Emergency session on the situation in Gabon
Emergency session on the situation in Gabon
Date | 31 August 2023
Today (31 August) at 3 pm East African Time, the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) is scheduled to convene an emergency meeting on the coup in Gabon.
On 30 August military officers appearing on national television announced the ouster of the government of the incumbent President Ali Bongo. The coup was announced soon after the announcement of the results of the general elections that Gabon held on 26 August. In the early hours of 30 August, the Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) announced the results of the presidential elections, declaring that the incumbent Ali Bongo the winner of the Presidential Election with 64.27 % of the votes cast.
The processes leading up to the announcement of the results were clouded with uncertainties, disputations and concerns about the transparency and credibility of the elections. While the leader of the opposition coalition Albert Ondo Ossa claimed victory in the elections, in the days ahead of the announcement of the election the opposition camp reported that the election was a ‘fraud orchestrated by Ali Bongo and his supporters’. This allegation came after the imposition of a curfew and the shutting down of the internet in the country by the government, thereby raising concerns that these measures were taken to create conditions for tampering with the election results.
The elections were indeed held under circumstances that cast doubt on the possibility of ensuring the credibility and transparency of the elections in a manner that reflects the will of the electorate. Election observers, including AU observers, were not welcomed. Some media outlets were suspended. The government also cut internet service and imposed a night-time curfew nationwide after the poll.
It is against this background that the military officers announced the seizure of power. Explaining their action, the senior military officers, self-styled as the ‘Committee of the Transition and the Restoration of Institutions, who seized power said that ‘[i]n the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime.’
Some members of the government were also arrested including the son of the president, Noureddine Bongo Valentin, the chief advisor of the president and his deputy, two other presidential advisors and two top officials of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG). The military also put the ousted president under house arrest. Following the coup, the internet was restored. Yet, the coup makers maintained the nightly curfew imposed in place.
On the same day, the coup makers named General Brice Oligui Ngueme as the leader of the transition. General Ngueme, as head of the President’s Republican Guard, is not someone who is an outsider but very much internal to the regime. This signifies that while the coup removed the leader, the regime remains intact and in power.
As with other recent situations in countries that experienced coups, the ouster of Bongo was also greeted with celebrations from people. While the coup ushers in the end of a government that was in power for decades and opens a possibility for change, it does not provide a politically legitimate avenue for addressing the irregularities associated with the elections. In this respect, it would be of interest for the PSC to address the disputed elections including the convening of inclusive consultations with the opposition presidential candidates and the political parties for developing a roadmap for the convening of free and fair elections.
The AU Commission Chairperson issued a statement on the same day. Indicating that the chairperson was following the situation with great concern, the statement expressed his strong condemnation of ‘the attempted coup d’état’. He also encouraged ‘all political, civil and military actors in Gabon to give priority to peaceful political avenues and a rapid return to democratic constitutional order in the country.’ Similarly, the Secretary-General of the UN also firmly condemned ‘the ongoing coup attempt’ and expressed his ‘strong opposition to military coups.’
The PSC will make a determination on the application of Article 30 of the Constitutive Act within the framework of Article 7(1)(g) of the PSC Protocol. In light of the electoral crisis that preceded the coup, one of the issues for the PSC is how to facilitate a process that leads to not only the convening of free and credible elections, but also the building of fully functioning constitutional rule in Gabon.
The expected outcome of the session is a communique. The PSC may welcome the statement of the Chairperson of the Commission and express its condemnation of the coup pursuant to the AU norms banning coups including the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG). The PSC may also decide to suspend Gabon from participation in the AU activities in accordance with Article 30 of the Constitutive Act and ACDEG. The PSC may express its concern about the recurrence of the holding of elections of questionable legitimacy and credibility and the need for African States to ensure that they create the space and mechanisms for ensuring that elections are held in accordance with the parameters set in ACDEG. With specific reference to the situation in Gabon, the PSC may call for the convening of consultation with the opposition political parties and presidential candidates to agree on a roadmap for the transition and the convening of free and fair elections. The PSC may also call for the removal of the military from politics and the establishment of an inclusive civilian transitional authority. It may also request in this respect that an AU high-level facilitator be designated with the responsibility of facilitating dedicated engagement for ensuring an inclusive civilian transition. The PSC may finally call for respect to ACDEG and respect for the rights of citizens including leaders and members of the opposition.
