African gov newsletter fin

AGforvicearnn ance Newsletter
Good governance
in Africa
African Governance Newsletter Vol.1 Issue 01 January-March 2011 1
Vol.1 Issue 01 January-March 2011
A QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER ON CURRENT DEVELOPMENT ISSUES ON GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA
UNECA
Governance and Public Administration Division
AUC
Department of Political Affairs
In this issue
Interview with H.E.
Mrs. Julia Dolly Joiner,
Commissioner for Political
Affairs, African Union
Commission
Regional Initiatives
Viewpoints and
Think-Pieces
For the records
Photo/Chris Herwig/UNMIL

Foreword- H.E. Mrs. Julia Dolly Joiner, Commissioner for
Political Affairs, African Union Commission 4
Editorial Comment- Said Adejumobi, Chair, Editorial
Committee 5
Regional Initiatives and Activities in
Africa:
»»The Road to the “Shared Values Summit’ of the African Union 6
»»The African Governance Architecture 8
»» The African Union’s Draft Charter on the Values and Principles of Public
Service and Administration in Africa 10
»»The Human Rights Strategy for Africa 12
»»UNECA’s Regional Anti-Corruption Programme 13
»»AU’s Technical Assistance Programme for Election Management Bodies 14
»»AGR: A Landmark Report on Governance in Africa 15
»» The APRM in fostering Shared Values in Africa 16
»» Collective Rejection of Unconstitutional Change of Government as a
Shared Political Value in Africa 17
Interview: Interview with H.E. Mrs. Julia Dolly Joiner,
Commissioner for Political Affairs, African Union Commission on her
stewardship and progress on governance and democracy in Africa 18
Viewpoints and Thinkpieces: Governance Reform
in a Post-Conflict Context: The Liberian Experience- H.E. Amos
Sawyer, former President of Liberia, Chairperson, Liberian Governance
Commission, and Member, APRM Panel of Eminent Persons 23
For the Records:
• Status of Ratification of the Charter on Democracy, Elections and
Governance by AU Member States 30
Recent and Upcoming Events and
Activities 31
In this
issue
AGforvicearnn ance Newsletter
Good governance
in Africa
Vol.1 Issue 01 January-March 2011
A QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER ON CURRENT DEVELOPMENT ISSUES ON GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA
UNECA
Governance and Public Administration Division
AUC
In this issue
Interview with H.E.
Mrs. Julia Dolly Joiner,
Commissioner for Political
Affairs, African Union
Commission
Viewpoints and
Think-Pieces
For the records
Photo/Chris Herwig/UNMIL
Consultative Advisory Group
H.E. Mrs. Julia Dolly Joiner, Commissioner for Political Affairs, African Union Commission
Mr. Abdalla Hamdok, Director, Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD), UNECA.
Designed and printed by the Documents Publishing Unit-PCMS, UNECA
Editorial Committee
Co-Chairs: Said Adejumobi- ECA and
Salim Latib – AUC
Members:
Gamal Ibrahim- ECA
Chrysantus Ayangafac- AUC
Mercy Wambui- ECA
Abraham Roch Okoko Esseau – AUC
Valerio Bosco- ECA

“This is Africa’s moment, which must be seized to
transform the economic and social destiny of our
continent. Achieving the MDGs is critical to this end, just as
is improved governance of our development processes. ECA
stands ready to support the efforts of the African Union and its
Commission in pursuit of these noble objectives”.
H.E. Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Speech to the Seventeenth Ordinary Session of the Executive
Council of the African Union, 22 July 2010, Kampala, Uganda
H.E. Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-secretary General and ECA’s Executive Secretary, and H.E. Mr. Jean Ping, Chair
of the African Union Commission are the primary drivers of the partnership between the two institutions
“...we are uniquely privileged to have had a long history of
valuable working relations and partnership with the ECA....
The Collaboration is designed to enable programmatic
synergies but also to initiate dialogue, build consensus and
mobilise partnership among stakeholders and to ensure ef-fective
result-oriented actions that would enrich the living
conditions of the people of our continent...”
