It seems the African Union (AU) is repeating the ”sad past” of the old Organisation for African Unity (OAU), particularly with regard to Zimbabwe and Sudan, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has again outwitted President Thabo Mbeki, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the AU, DA foreign affairs spokesperson Douglas Gibson said.
”This man is able to thumb his nose at the world in the knowledge that nothing will be done to hasten his departure from power and that the majority of African heads of state approve of what he does.”
These were the only conclusions to be drawn from the fact that Mbeki’s latest tactic of allowing Annan to ”make the running” had failed, said Gibson.
He said after the tactic of ”silent diplomacy”, which bore no fruit at all, there was a period when nothing was done. Mugabe had now outplayed Annan, who had reported that he would allow the international mediator [former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa] to carry on with his work regarding Zimbabwe.
”Predictably, President Mugabe will not cooperate with the mediator and we will be back at square one. The difference this time will be that Zimbabwe’s human rights violations [as reported in 2004] are now not condemned or even judged by African heads of state.
”Ministers ensured last week that this report would not be on the agenda for the heads of state meeting,” he said.
Similarly, the Sudanese government had had its way. Despite an earlier agreement by the AU that it simply lacked the resources to do the job in Darfur and that the UN should step in, this decision had now been reversed, said Gibson.
Because Sudan refused to have the UN involved the AU had backed down and would now itself try to do the job of peacekeeping.
The AU’s efforts would fail and what had been described as the biggest human rights crisis in the world would continue unchecked.
To set the seal on it, AU leaders refused to pass the governance report before them, which would have united them in opposition to constitutional changes allowing presidents extended periods in office.
”Those who care about the African Union can only shake their heads and wonder whether the sad past of the OAU is to be repeated,” Gibson said. – Sapa