Provisional Programme of Work for the Month of September 2023
Provisional Programme of Work for the Month of September 2023
Date | September 2023
For the month of September, Cameroon takes over the role of chairing the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) from Burundi. The PSC’s Provisional Programme of Work of the month, prepared under the guidance of the incoming Chairperson, includes six substantive sessions. While two sessions will address country-specific issues, the remaining four will cover thematic topics. Except for one session that will be held at the ministerial level, all the sessions will be held at the ambassadorial level. The PoW for the month also envisages that PSC will be on a mission to Mozambique for the commemoration of the Amnesty Month.
As the next phase of the drawdown of the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) approaches, the first session of the PSC, scheduled for 7 September focusing on conflict specific situation, is dedicated to an updated briefing on the situation in Somalia and the activities of ATMIS. It is to be recalled that the first drawdown of ATMIS troops, following the initial extension on the request of the Government of Somalia, took place last June. It is anticipated according to the timeline for the drawdown that the second drawdown that will involve the departure of 3000 troops will take place at the end of September. This session is expected to hear from the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission and Head of ATMIS about the state of preparedness of ATMIS for the drawdown. Related to the drawdown, UN Security Council Resolution 2687 [S/RES/2687(2023)] envisaged the conduct of a technical review by the AU and Somalia to evaluate the progress of the initial withdrawal. ATMIS is also expected to provide update on this review, whose conclusions are expected to be released by 15 September. Additionally, the session will also receive update from Somalia as well as ATMIS on the security situation in Somalia including the ongoing offensive operations against Al Shabaab and the readiness of Somalia security forces to shoulder the security responsibilities from ATMIS troops that will be departing as part of the drawdown. In light of the violent clashes in LasAnod, the PSC may also use the session to seek briefing on the nature and scale of the crisis and how the AU including through ATMIS may facilitate the resolution of the conflict.
With September as the Amnesty month, the next activity of the PSC involves the commemoration of Africa Amnesty Month, which is planned to take place from 11 to 13 August in Maputo, Mozambique. While Africa Amnesty Month has been commemorated by the PSC every September since 2017, in line with the decision of the AU Assembly adopted at its 29th Ordinary Session [Assembly/AU/Dec. 645 (XXIX)] and at 14th Extraordinary Session, [Ext/Assembly/AU/Dec.1(XIV)], it is in 2022 that the PSC started to mark the annual event outside of Addis Ababa through various symbolic activities including collection and burning of weapons and arms. Beyond the symbolic activities, the Amnesty Month also serves to highlight the role of illicit arms and weapons as major drivers of conflicts and insecurity in Africa. The PSC may also use the mission as an occasion for canvasing the current state of the conflict involving terrorist groups in the Cabo Delgado province and to interact with representatives of the Southern Africa Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM).
On 18 September, the PSC is scheduled to hold the second substantive session of the month. It is expected that the PSC will receive a briefing on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. According to the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) report, the trend of maritime crimes in the region has decreased in 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. Despite this hopeful trend, the Gulf of Guinea remains to be the main locus for maritime insecurity in Africa. Apart from reviewing the state of maritime security in this region, this session also serves as an occasion for following up on previous decisions of the PSC on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. In this regard, the last time the PSC discussed maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea was at its 1128th session held on 19 December 2022. At that session, the PSC tasked the AU Commission to convene a meeting to facilitate the establishment of a body of experts or task force to coordinate and share knowledge on maritime security, and to plan the First Regional Maritime Command Post Exercise to enhance naval preparedness and collaboration within the African Standby Force (ASF) and Combined Maritime Task Force (CMTF) frameworks. Therefore, the PSC is expected to follow up on these requests during the upcoming session. In addition, the upcoming session is expected to assess the implementation of the Yaoundé Code of Conduct to explore challenges and determine the most effective utilization of accessible resources.