H.E. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the AU Commission on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of
the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. (24th October 2008)

Sustaining the governance and democracy momentum in
Africa requires that knowledge driven advancement be mo-tivated
by information and perspectives. Efforts to shape and
reshape local and global views on Africa are furthermore con-tingent
on information related to progress made and the activi-ties
undertaken and unfolding within the terrain of governance
and democracy. There is a great deal that has unfolded and that
continues to unfold as a result of the wider commitment to
governance and democracy, but much of this remains muddled
in formal reports and in the confines of diplomatic dialogue.
This Newsletter responds directly to existing information and
knowledge gaps and is, in essence, directed at showcasing the
activities, events and programmes in governance and democ-racy
that are unfolding within Africa.
Over the course of the past few months and indeed over time,
the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Com-mission
(AUC), working with the Governance and Public
Administration Division of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA), under the overall leader-ship
of the Chairperson of the Commission, His Excellency
Jean Ping and the Executive Secretary of the UNECA, Mr.
Abdoulie Janneh, recognized that there is an urgent need to
close the information gap and move beyond the communica-tion
muddle and formalism that characterize relationships and
interactions. The Newsletter is hence a product of the organic
maturation of work that has unfolded in Africa in governance
and democracy. In response to the democratic momentum and
general commitment to governance, the AUC and the UNECA
have initiated a number of programmes and activities. Knowl-edge
of these is limited and often only confined to channels of
formal communication. Even outside of a demand for more in-formation
from civil society, partners and the general citizenry,
policy makers have also called on us to begin sharing informa-tion
in a more accessible and user friendly manner. In addition
to other communication efforts, this Newsletter represents
a very innovative and simple response to a wide demand for
information.
The shape and direction of what is contained in the Newslet-ter
will always be contingent on the demands and perspectives
of readers and the need to ensure that there is wider access to
information. It is indeed, for this reason that through the part-nership
between the Department of Political Affairs (DPA)
of the AUC and the Governance and Public Administration
Division (GPAD) of the UNECA, a decision was made to
focus substantive content of the Newsletter on the provision
and sharing of information on major initiatives, activities and
events on governance especially at the regional level, and offer-ing
independent reflections and perspectives on contemporary
African governance issues and challenges. As both the African
Union and the United Nations play active leadership roles in
shaping the direction and content of work in governance and
democracy, it is expected that this Newsletter will serve as an
invaluable source of information for other actors and will over
time become an essential instrument for coordinative action
on governance in our Continent.
Viewed in the wider context, the Newsletter represents a key
instrument for all of the stakeholders who are and would be
Foreword
central to the Af-rican
Governance
Architecture and the
African Governance
Platform that would
be launched, subject
to the approval of
the Policy Organs of
the African Union.
Indeed, at the centre
of the African Gov-ernance
Platform is a
desire to ensure more
coordinated responses
to mandates through
a more effective exchange and dissemination of information.
Whilst the Newsletter constitutes a major step forward in the
information-sharing process, both the DPA-AUC and GPAD-ECA
recognize that much more will be needed to facilitate
greater impact, through evidence-based policy development
and implementation. This is indeed the substantive logic of
the partnership that has been forged and that this Newsletter
reflects.
The release and launch of the inaugural edition of the Newslet-ter
at the 16th Ordinary Summit of the Union on the Theme
‘Towards Greater Unity and Integration through Shared
Values’ is no coincidence. The Summit provides us all with an
immense opportunity to reaffirm our mandate and hence cre-ate
greater commitment to democracy and governance. Releas-ing
this first edition during the Summit thus provides all of us
with an opportunity to support and encourage the sustenance
of this noble initiative. Whilst there is and has to be commit-ment
from the institutions involved, the value of the initiative
resides, in the final analysis, on the views and perspectives of
those who read the Newsletter and those who would, from
all AU and UN structures, contribute to future editions. We
remain committed to delivering the Newsletter on a quarterly
basis and it is anticipated that the next version will focus on the
outcomes of the Summit. Your support in reading and circulat-ing
the Newsletter and information widely would be further
testimony to the commitment we all share in sustaining Africa’s
governance and democracy momentum.
I would like to thank the Editorial Team for the efforts in pro-ducing
this maiden issue of the African Governance Newsletter
and express the hope that it does represent the first in a series
of informative and interactive publications on governance
within the African Union.
