Dr. Kojo Busia, a Senior Development Management Officer and Chief, APRM Support Section at the United Nations Economic Commission For Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia….on the African Governance Architecture.
Question. The African Governance Architecture is another Initiative like NEPAD and the APRM adopted by the Africa Union. What is it all about?
Answer: The African Governance Architecture is a new initiative by the African Union Commission (AUC) but unlike NEPAD and the APRM, this is not a substantive initiative. It is simply a process to consolidate all the governance initiatives and institutions created by the OAU/ AU by bringing them together under one roof in order to make them effective in carrying out their mandates. The African Union Commission Strategic Plan (2009-2012) gives the AUC a mandate “to promote and facilitate the establishment of an appropriate architecture for the promotion of good governance.” The basis for a more coherent, integrated and elaborated Architecture on Governance is also highlighted by article 44-49 of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. In pursuance of this mandate, the Commission embarked on a process of consensus building with regards to the nature, structure, mandate and framework of the governance architecture. The consultative process has resulted in an emerging consensus on the overall political and institutional framework for the promotion of governance in Africa.
Question. What are the pillars of the African Governance Architecture?
Answer: The African Governance Architecture (AGA) is an “evolving process” consisting of three pillars: (i) a vision/shared values supported by a governance agenda and norms; (ii) a set of governance institutions and actors/institutional framework; and (iii) concrete processes to promote synergies, common agendas and greater impact, including the need to establish an African Platform on Governance as the motor to the African Governance Architecture. As an important mechanism of the AGA, the Platform is envisaged as the coordinating arm of the overall AGA. Within the context of the Platform, coordination, harmonization and formalization of interactions are perceived as a strategic response to address the challenge of implementation of the Governance Agenda, and enhancing the capacity of the institutions that constitute the AGA.
This is how it all happened within the context of the AU; and the APRM has a central role in the platform.
The African Peer Review Mechanism is a voluntary instrument for member-states of the African Union to accede. In view of the manner in which some member- countries cling to sovereignty especially when it comes to sanctions and other continental interventions, is the African Governance Architecture binding on member countries?
Answer: The AGA is not necessarily a binding instrument on member states, but rather an organizational framework to bring already existing institutions on board, so to speak, to join the forward moving train of good governance in Africa. It is simply a forum or an arena to summon all institutions of governance to do their part in enhancing good governance on the continent. It should not be seen as a sanctioning forum, but a friendly one aimed at building synergies and complementarities among African institutions.
Already there are a good number of governance institutions, initiatives and mechanisms on the continent, I dare say with one goal – to achieve good governance, inter and sub-regional trade and n co-operation among others. What will the African Governance Architecture do to their status or simply put, what will be the relationship with other institutions and stakeholders?
Answer: The AGA will not be a fixed fixture with specific organizational or institutional framework. Its raison d’être will be bringing together the already existing organizations and institutions on the continent, regionally or sub-regionally and making sure they perform their mandates. Think of the African Peace and Security Architecture (PSA) of the AU, which simply brings together the governmental and non- governmental institutions responsible for ensuring and enhancing peace on the continent, meeting when necessary to make decisions as to when to intervene in situations of conflict, when to condemn coup d’états in Africa, etc. That is the spirit in which the AGA was established. It will not supersede any existing structures but rather compliment their efforts by organizing them into a cohesive framework to promote good governance on the continent.
There is an African Governance platform. What role does it play in all this?
Answer: The AGA Platform forms the operational component of the architecture. It is where all the AU governance institutions would meet and discuss and make decisions on all governance issues affecting the continent. You would agree with me that often African governance institutions work at cross-purposes or against each other, sometimes, unintentionally. Even civil society sometimes competes and works at cross-purposes often for the same goal. The AGA platform will bring some order into the process and by so doing empower institutions to speak cohesively and consistently on similar issues. This will add value to the governance process by putting more pressure or leverage on states or actors that are not complying with the African norms and code of standards adopted by all member states. So, again, the platform is at the core of the AGA.
Can you comment on the merits of WACAA and how it can potentially contribute to the African Governance Architecture?
Answer: Let me commend the Ghana APRM Governing Council for taking the initiative and assuming a leading role in establishing the West African Centre for the Advancement of the APRM (WACAA), comprising APRM Commissions in Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo, “to share experiences with participating ECOWAS Member-States, adopt common and sub regional strategies on APRM implementation processes, mainstream APRM activities into academic programmes and key universities in the sub-region through research and staff development.” As you in Ghana well understand and have demonstrated, the APRM is everyone’s business and not for any particular group of people or organization. Just as you have decentralized in Ghana the APRM process, so must APRM be decentralized from the continental to regional level, at the level of the Regional Economic Communities (RECS), so that each sub-region can bring its comparative advantage to bear on the APRM process and to enrich and improve it. After all, regional integration must also be built on sub-regional shared values as much as on continental shared values. So, this is a very positive development and the Strategic Partners hope that the agreements reached in the WACAA Conference would be implemented very soon to add to the “growing African Governance Architecture.”
Thank you very much.
Dr. Kojo Busia was interviewed by Cornelia Amoah
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