Another key thematic session of the PSC scheduled for 20 September, which would also be a signature event for Cameroon as Chairperson of the PSC, is envisaged to focus on military-civil relations in Africa in enhancing conflict prevention mechanisms. This would be the first time for Council to convene a session committed to this specific issue, although the issue arises in relation to various contexts. The issue of civil-military relationship brings to the centre of attention not only the issue of ensuring the republican character and the allegiance of the security forces to the national constitution but also that of bringing the instrument of violence under effective civilian oversight on the basis of constitutionally established rules and processes. Considering the danger arising from exposing the army to partisan politics, the session may also address the issues of the politicization of the military which on various occasions led to the intrusion of the military in politics and that of situations of instability leading to the militarization of politics. These issues have become particularly salient for current peace and security policy making in the context of the resurgence of military coups in the continent throughout 2021-2023, the session is expected to highlight the issue of UCGs during discussions. It is worth noting that in various sessions addressing UCG in concerned member states, and during the Extraordinary Summit on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Change of Governments held on May 28, 2022, the PSC has repeatedly stressed the importance of military non-intervention in politics. Other issues of significance in considering civil-military relations involve the military’s professionalism, including its adherence to codes of conduct and respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.
On 23 September, the PSC will convene its fourth substantive session, which is also the only session that will be held at the ministerial level. This session will consider the financing of AU peace support operations. The session will be held in New York on the side-lines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting. The last time the PSC discussed the topic was during its 1153rd session. At that meeting, the PSC requested the AUC to increase the ceiling of the Crisis Reserve Facility (CRF), use the AU Peace Fund to fill the current financial gap in the ATMIS, and expedite the establishment of the Peace Fund Secretariat, including its governance structure. Additionally, the PSC requested the development of modalities for enhanced AU-UN joint work, including collaborative planning and mandating processes.
The next session scheduled for 27 September involves engagement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on post-Malabo Extraordinary Summit on Humanitarian issues. It is expected that the session will review the follow up on the outcomes of the Humanitarian Summit, particularly regarding funding, institutional cooperation, and the 10-year AU Humanitarian Agenda. Additionally, the PSC’s discussion on this session could benefit the existing situations across the continent. One such instance is the situation in Sudan. According to the UNHCR, as of July 21, 2023, more than 3.3 million people have been displaced and the estimated number of refugees could reach 860,000 by October 2023. It would be not only a missed opportunity but also a dereliction of duty that the situation in Sudan, including the atrocities and grave humanitarian emergency in Darfur, has not attracted dedicated attention for a while.
On 29 September, for its final substantive and second country-specific session, the PSC is expected to receive an updated briefing on the political transitions in Guinea and Mali. For this session, the PSC is expected to receive updates on its key actionable decisions from its 1162nd and 1106th sessions. The PSC held a session dealing with Guinea and Mali on 20 July 2023 at its 1162nd meeting within the ambit of the Situation in the Sahel, where it considered and expressed concern over the withdrawal of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) from Mali and the risks of reversal of the gains made in the implementation of Mali’s 2015 Peace and Reconciliation Agreement. As it welcomed progress made in the transitional process, the PSC also urged the transitional authorities in Guinea and Mali to resume engagements with the Economic Commission for Western African States (ECOWAS) mandated mediators. Furthermore, it is recalled that on its 1106th meeting on 19 September 2022, the PSC had a session designated to receive briefings on particular Sahelian countries, including Guinea and Mali. For Guinea, it had called for the transitional authorities to conduct transparent and impartial investigations on the reports of the use of coercive measures that jeopardize fundamental freedoms and human rights, as well as on the operationalization of the Monitoring Mechanism on the Transition in Guinea from its decision on 10 September 2021. Regarding Mali, the PSC had urged the fulfillment of pledges of support for the Malian Transition.
In the light of the reports of military coup taking place in Gabon on 30 August, the PSC may also convene a session on the situation in Gabon.
In footnote, the Program of Work also envisages a press statement will be issued marking the international day of peace on 21 September.