H.E. Mrs. Julia Dolly Joiner
Commissioner for Political Affairs
African Union Commission
4 Vol.1 Issue 01 January-March 2011 African Governance Newsletter

This Newsletter is a practical testimony to the grow-ing
partnership between the AUC and ECA in har-nessing
their relative strengths and comparative advan-tages
in mutually promoting the cause of governance and
democracy in Africa. This first edition of the newsletter
released and launched at the 16th AU Summit on Shared
Values in Africa is an unequivocal demonstration of the
importance and commitment both institutions (AUC
and the ECA) attach to information and knowledge ex-change.
The persuasion for this initiative is based on the
reality that while a lot is happening at the regional and
sub-regional levels on governance, there are information
gaps, for policy makers and the African people to follow,
comprehend, and critique the unfolding governance pro-cesses
and developments. With the strong trend towards
regionalism in Africa, both at the economic and political
levels, it has become imperative to create a simple yet
educative and informative channel to engage the people
and policy makers at the level of Member States in the
Continent.
This newsletter is meant to serve as (i) an information
resource centre for ongoing activities and initiatives on
governance at the regional and sub-regional levels in Af-rica
(ii) a platform for critical but responsible reflections
and dialogue by Africans on contemporary governance
challenges; (iii) a feedback mechanism from the people
on their views, perceptions and interests on regional
programmes and (iv) a complementary initiative to the
African Governance Architecture of the AUC, to show-case
how the AU is building coordination, coherence and
strong partnership for effective performance by its organs
and the RECs on governance and democracy in Africa.
For the ECA, this initiative complements its work on
governance in Africa, especially the African Governance
Report (AGR). While the AGR is a rigorous empirically
based research and policy product, the African Gover-nance
Newsletter (AGN) is a simple information tool to
keep Africans abreast of developments on governance in
their Continent. Both (AGR & AGN) will certainly go a
long way in reinforcing the knowledge and information
base on governance in Africa.
The structure and content of the Newsletter have been
carefully designed. The Newsletter is in four major parts.
The first part centers on major regional initiatives and
activities in Africa; the second part is dedicated to the
interview of a prominent African, who has helped to
shape policy on governance and democracy in Africa.
In this edition, we bring you an interview with Her
Excellency, Mrs. Julia Dolly Joiner, Commissioner for
Political Affairs at the African Union Commission, who
was elected to the Political Affairs portfolio at a critical
conjuncture in the transition from the OAU to the AU,
and its governance agenda. The third part is on “View-points
and Thinkpieces”. This segment is to promote
informed discourse on contemporary governance issues
Editorial
Comments
and challenges in Africa. In this edition, H.E. Prof.
Amos Sawyer, former President of Liberia and currently,
Chairperson of the Governance Commission of Liberia
and Member, APRM Panel of Eminent Persons, is our
guest contributor. He reflects on the governance reform
in a post-conflict context, focusing on the experience of
Liberia, which he directly manages. This section of the
Newsletter is based on the personal views of the guest
contributor and cannot be ascribed to both the AUC
and ECA, or the Editorial Committee. The last section
of the Newsletter is on regional documents which we
reproduce for general information and records.
We hope that in subsequent editions of the Newsletter,
we would be able to provide information on the activi-ties
from the other AU organs and institutions working
on governance related issues like the Pan-African Parlia-ment,
the African Court of Justice and Human Rights,
the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights
(ACHPR), Africn Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and
the Regional Economic Communities (RECs). We have
already set the machinery in motion for this.
The Editorial Team would like to thank the leadership of
both the AUC and ECA for their support for the initia-tive.
They provided the moral and financial support to
make the Newsletter happen. The Consultative Advi-sory
Group has been a major back-stopping body for the
Newsletter. The Editorial Committee has had to bounce
ideas back and forth with them on the shape and direc-tion
that the Newsletter should take. My colleagues on
the Editorial Committee have been extremely committed
to the cause of the Newsletter and highly enthusiastic
about its production. I hope they feel fulfilled and satis-fied
with the collective product that we have. Colleagues
at the Documents and Publishing Unit at the ECA, who
undertook the design, layout and production of the
Newsletter, deserve our special commendation. Working
under a tight schedule, they ensured that the Newsletter
is ready for the Summit.
I hope the readers will find this effort a worthy endea-vour!
Your comments on the Newsletter will be highly
appreciated.
Said Adejumobi
Chair,
Editorial Committee

The Road to the “Shared Values” Summit of the
African Union
Introduction
The 14th Session of the As-sembly
of the African Union
(AU) endorsed a recommen-dation
of the Executive Council (EX.
