The African Union, Responsibility to Protect and the Mantra of African Solutions to Africa Problems

The African Union (AU) was established basically to provide “African solutions to African problems” (ASAP). By incorporating the principles of responsibility to protect (R2P) into its peace and security architecture, and adopting a much more interventionist stance, the AU has, in principle, positively responded to the bad experiences of civil conflicts and associated humanitarian challenges that have plagued Africa, particularly since the 1990s. In spite of the increasing prominence of R2P and the quest for ASAP, the AU, at critical junctures of conflicts in Africa (such as Cote D’Ivoire and Libya) could not provide appropriate response under the mantra of ASAP. The AU’s poor outing in operationalizing R2P and providing African solution to African problems is mainly as a result of internal fissures, preference for sovereignty protection, lack of genuine commitment by its leaders to implement regional conflict resolution initiatives and the absence of an effective sanction regime against non-compliance with AU decisions. The notion of African solutions to African problems can only be effective if there is political will by African leaders to properly energize its ideals. The AU needs to show a willingness to deal with human rights violations on the continent. Indeed, it needs to address the view that it continues to promote an unhealthy tradition of solidarity and uses the notion of ASAP as a convenient shield to protect its members accused of promoting dictatorship and human rights violations.