In addition to the activities of the PSC, the program of work also lists activities of the Military Staff Committee (MSC) and the Committee of Experts (CoE). The MSC will convene a meeting on 5 August for the consideration of the Code of Conduct on Military-Civil Relationship. The CoE will meet on 14 August for the preparation of the 8th Informal Joint Seminar and the 17th Annual Joint Consultative Meeting between the PSC and UNSC.
Amani Africa wishes to express its gratitude to the Australian Embassy in Ethiopia for the support in the production of this Insight on the Monthly Programme of Work of the AU Peace and Security Council
Monthly Digest on The African Union Peace And Security Council - July 2023
Monthly Digest on The African Union Peace And Security Council - July 2023
Date | July 2023
In the month of July, Senegal chaired the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC). The PSC conducted a total of five sessions, three of which focused on thematic issues, while the other two addressed country/region-specific situations. The sessions were conducted at the ambassadorial level, except for one ministerial level session.
Update on the impact of climate change on peace and security
Update on the impact of climate change on peace and security
30 August 2023
Tomorrow (31 August), the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) is expected to convene its 1172nd session to receive updates on the impact of climate change on peace and security.
Following opening remarks by Willy Nyamitwe, Permanent Representative of Burundi and the Chairperson of the PSC for August, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS), Bankole Adeoye is expected to make a statement. AU Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, Josepha Sacko, may also deliver a statement. A representative of the UN may also make a statement.
Since the PSC’s 585th session of March 2016, which decided to hold annual sessions on climate change, the PSC held nearly a dozen sessions to discuss issues of concern related to climate change. PSC last met on the theme during its 1114th session last October at Ministerial level, which specifically addressed the issue of ‘building resilience and adaptation for food security in African Island States towards COP27’. In the light of the wide range of decisions that the PSC adopted on this theme, an important aspect of tomorrow’s session could be a review of the decisions and their implementation as well as the identification of action plan for the follow up of those decisions that are awaiting implementation.
Tomorrow’s session is taking place ahead of the inaugural Africa Climate Summit, which will be held from 4-6 September 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme ‘Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for African and the World’. Accordingly, of immediate interest for this session is to explore how best to advance the climate and security agenda as part of the Africa Climate Summit. Depending on how this session informs the African Climate Summit, it can also position the AU and its participation in the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), set to take place between November and December 2023.
As part of this session, it is worth recalling the growing impact of climate change particularly in the developing world including Africa, considering that 17 out of 20 countries most affected by climate change are in Africa despite the fact that Africa contributes the least to global greenhouse gas emissions. The adverse impacts of climate change in Africa are reflected in how climate induced extreme whether events affect not only the lives and livelihoods of increasingly large number of people on the continent and curtail progress in achieving development goals but also the governance, security and stability dynamics of affected populations and societies.
The PSC in tomorrow’s session is expected to build on its earlier decisions. In a major development that aims to bring the security dimension of climate change to the center of policy processes on climate, its 1114th session called for the inclusion of discussions on climate and security in the agenda of the meetings of the AU Assembly Committee of African Heads of States and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) – a committee that provides political leadership and strategic guidance on the continent’s engagement on climate change. During the COP27 hosted in Egypt in November 2022, for the first time the issue of the climate security nexus featured during COP. Apart from various side events and high-level events in which the climate-security nexus took centre stage, the COP27 Presidency presented the Climate Responses for Sustaining Peace (CRSP).
Building on its decision from its 1114th session and the initiative of the COP27 presidency, the PSC may not only call on the Africa Climate Summit to declare the designation of climate and security as one of the thematic areas in COP policy processes and ensure that the security implications of climate are duly accounted for so that the security dimension is also fully factored in policy initiatives across the mitigation, adaptation, financing, loss and damage and transition streams of the COP processes.