CL/Dec.525 [XVI]) that the theme
of the 16th Ordinary Session of the
Assembly in January 2011 should
be dedicated to “Shared Values in
Africa” and in particular, the putting
in place of a Pan-African Architec-ture
on Governance. The Executive
Council Decision also recommended
that the 16th Ordinary Session of the
Assembly should identify obstacles
and measures to be adopted to facili-tate
continental integration based on
shared values. This theme is consis-tent
with the Strategic Plan of the
African Union Commission (2009-
2012) in which “Shared Values” is
one of the four priority pillars of the
Commission. “Shared Values”, in
this context is conceived in terms of
the collective interests, and aspira-tions
of the Union and the African
people that can facilitate the process
of regional integration especially in
the areas of democracy, popular par-ticipation
and improved governance
in Africa.
In preparation for the 16th Ordi-nary
Summit of the AU Heads of
State and Government, the Depart-ment
of Political Affairs of the AUC
embarked on a process of collective
reflection to ensure that the Summit
serves as an opportunity to reaffirm
and commit to implementing the
Shared Values of the African Union.
As Shared Values is subject to debate
and wider contestation, a more
reflective process would facilitate
consensus on the future shape and
direction of the governance agenda.
Whilst Member States are core to
shaping and determining the actions
and direction of Shared Values, it is
accepted that the issues embodied in
Shared Values are complex and could
benefit from expert engagement and
wider debates.
It is against this backdrop, that the
DPA organized series of Consulta-tions
aimed at building consensus on
how Shared Values (on Democracy
and Governance) can accelerate
continental integration. In keep-ing
with the overall rational of a
focused reflection, the objective of
the consultations was to focus on
building a common perspective on
the evolution and future policy path
to be pursued. In this regard, the
consultations addressed the follow-ing
questions:
What constitutes • Shared Values
at the Continental, Regional and
National Levels and how have
they evolved?
• What has been achieved and
what needs to be done within the
Shared Values space as a catalyst
to the integration process?
• What are the challenges in Shared
Values?
• What should be the future policy
orientation on Shared Values,
building on established and
unfolding processes, such as the
African Charter on Democracy,
Elections and Governance and the
African Governance Architecture?
Process
The consultations were diverse but
focused to ensure that there is thor-ough
reflection on the theme. Whilst
the DPA made presentations during
Group photo of the Gender and Youth Consultative Fora on the Shared Values Summit
Photo: Courtesy AUC/DPA

the consultations, participants took the
lead in the direction and content of the
debate. The role of the AUC was that
of a facilitator and listener. The follow-ing
consultations were organized:
Civil Society Consultation: This consul-tation
took place from 26-29 Novem-ber
2010, in Abuja, Nigeria. CIDO and
the Department of Political Affairs of
the Commission convened the consul-tation,
and the ECOSOCC (Political
Cluster) provided overall leadership
in facilitating the deliberations. The
consultation was attended by African
Civil Society Organizations from
across the Continent. In the conclu-sions
of the consultations, the CSOs
committed themselves to take owner-ship
and responsibility for articulating
and facilitating implementation of the
AU Shared Values.
Youth Forum: The Forum took place
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 6-7
December 2010. The forum was co-convened
by the DPA and the Depart-ment
of Human Science and Technol-ogy
which have within its portfolio,
youth issues. The forum was attended
by participants from African Union
Member States. The forum recom-mended,
amongst others, the need to
institutionalize the Youth Forum as a
means of enhancing predictable and
sustainable youth participation in the
AU. It was also affirmed that a Youth
Parliament will popularize the AU
and enhance youth awareness about
governance and policy making process
at the continental level.
Gender Forum: The Gender Forum
took place in Addis Ababa and was
attended by representatives from
Gender Organizations and Member
States. Amongst the participants were
a number of Ministers responsible for
Gender or Women’s Affairs. This fo-rum
stressed the imperative of imple-menting
the AU policy orientation
towards gender equality and women
representation and participation in
the governance and democracy policy
making process of Member States.
High Level Experts Consultation:
These consultations were attended by,
amongst others, academics, represen-tatives
from partner organizations,
the Chairperson of the 6th Conference
of Ministers of Public Service and all
Members of the Advisory Board on
Corruption. This consultation rec-ommended
that greater attention be
focused on accelerating ratification,
domestication, harmonization and
implementation of governance instru-ments.
