What is the significance of African ministers meeting to consider amendments to the African Union Constitutive Act, wonders Gamal Nkrumah Foreign ministers from the 53 member states of the African Union (AU) gathered in the Libyan capital Tripoli primarily to discuss Libya's appeal to other African states to speed up the process of African continental unity. The three-day meeting in Tripoli once again put the question of African continental unity in the spotlight. Libya specifically called for the extraordinary meeting to review the African Union progress -- or lack of it to be precise. Libya has been lobbying hard to garner support from other African countries to speed up the process of African continental unity. Libya's plea, however, fell on deaf ears. Sadly, what has transpired in Tripoli is that there is precious little sympathy among Africa's leaders for Libya's unbridled enthusiasm for African unity. The vast majority of the AU member states' foreign ministers assembled in Tripoli, it appears, simply think that Libya's drive for African unity -- i.e. making the continent a single country with one continental army, continental currency, and an integrated economic development plan -- is unrealistic and premature. At this rate it could take another 10 or 20 years to get up to speed. The consequences would be grave, argue the Libyans and their handful of supporters. African leaders would do the continent serious damage by simply limping on a tortuously long road to continental unity. As a compromise, African foreign ministers agreed to postpone serious talk about speeding up the AU process to late January or early February 2003 when an extra-ordinary AU summit will be convened. The Libyans cried foul. Another delaying tactic, they complained. Tellingly, the venue for the summit was conveniently moved from Libya to Addis Ababa. The AU's regular annual summit is scheduled for July in the Mozambican capital, Maputo. Other proposed amendments to the AU project were tabled in at the Tripoli meeting. Most, however, were of a technical nature, but some others are aimed at clarifying existing articles of the constitutive act. Countries other than Libya that have made proposals include South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast. The proposed amendments to the AU's constitutive act were first tabled during the launch of the AU in Durban, South Africa, in July. So what did the different African countries want? South Africa, represented at the pan-African Tripoli meeting by South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, seeks to play a moderating role. South Africa is deeply embroiled in mediating and peace- making roles in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. Dlamini- Zuma flew to Libya after stopovers in the African Great Lakes Region for discussions concerning the Congolese and Burundian political crises. The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has threatened to pull out of the Arab League, which groups 22 North African and West Asian countries, precisely because of its alleged ineffectiveness in advancing Arab causes in the international arena. Gaddafi was especially scathing in his criticism of Arab "defeatism" in letting down the Palestinian people and over Iraq. This was not the first time that Gaddafi threatened to pull out of the Arab League. He made a vow in 1998 to do just this. He might direct the same criticism at the African Union if the pace of African unity proves too slow. The Tripoli meeting might be the first signal that Gaddafi is becoming increasingly impatient with the continent's leaders' lackadaisical attitude to the AU. Libya's minister for African unity, Dr Ali Al-Treiki, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Tripoli will redouble its efforts and urge all member states to work harder to achieve African unity. "The AU must prove its credentials," he added. Libya, which has downgraded its political association with the Arab League in favour of the AU, is eager to see its policy pay dividends. The AU is one of those projects that most African leaders fervently support in principle, so long as they are not compelled to commit. Gaddafi once again seeks to test his peers' willingness to take African unity more seriously. The case for African unity is clear, and convincing. But, the resolve and the political will to make African unity a reality is lacking.