Understandably, how the security implications of climate change can be addressed as part of the COP processes is something that may be decided as part of the COP negotiation by the states parties. However, the PSC may request that the outcome document of the Africa Climate Summit includes a dedicated segment to the security implications of climate change. As proposed by Amani Africa in its statement on ‘the climate and security nexus in preparation of COP27’, this may involve the establishment of a thematic focus and a dedicated expert group on climate and security on the COP negotiations, which would enable a continuous and robust policy engagement and consultation on climate and security that will make COP processes agile and effectively responsive to various dimensions of the climate crisis.
The other decision that the PSC could build on is from its summit level 984th session, which decided on the establishment of African Union Fund on climate change. Tomorrow’s session may discuss how to concretize the establishment of this fund particularly having regard to the existence of the Africa Climate Change Fund under the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). Considering that an important aspect of the focus of the African Climate Summit is climate finance solutions, tomorrow’s session may also emphasize the imperative for narrowing down the enormous financing gap for climate action in Africa. As rightly noted by the African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina, a lack of adequate financing for tackling climate change in Africa has become dire and is ‘chocking’ the continent. Apart from exploring new sources of funding, there are two aspects that deserve attention in this respect. The first is for the commitments relating to financing adaptation measures in developing countries to be honoured. The second critical aspect of this requires the easing of the conditions and processes for accessing climate funds. Available statistics show that African countries particularly those most affected by climate, and fragility and conflict receive the least funding on account of the prohibitive nature of the conditions of access for these countries.
The other aspect of the session may focus on how to take the agenda of climate change and security forward both at a global and continental level while strengthening its own structures to effectively respond to the scourge. Apart from integrating climate in the various engagements that the PSC has with the UN Security Council and the European Political and Security Committee building on the last thematic focus of the consultative meeting of the PSC with the UN Peacebuilding Commission, attention may be drawn to mobilizing support for building resilience for the most vulnerable regions of the continent in key social and economic sectors such as agriculture and rural economy.
The expected outcome of tomorrow’s session is a communiqué. PSC is expected to express concern over the rising climate-linked disasters and their implication over the peace, security, stability, and development of the continent. In that regard, it may reiterate its call for the Commission to continue and enhance the identification and mobilization of support to Member States in building national resilience and address the adverse impacts of climate change. PSC may welcome the convening of the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in September in line with decision of the 36th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly and may urge participants to pay attention to the security implications of climate change in Africa. In relation to the various initiatives and decisions adopted in previous sessions and cognizant of the need for a systematic follow-up to their implementation, PSC may request the Commission to submit a comprehensive report in the next PSC session on the theme, highlighting the status of the implementation of each decision, and action plan on follow up of those decisions pending implementation. As COP28 negotiations will kick off in few months, PSC may urge relevant AU stakeholders, notably the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) to make thorough preparation to ensure that the continent’s interests and priorities are taken onboard in the negotiation process and in this respect to add to the negotiation process the proposed establishment of a dedicated thematic focus on the peace and security implications of climate to help inform how best this agenda can be taken forward in COP processes.
3rd Annual Consultative Meeting between the PSC and RECs/RMs Policy Organs
3rd Annual Consultative Meeting between the PSC and RECs/RMs Policy Organs
Date | 27 August 2023
On 28-29 August, the third Annual Consultative Meeting between the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs) Policy Organs will take place in Bujumbura, Burundi.
The opening segment of the session is expected to feature the opening remarks by the PSC Chairperson for August, Burundi’s Permanent Representative to the AU, Willy Nyamitwe. In addition to statement by the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS), Bankole Adeoye, a keynote address by a representative of Burundi as host of the meeting is expected. The representatives of the RECs/RMs and their Policy Organs are also expected to deliver their respective statements and reflect on the current state of the relationship between the PSC and RECs/RMs and the way forward.
The consultative meeting is convened within the framework of Article 16 of the Protocol relating to the establishment of the PSC (PSC Protocol) and the various PSC retreats that highlighted the need for closer working engagement between the PSC and RECs/RMs. The meeting is also taking place in line with the decision of the PSC and RECs/RMs, during their inaugural joint consultative meeting held on 24 May 2019, to convene the consultative meeting on annual basis. As part of the effort to regularize the engagement, it is to be recalled that the second consultative meeting, which took place on 26 August 2021, further decided to ‘convene consultative meetings at least twice a year at a strategic and political level, and quarterly at a technical level, as well as to remain open to convene ad-hoc consultations to deepen collaboration and respond to emerging conflict’. However, the practice over the last four years indicates that the consultative meeting is happening only once in two years.