It further stressed the impor-tance
of establishing a Governance
coordinating mechanism within the
AUC.
The general consensus that
emerged from the consul-tations
is that there is need
to shift focus from norms
setting to consolidation
and implementation.
Consultation between AUC and the
RECs: The consultation was held on 10
December 2010 and attended by six of
the 8 recognized RECs. This meeting
noted that RECs as the building blocks
for Africa’s unity and integration are
critical to Governance and Democracy,
but often their role is not fully under-stood
with regard to policy initiation,
development and implementation. It
thus recommended that there is need
to ensure that AU-RECs relationship
is strengthened in governance through
policy and programme harmonization.
AU Member States’ Consultation: This
meeting took place from 13th - 15th
December 2010 in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia. Thirty-one Member States
were represented at the consultation.
Besides reflecting on the theme of the
Summit, the consultation also made
inputs into the draft Summit Dec-laration.
Furthermore, the meeting
deliberated on the “Discussion Paper”
which hitherto had been considered
and revised by the preceding meetings
on Shared Values. The Member-States
Expert Meeting reviewed and finalized
the document to be submitted to the
decision-making organs of the AU.
The main conclusion of the consulta-tion
was that there is need for African
ownership and responsibility in taking
forward Shared Values.
Outcome
The general consensus that emerged
from the consultations is that there is
need to shift focus from norms setting
to consolidation and implementation.
The main recommendations of the
consultations and meetings are at two
levels. The first is focused on accelerat-ing
continental integration through
enhancing policy and programme
convergence in Democracy and Gov-ernance
and the second is to evolve
and strengthen the African Gover-nance
Architecture as the institutional
mechanism to harmonize and facilitate
policy convergence amongst Member
States.
The consultations concluded that
Member States should take appro-priate
measures to harmonize their
national laws and regulations with
AU instruments on Democracy and
Governance. The AUC and RECs
were encouraged to enhance coor-dination
and harmonize their policy
and programmes within the fold of
Shared Values. It was affirmed that
there is need to develop benchmarks
for implementation of the commit-ments
and principles as contained in
AU instruments relating to Democracy
and Governance.
It was recommended that Member
States which have not ratified the AU
Charter on Democracy, Elections
and Governance and other important
regional instruments should do so for
those instruments to come into force
and be implemented. Furthermore,
it was emphasized that the process
of reviewing the mandate of the Pan
African Parliament, and the proposal
to give the African Court of Justice
and Human Rights jurisdiction over
crimes under international law such as
genocide, crimes against humanity and
war crimes should be accelerated.
The AU Commission was urged
to launch the African Governance
Platform as a mechanism to facilitate
information flows, coordination and
evaluation of the implementation of
the AU instruments on democracy and
governance amongst AU organs and
the RECs in Africa

these policy pronouncements include,
amongst others:
Constitutive • Act of the African
Union;
• African Charter on Democracy,
Elections and Governance;
• The African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights;
• Algiers Declaration on Unconstitu-tional
Changes of Government;
• Lomé Declaration for an OAU
Response to Unconstitutional
Changes of Government;
• The OAU/AU Declaration on
Principles Governing Democratic
Elections in Africa;
• Protocol Relating to the Establish-ment
of the Peace and Security
Council of the African Union;
• African Union Convention on
Preventing and Combating Corrup-tion;
• African Union Post Conflict and
Reconstruction Policy Framework;
• African Union Convention for the
Protection and Assistance of Inter-nally
Displaced Persons in Africa;
• Protocol to the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights on the
Rights of Women in Africa;
• African Charter on the Rights and
Welfare of the Child.
The main vision encapsulated in
all these instruments is to create a
democratic, well governed, stable, and
prosperous continent, where Member
States and the peoples of the Conti-nent
will respect the values of human
rights and the rule of law, democratic
norms, culture and practices, free, fair
and credible elections and absolute
rejection of unconstitutional or illegal
transfer or seizure of power.
