[AU-Monitor] APRM in Kenya and Peoples' Voices Interviews Continued

[Hakima Abbas]

Make Kenyan Aspirations for Democracy a Reality
Open Society Institute says APRM Implementation Critical - Nairobi,  
April 30, 2007

Ordinary Kenyans have not felt a significant impact from the Africa  
Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process, a new report found.  The  
report, commissioned by the Open Society Initiative for East Africa  
(OSIEA) and OSI’s Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project  
(AfriMAP), calls on the government to deliver a Programme of Action  
that will increase democratic space for Kenyans.


Read more:

www.pambazuka.org/aumonitor/index.php/AUMONITOR/comments/ 
make_kenyan_aspirations_for_democracy_a_reality/



Peoples’ Voices in the Grand Debate: CSO and Citizen Interviews on  
the Proposal for a Union Government

Saloman Kebede interviewed several African civil society leaders and  
citizens about the “Grand Debate on the Union Government” to be held  
at the June 2007 summit of the African Union.  The following  
interview of Joseph Yav of the Institute for Security Studies is part  
of a series of interviews, to be published in AU-Monitor, of African  
citizens and civil society leaders on the AU proposal for Continental  
Government. The interviews were conducted by the Pan Africa Programme  
of Oxfam in the corridors of a civil society meeting organized by UN- 
CONGO and FEMNET in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the week of the 13th  
March 2007.  Emily Mghanga of Oxfam’s Pan Africa Programme edited  
this interview. These interviews are also available at  
www.pambazuka.org/aumonitor.
Please send comments to aumonitor.editor at gmail.com.



Without Peace and Security, No Continental Union

Interview with Joseph Yav, a Senior Researcher for the Institute for  
Security Studies based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He works with a  
network of African research institutes in support of the African  
peace and security agenda.


What form of Continental government does Africa need?

Africa needs a continental government that depends on the people of  
Africa not only on their Heads of States. Africa must forge its own  
direction, learning from the experiences of the United States of  
America and the European Union.



		Why is the continental Union important to African citizens  
especially the poor and the marginalized?

Human emancipation and freedoms must be the focus of any Union.



How could integration be successful?

The focus must be based on a clear assessment of the progress of the  
AU over the Organisation of African Unity. How have we overcome  
poverty and conflict? What new ideas, opportunities and challenges  
are there for the African Union in the future? How can we push all  
the national and regional mechanisms? This would create a clear  
strategy for change.



What one policy would your organization propose to be adopted in the  
continental organization?

The Institute for Security Studies works mainly for a stable and  
peaceful Africa. We would want to see a clear focus in the area of  
peace and security because if there is no peace, there is no  
security. By security, I mean not only the security of states but  
human security as well.



What milestones would you like to see achieved within the first two  
years?

Our Head of States and governments should focus first on the  
integration of people. Second, we should question the current  
structures - the positive and the negatives. Finally, assess all the  
forms of integration federation and others.



What meaningful decisions would make this process people driven,  
rights based and publicly accountable to African citizens?

There is an urgent need to consult civil society. Our leaders must  
depart from the experience of the OAU. Otherwise it will end up as a  
club of Head of States. We must change the idea of the Union as a  
club of Heads of States to an idea that is championed by the people  
of Africa. Heads of States have the right to make decisions, but the  
focus must be on people. Civil society has the right to also engage  
and contribute to this debate.



Do you think the timing is right?

Yes and no. No, it is coming too late in Africa’s history. Former  
President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah and others championed this idea 40  
years ago. Secondly, this idea was re-proposed by the Heads of States  
as far back as 1999 in Sirte, Libya. Yes, if the idea is driven by  
African peoples, the time for a Union is now!

  The views expressed here are the perspectives of the interviewee.  
Joseph Yav can be reached at Email: jyav at issafrica.org


To post articles, provide feedback or commentary to the AU-Monitor,  
please contact hakima at fahamu.org
To subscribe/unsubscribe from this list please visit: http:// 
lists.fahamu.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/au-monitor
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.fahamu.org/pipermail/au-monitor/attachments/20070501/b8d378dc/attachment.htm