The close segment of the session starts with an informal meeting between the PSC/RECs/RMs and the Chairperson of the Africa First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM). It is to be recalled that the PSC held for the first time a session on the AFLPM at its 1154th session. Apart from building on this first meeting of the PSC, this informal exchange also provides an opportunity for reflecting on how the AFLPM can contribute to the role of PSC/RECs/RMs including with respect to the impact of conflicts and terrorism on women and the impact of unconstitutional changes of government (UCG) on youth.
The next segment of the consultative meeting is dedicated to the most pressing current peace and security challenges focusing on the resurgence of UCG and the growing threat of terrorism in Africa. This meeting comes at a time when the PSC and RECs/RMs are facing challenges of policy coordination both in respect to UCGs and conflicts. Most recently, this challenge has been experienced vividly in the context of the 26 July 2023 military coup in Niger which became a major flashpoint on policy coordination between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the PSC. While the two agreed on the condemnation of the ousting of the deposed President and on the restoration of constitutional order, the different legal and institutional foundations as well as policy considerations vis-à-vis the range of measures to be taken against the coup led to difference in the policy approach to be taken for restoring constitutional order and the methods and means of achieving this objective. Similarly, gaps in coordination and lack of joint action in the context of the fighting that erupted in April 2023 in Sudan led to the emergence of separate diplomatic initiatives by the AU and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), leading to forum shopping.
With respect to the resurgence of UCGs in Africa, one of the immediate issues of concern for AU and RECs/RMs relate to at least two issues. The first is what more and how best the AU and RECs/RMs can do to stop the spread of the occurrence of coups. The second is how to mobilize complementary and coherent policy responses by the AU and RECs/RMs. For this, it is necessary that the RECs/RMs either develop their own policy sanctioning UCGs including coups or implement the common AU norm against UCGs under the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) to ensure that they have the same legal and policy basis for responding to coups. Some RECs/RMs don’t have legal instruments prohibiting and sanctioning coups. Under such circumstances, it becomes difficult for the AU and such RECs/RMs to coordinate policy responses when coups happen. Thus, in relation to the coup in Sudan, while the AU rightly upheld the applicable principle against coups and invoked Article 7(1)(g) and Article 30 of the Constitutive Act of the AU to suspend Sudan, IGAD, which does not have a norm banning coups, adopted a position calling for the lifting of the suspension of Sudan before the restoration of constitutional order in Sudan.
With respect to the mobilization of coherent and complementary response to coups, the principle of subsidiarity cannot provide the framework for facilitating such coherence and complementarity. As elaborated in Amani Africa’s special research, what is needed for the AU and RECs/RMs to achieve coherence and complementarity in their response to coups is for them to have shared analysis and understanding of the situation and develop framework for consultative decision-making. Understandably, in the absence of such processes, the PSC is required by its Protocol to adopt a policy position on the basis of its own understanding of the situation vis-à-vis the applicable AU norms and policies rather than automatically follow the decision of the REC/RM.