Pillar Two: Institutional
Framework
The AGA could be conceived as a
well-ordered and neatly assembled
structure, institution and mechanism
to give operational expression to
The African
Governance
Architecture
Introduction
The Decision of the 15th Ordinary
Summit of the Assembly of Heads of
State and Government of the Afri-can
Union (Assembly/AU/Dec.304
(XV)) was to dedicate the theme of
the 16th Ordinary AU Assembly to
Shared Values of the African Union,
and also mandated the African Union
Commission (AUC) to put in place
a Pan-African Architecture on Gov-ernance.
It is anticipated that the Ar-chitecture
would provide the process
and mechanism of enhancing policy
dialogue, convergence, coherence, and
harmonization amongst AU Organs,
institutions and Member States as a
way of speeding up the integration
process on the continent.
Given this mandate, the Department
of Political Affairs of the African
Union Commission initiated the
process of articulating and develop-ing
the African Governance Archi-tecture
(AGA). The rationale for the
AGA is that while there are several
governance instruments, frameworks,
and institutions at the regional, sub-regional
and national levels, there is
little or no effective synergy, coordi-nation
and harmonization amongst
them. These institutions work mostly
in silos, and do not benefit adequately
from each other even at the level of
sharing information and coordinating
their activities for effective perfor-mance.
The AGA is therefore meant to
fill this important gap in the gover-nance
mechanism of the continent.
The idea of the AGA is not about cre-ating
new institutions, but establish-ing
ways and means of strengthening
the existing ones and ensuring their
effective coordination and optimum
performance.
Definition and Structure of
AGA:
The AGA is the overall political
and institutional framework for the
promotion of democracy, governance
and human rights in Africa. The AGA
is an evolving mechanism composed
of three principal pillars: It consti-tutes
of a vision/agenda; Organs and
Institutions; mechanism/processes
of interactions amongst AU organs/
institutions with a formal mandate in
governance, democracy and human
rights.
Pillar One: Norms/Vision
The AGA projects the governance
vision for the continent. This gover-nance
vision is embodied in the gov-ernance
norms, standards, principles
and practices both at the regional and
continental levels which Member
States of the AU have collectively and
individually committed themselves
to. These principles, practices and
standards permeate the various policy
pronouncements of the AU. Some of

• The AU Advisory Board on Cor-ruption
• NEPAD Planning and Coordinat-ing
Agency (NEPAD Agency)
• Regional Economic Communities.
Pillar Three: Interaction
Mechanism and Processes
An African Governance Platform is
the major institutional mechanism for
the expression of the AGA. During
the consultations, it was agreed that
establishing the Platform is imperative
in strengthening the AGA by enhanc-ing
coordination, harmonization and
implementation. To consolidate and
enhance implementation of the gover-nance
agenda, AU organs and institu-tions
with a formal mandate in gover-nance
agreed to establish a governance
platform. The role of the Platform is to
facilitate information flow, exchanges,
dialogue, synergies and joint action
amongst the various AU governance
institutions and actors, and monitor
the Africa Governance vision. AU
institutions, organs and initiatives
with a formal mandate in democracy,
governance and human rights strive
to consolidate democratic governance
in Africa by enabling and facilitating
the internalization of AU instruments
on governance in Member States of
the AU; ensure overall coherence and
convergence of the governance pro-grammes
at the regional and continen-tal
levels. The following are the main
institutions that comprise the AGA:
• AU Commission;
• African Court on Human and
Peoples’ Rights;
• African Commission on Human
and Peoples’ Rights;
• Pan-African Parliament;
• African Peer Review Mechanism;
• The Economic, Social and Cultural
Council;
compliance and implementation of
the major governance instruments and
commitments. The Platform is not
to duplicate the mandate or work of
existing organs/institutions and initia-tives;
and would not act as a decision-making
body. The Platform is simply a
platform for coordination, harmoniza-tion
and coherence on governance in
Africa.
Conclusion:
Rather than a panacea to the gover-nance
challenges facing the conti-nent,
the AGA should been seen as
providing an opportunity to engage
and develop appropriate capacity
and responses to Africa’s governance
challenges. A coordinated and inte-grated
approach is no substitute for the
primary responsibility of AU Member
States in democracy, governance and
human rights. The AGA is premised on
complementing the primary responsi-bility
of States and existing institutions
of the AU on governance
The Architecture would provide
the process and mechanism of en-hancing
policy dialogue, conver-gence,
coherence, and harmoniza-tion
amongst AU Organs, institu-tions
and Member States as a way of
speeding up the integration process
on the continent

The African Union’s Draft Charter on the Values and
Principles of Public Service and Administration in Africa
Continental Africa Public Service Day Celebrations, 19 June 2009, Dar-es-Salaam,Tanzania
Pursuant to the aforementioned Deci-sion,
the African Union Commission
initiated several activities between
September 6 and November 9, 2010.
