THE African Union celebrates its 51st anniversary today and the 10th for the African Union Peace and Security Council.
AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity, which was founded in 1963 and was rebranded in 2001.
The celebrations come at a time when the AU is struggling to respond to conflicts timeously and is a rising spectre of terrorism in East and West Africa.
It was telling that a summit to discuss a co-ordinated effort to arrest the scourge of Nigeria’s militant Islamic group Boko Haram had to be held in Paris this month.
The AU’s voice has been the missing link in the ongoing search for the more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month and it is the Western countries that are now leading the search.
Founding fathers of the AU such as Kwame Nkrumah had a vision not only for a united Africa, but a continent that would not be perpetually at the mercy of its erstwhile colonisers.
The raging violent conflicts in Central Africa Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Somalia are a symptom of failure by the AU.
Nkrumah’s dream of a united Africa is still a long way off. Our countries are still living up to the stereotype of a dark continent. The AU still embraces dictators and leaders who retain power by manipulating elections.
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On the eve of today’s celebrations, Africa witnessed another travesty when Malawi’s Joyce Banda tried to nullify an election she is poised to lose. Legal experts were quick to say the statute she quoted in declaring last week’s polls null and void does not exist and within minutes she was retracting her statement.
The strange turn of events yesterday had all the hallmarks of Zimbabwe’s own sham election in 2008, where the incumbent is suspected to have manipulated the outcome to his favour.
However, this is not to say Africa has no reason to celebrate. There are many good stories to tell about this beautiful continent, but we simply need more.
