and national. It is however impossible to have this discussion without considering the legitimacy of Africa’s leaders and whether their authority stems from the their own people. Dembele mentions external and internal factors that challenge the process, and states that the external factors both take advantage of, and aggravate the internal ones. He emphasizes the need for a leadership that both listens to its citizens and stands up to foreign domination.

At the Kenyan consultation forum Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem stated “it is better to have imperfection with ownership than perfection without any ownership”, underlining the primacy of the African peoples in the process. Whereas not all governments provide a voice for their people, other equally important channels continue to open up, through various national and trans-national civil society groupings that are increasingly articulating the views of the people. These channels must be encouraged and given voice. Whereas there have been various consultations, clearly this is by no means sufficient or widespread enough as far as the continent is concerned. Suffice it to say that there is a commonality of views raised at these meetings in terms of the issues affecting the rest of the continent

The debate has begun already and the voices of the people clearly say that they must lead and the governments follow on the road to a United States of Africa.

Useful links and Further Reading:

1. Grand Debate on the Union Government

2. Pambazuka News AU Monitor
http://www.pambazuka.org/aumonitor/
3. Communiqué from Kenyan Public Forum to popularise and inform the Government’s position on the AU proposal on Continental Government.

5. Involve the masses in the fight for African unity. Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem
http://www.africa-union.org/comments.htm
6. The Untied States of Africa: The Challenges. Demba Moussa Dembele

8. Africa needs to look at the past to forge ahead. Dr. Mammo Muchie
http://www.africa-union.org/comments.htm
10. Afrimap – Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project http://www.afrimap.org/research.php

* Joshua Ogada works with Fahamu and is Links and Resources editor of Pambazuka News
** Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

SPECIAL ISSUE

TOWARDS CONTINENTAL GOVERNMENT?

PART 1
HAKIMA ABBAS introduces this special issue on continental government
KWAME AKONOR asks whether continental government is simply stuffing old wine in new bottles
FAIZA MOHAMED looks at union government from the perspective of women in Africa
SOAWR coalition issues a policy brief
TAJUDEEN ABDUL RAHEEM calls out for common citizenship for all Africans

PART 2
L. MUTHONI WANYEKI argues that more time is needed to ensure popular participation in discussions about unity
SELOME ARAYA argues for a stronger role for the African diaspora
ROTIMI SANKORE says we need action on health and unity of the living, not of the dying or dead
TIM MURITHI looks at how we got to where we are in the great unity debate
ROUND-UPS: links to previous articles on African unity and to interviews with activists about their fears and aspirations

PART 3
LETTERS: Letter from Jacques Depelchin
BLOGGING AFRICA: Review of African blogs
BOOKS AND ARTS: TrIbute to Sembene Ousmane
PODCASTS: Charles Taylor trial

WOMEN AND GENDER: Gender violence outlawed in Sierra Leone
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: AU extends mandate of Darfur mission
HUMAN RIGHTS: Togo enforces anti-trafficking law
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: General strike commences in Nigeria
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Mauritania refuges allowed to return
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Congo’s ruling party expected to triumph
AFRICA AND CHINA: China may send peacekeepers to Darfur
CORRUPTION: Bongo, Nguesso face Paris investigations
DEVELOPMENT: Undermining poverty reduction and growth in Africa
HEALTH AND HIV/Aids: WHO to monitor ARV side-effects worldwide
LGBTI: Ugandan gay organization breaks the ice
ENVIRONMENT: Payout for Ivorian waste victims
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Liberian journalists beaten
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: Influx of Africans finds mixed fortunes in the US
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Save Africa from e-waste
PLUS: e-newsletters and mailings lists; courses, seminars and workshops, jobs and books and publications

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