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As a people we must feel inspired that, among other things in its report on South Africa, the APR panel identified 18 best practices in our country, which it recommended should be emulated by other African countries as we, together, strive to improve overall governance and accelerate our advance towards meeting the goal of a better life for the masses of the peoples of our continent.
Whither Africa?
It was within this setting, including the continuing celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the independence of Ghana, that the AU Summit Meeting adopted that Accra Declaration after an intense, frank and inclusive debate. In essence the debate centred on one critical strategic question.
This was - should we adopt a top-down approach to the formation of the United States of Africa, with its Union Government, or should we follow the bottom-up route! Should we set up a Union Government to lead this process or should we use our existing structures, especially the Regional Economic Communities and the African Union to effect the process of integration that would lead to the formation of a Union Government serving as the Executive Authority of the United States of Africa!
The Accra Summit Meeting decided unanimously in favour of the latter option, of building the House of Africa from its foundation upwards, constructing one floor at a time, as Uganda President, Yoweri Museveni, put it. In the contribution we have already cited, President Marc Ravalomanana of Madagscar said:
"I know that for more than 40 years we have been talking about Pan Africanism. I agree it is now time to move from talking to action. Let us get practical. Come up with the plan. Let us agree on time-frames. Let us formulate a strategy.
"In the Bible it says: 'Do not build your house on a foundation of sand. It will collapse. The wise man builds his house on a foundation of stone. That house will last.' "
Emphasising the common resolve of our continent to move speedily towards its unity, El Hadj President Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon said: "In effect, it is when Africa speaks in one and the same voice that the international community will hear and understand us. From this must emerge a consensus in favour of the political and economic integration of Africa.
"Quite clearly, fundamentally we have already decided that to achieve the United States of Africa, we must create an Executive Organ of our Union. It therefore seems clear that the time has come for us to create a Government of the Union."
Representing the united view of the region of Southern Africa, the current Chairperson of SADC, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili of Lesotho, said:
"We recognise that Africa's interests would be best served through both political and economic integration. However, we must adopt a bottom-up approach, not a top-down one. The entire process must be people-driven and not leaders-driven. It must be the voice of the masses that determine Africa's ultimate destiny. Lest we be misunderstood, we must hurry to state that this view has nothing to do with abdication of leadership.
"It has everything to do with the leadership taking along the peoples of Africa that as leaders we are privileged to serve. This presupposes thorough consultations with the citizens of our countries. We also believe that such integration should be gradual rather than precipitous. It must be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It must be based on a road map that contains stages, strategies and benchmarks.
"At the end of the day, if another form of organisation is created, we believe, it will be joined on a voluntary basis. What would the fate of those Member States who do not join? We must take care not to further divide Africa in our haste to 'unite it'."
The Accra Declaration - a Continental Directive
The July 2007 Accra 9th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly of African Heads of State and Government concluded its Grand Debate on the Union Government by unanimously adopting the Accra Declaration, fully reflecting the strategic approach enunciated by Prime Minister Phakalitha Mosisili and advanced by other African political leaders. With regard to the observation made in the Accra Declaration about the need to involve the African Diaspora, we were fortunate that present during the Summit Meeting were such eminent members of this African Diaspora as Jesse Jackson, Andy Young and the jazz master Herbie Hancock from the USA, as well as Valerie Amos and Dianne Abbott from the UK.
When he opened the Summit Meeting, the Current Chairperson of the AU and President of Ghana, John Kuffuor said: "In 1965, Dr. Nkrumah hosted a Summit of the OAU here in Accra where the project for the Continental Government was first discussed. It is therefore an uncanny coincidence that here in Accra, on the 50th anniversary of our Independence, this same subject of continental government should return to the agenda of the Summit of the African Union as its sole item for deliberation.
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