The other agenda item relates to the application of the principles of subsidiarity and complementarity. While the only principles enshrined in the PSC Protocol on the relationship between the AU and sub-regional bodies on peace and security under Article 16 are complementarity and comparative advantage, the principle that dominates the policy discourse and practice is subsidiarity. This focus on subsidiarity and widely held misconception that subsidiarity entails exclusive leadership by RECs/RMs on peace and security or the failure of the AU to assume its role when crisis situations arise, have resulted in the emergence of skewed practices. These are practices that tend to defer to RECs/RMs full lead on responding to crisis and for PSC to play the role of accompanying RECs/RMs lead. These practices, while in part result from the failure of the AU and the PSC to timely engage and respond to emerging crises or conflicts, have the effect of stripping the PSC of the autonomous exercise of the responsibility entrusted to it and hence are not consistent with the framework set in the PSC Protocol, as the founding document of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). In cases where crises or conflicts affect and are of interest for more than one REC/RM such as the terrorist attacks by Boko Haram and the conflict in Eastern DRC, the principle of subsidiarity does not provide guidance on which of the RECs/RMs can take lead and indeed how they can mobilize joint policy responses. (see Amani Africa’s special research for more analysis on the implications of misconceptions relating to the principle of subsidiarity)
Against the background of the foregoing and some of the challenges that this unsound and singular application of subsidiarity have led to over the years with deleterious consequences for cohesion between the AU and RECs/RMs, this 3rd consultative meeting is expected to provide an opportunity for the PSC and the RECs/RMs policy organs to deliberate how to ensure that their engagement on peace and security is guided by the principles of both subsidiarity and complementarity and achieve consensus on course correction on the skewed understanding and use of subsidiarity. For this, it is to be recalled that PSC and policy organs of RECs/RMs, during the second consultative meeting, agreed to ‘commence a transparent, in-depth and dynamic dialogue with the participation of the Member States, the Commission, RECs and RMs concerning the scope, dimensions, variables and criteria of the applicability of the principle of subsidiarity’. One of the workable approaches to subsidiarity is to consider requiring the effective engagement of RECs/RMs that could avoid the policy gaps, divergences and inconsistencies that resulted from its skewed conception and understanding.
Additionally, building on the decisions that the PSC and policy organs of the RECs/RMs adopted during the first and second consultative meetings, as well as PSC’s 870th session, PSC and RECs/RMs can during this 3rd consultative session agree to implement the following measures.
First, the PSC and RECs/RMs Policy organs can decide to implement and operationalize the various modalities for policy coordination and consultative decision making. For instance, during the second consultative meeting, PSC and RECs/RMs agreed to meet at least twice a year at a strategic and political level, and quarterly at a technical level.
Second, there is a need for both the PSC and RECs/RMs to consult and exchange between each other more frequently on specific conflict or crisis situations than before given the challenging political and security landscape of the continent, which is characterized by resurgence of military coups and rising trends of terrorism and violent conflicts. In that regard, the two sides should consider taking practical steps, including the establishment of a team of focal points from all RECs/RMs and the PSC Secretariat that would facilitate a well-coordinated network for regular engagements as envisaged under the previous consultative meeting.
Third, the trans-regional nature of some of the peace and security threats such as terrorism and overlapping membership of some countries in the RECs/RMs raises the issue of horizontal coordination among these organizations. A case in point is Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where its overlapping membership to Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Southern African Development Community (SADC), International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), and East African Community (EAC) and the multiple but uncoordinated diplomatic and security initiatives necessitated a convening of the quadripartite summit under the auspices of the AU at the end of June in Luanda, Angola. It is incumbent on the AU to facilitate such coordination in the absence of which, there is risk of paralysis and political vacuum.
The expected outcome of the consultative meeting is a joint communique. While commending the operationalization of some of the agreed initiatives such as the Inter-Regional Knowledge Exchange (I-RECKE) on early warning and conflict prevention, PSC and RECs/RMs may recognize the follow-up challenges to the implementation of most of the previous decisions adopted with the aim to strengthen cooperation and coordination between them. In that regard, both may request the AU Commission, in consultation with the RECs/RMs, to prepare and submit within a specific timeframe, an implementation matrix that clearly highlight the necessary measures along with timelines for the implementation of each decision. The two sides may further agree to convene a high-level meeting (summit level) as part of the AU Mid-year coordination meeting, which could serve as a platform to discuss strategic issues. Given the lack of clarity on the principle of subsidiarity and its implication over the smooth working relationship between the PSC and RECs/RMs, they may decide to take steps to implement their previous decision of commencing a study on the ‘scope, dimensions, variables and criteria of the applicability of the principle of subsidiarity’. This can be done for instance by mandating the AU Commission and the representatives of RECs/RMs to undertake the study within a specific timeframe and submit the same to their joint meeting for consideration.
