Organisation of African Unity


The Organisation of African Unity was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's establishment was Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. It was disbanded on 9 July 2002 by its last chairman, South African President Thabo Mbeki, and replaced by the African Union. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and economic integration among member states, and to eradicate colonialism and neo-colonialism from the African continent. Although it achieved some success, there were also differences of opinion as to how that was going to be achieved.

History

The OAU was founded in May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by 32 African states with the main aim of bringing the African nations together and resolve the issues within the continent. Its first ever conference was held on 1 May 1963 in Addis Ababa. At that conference, the late Gambian historian—and one of the leading Gambian nationalists and Pan-Africanists at the time—Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof delivered a speech in front of the member states, in which he said:

Aims

The OAU had the following primary aims:
Haile Selassie with President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser in Addis Ababa for the Organisation of African Unity summit, 1963.
A Liberation Committee was established to aid independence movements and look after the interests of already-independent states. The OAU also aimed to stay neutral in terms of global politics, which would prevent them from being controlled once more by outside forces – an especial danger with the Cold War.
The OAU had other aims, too:
Soon after achieving independence, a number of African states expressed a growing desire for more unity within the continent. Not everyone was agreed on how this unity could be achieved, however, and two opinionated groups emerged in this respect:
Some of the initial discussions took place at Sanniquellie, Liberia. The dispute was eventually resolved when Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I invited the two groups to Addis Ababa, where the OAU and its headquarters were subsequently established. The Charter of the Organisation was signed by 32 independent African states.
At the time of the OAU's disbanding, 53 out of the 54 African states were members; Morocco left on 12 November 1984 following the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as the government of Western Sahara in 1982.

Criticism and praises

The organisation was widely derided as a bureaucratic "talking shop" with little power. It struggled to enforce its decisions, and its lack of armed force made intervention exceedingly difficult. Civil wars in Nigeria and Angola continued unabated for years, and the OAU could do nothing to stop them.
The policy of non-interference in the affairs of member states also limited the effectiveness of the OAU. Thus, when human rights were violated, as in Uganda under Idi Amin in the 1970s, the OAU was powerless to stop them.
The Organisation was praised by Ghanaian former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for bringing Africans together. Nevertheless, in its 39 years of existence, critics argue that the OAU did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it as a "Dictators' Club" or "Dictator's Trade Union".
The OAU was, however, successful in some respects. Many of its members were members of the UN, too, and they stood together within the latter organisation to safeguard African interests – especially in respect of lingering colonialism. Its pursuit of African unity, therefore, was in some ways successful.
Total unity was difficult to achieve, however, as the OAU was largely divided. The former French colonies, still dependent on France, had formed the Monrovia Group, and there was a further split between those that supported the United States and those that supported the USSR in the Cold War of ideologies. The pro-Socialist faction was led by Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah, while Félix Houphouët-Boigny of the Ivory Coast led the pro-capitalists. Because of these divisions, it was difficult for the OAU to take action against states involved in internal conflicts because it could rarely reach an agreement on what was to be done.
The OAU did play a pivotal role in eradicating colonialism and white minority rule in Africa. It gave weapons, training and military bases to rebel groups fighting white minority and colonial rule. Groups such as the ANC and PAC, fighting apartheid, and ZANU and ZAPU, fighting to topple the government of Rhodesia, were aided in their endeavours by the OAU. African harbours were closed to the South African government, and South African aircraft were prohibited from flying over the rest of the continent. The UN was convinced by the OAU to expel South Africa from bodies such as the World Health Organization.
The OAU also worked with the UN to ease refugee problems. It set up the African Development Bank for economic projects intended to make Africa financially stronger. Although all African countries eventually won their independence, it remained difficult for them to become totally independent of their former colonisers. There was often continued reliance on the former colonial powers for economic aid, which often came with strings attached: loans had to be paid back at high interest-rates, and goods had to be sold to the aiders at low rates.
The USA and USSR intervened in post-colonial Africa in pursuit of their own objectives. Help was sometimes provided in the form of technology and aid-workers. Despite the fight to keep "Westerners" out of African affairs, the OAU has failed to achieve to meet goals set up to advocate African affairs. The Organisation still heavily depends on Western help to intervene in African affairs, despite African leaders' displeasure at dealing with the international community, especially Western countries.

Agencies

Autonomous specialised agencies, working under the auspices of the OAU, were:

List of Secretaries-General

OAU summits

Host CityHost CountryDate
Addis Ababa22-25 May 1963
Cairo17-21 July 1964
Accra21-26 October 1965
Addis Ababa5-9 November 1966
Kinshasa11-14 September 1967
Algiers13-16 September 1968
Addis Ababa6-10 September 1969
Addis Ababa1-3 September 1970
Addis Ababa21-23 June 1971
Rabat12-15 June 1972
Addis Ababa27-28 May 1973
Mogadishu1974
Kampala28 July-1 August 1975
Port Louis2-6 July 1976
Libreville2-5 July 1977
Khartoum18-22 July 1978
Monrovia17-20 July 1979
Freetown1-4 July 1980
Nairobi24-27 June 1981
Addis Ababa6-12 June 1983
Addis Ababa12-15 November 1984
Addis Ababa18-20 July 1985
Addis Ababa28-30 July 1986
Addis Ababa27-29 July- 1987
Addis AbabaExtraordinary Summit: October 1987
Addis Ababa25-28 May 1988
Addis Ababa24-26 July 1989
Addis Ababa9-11 July 1990
Abuja3-5 July 1991
Dakar29 June - 1 July 1992
Cairo28-30 June 1993
Tunis13-15 June 1994
Addis Ababa26-28 June 1995
Yaoundé8-10 June 1996
Harare2-4 June 1997
Ouagadougou8-10 June 1998
Algiers12-14 July 1999
SirteExtraordinary Summit 6-9 September 1999
Lomé10-12 July 2000
Lusaka9-11 July 2001, the last OAU summit

OAU members by date of admission (53 states)