The first of these was the Member States
Experts Meeting organized in Maputo,
Mozambique, from 06 to 08 September
2010. The experts from about thirty
Member States of the Union reviewed
and finalized the Draft Charter pre-pared
under the auspices of Algeria in
the light of the mandate received from
the Executive Council. At the end of
the Maputo meeting, the preamble
and several articles of the Draft Char-ter
submitted to the Member States
Experts were amended. The outcomes
of the Maputo meeting were submitted
for consideration to the 5th Extended
Bureau Meeting of the 6th Conference of
African Ministers of Public Service held
in Maputo, Mozambique, on 9 Septem-ber
2010.
In examining the outcomes of the Mem-ber
States Experts’ work, the African
Ministers of Public Service noted the
progress recorded in the review of the
Draft African Charter on the Values and
the Principles of the Public Service and
Administration, and requested its sub-mission
to the African Union Assembly
through the Executive Council for
adoption. It should be recalled that in
accordance with one of the recommen-dations
of the Member States Experts
meeting, it was advised that there needs
to be a harmonization of the different
language versions of the Draft Charter.
The process of developing a charter on
Public Service in Africa dates back to
the 2nd Conference of African Ministers
of Public Service held in Rabat, Mo-rocco,
in December 1998. At the end of
that Conference the “Rabat Declaration”
was adopted, which recommended the
development of a Charter on Public Ser-vice
for Africa. As such, a working group
was immediately established under the
auspices of the African Center for the
Training and Research on Administra-tion
for Development (CAFRAD).
Three years after the 1998 Conference
held in Rabat, at the 3rd Conference of
African Ministers of Public Service held
in Windhoek, Namibia, in February
2001, this working group submitted the
outcome of its work which was adopted
by the Conference under the name of
“Charter of Public Service in Africa”.
This charter drew its inspiration from
the experiments of administrative re-form
in many African countries with the
support of international partners. This
particular version of the Charter is also
referred to by public service scholars
and practitioners as the “2001 Charter”.
The Charter represents a major attempt
at anchoring the African Public Service
in the values of political neutrality, pro-fessionalism,
effective implementation
of adopted public policies, fair working
conditions, respect for ethical principles,
fight against corruption and satisfaction
of users’ needs. Although consolidat-ing
a series of fundamental principles
necessary for the improvement of Public
Service in Africa, the 2001 Charter had
however two weaknesses: it was not a
biding legal instrument and the process
of its development was conducted out
of the framework of the African Union.
In view of the strategic importance of
the Charter to the continent there is
currently an on-going process directed
at ensuring that the Charter is appro-priately
incorporated into the African
Union system.
Incorporating the Charter into
the African Union System
Until the 4th Conference of African
Ministers of Public Service held in Stel-lenbosch,
South Africa, in May 2003,
this gathering of Ministers was a process
completely external to the African
Union. This Conference marked the
beginning of the process of integrating
the African Public Service Charter into
the AU system. At the 5th Conference of
the African Ministers of Public Ser-vice,
held in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, in
December 2005 the process was given
a major boost, as Algeria was entrusted
with the responsibility of leading the
review and transformation process of
the 2001 Charter into a binding legal
instrument for the Member States of the
African Union.
Following the commitment of Alge-ria
which assumed with a great sense
of responsibility its task, a first Draft
of the African Charter on the Values
and Principles of Public Service and
Administration was submitted to the
6th Conference of African Ministers of
Public Service held in Midrand, South
Africa, in October 2008. To complete
this process of the development of an
African Charter in the African Union,
the Executive Council of the African
Union, in its Decision Ex.CL/Dec.243
(VIII) on the report of the 5th Confer-ence
of African Ministers of Public
Service, requested the African Union
Commission to review and update the
Draft African Charter on the Values and
Principles of Public Service and Admin-istration
for adoption by the relevant
African Union Organs.
Photo: Courtesy AU/DPA

24, for instance, stipulates the submis-sion
of “the copy of the reports of Member
States to the competent authorities of the
Union for the determination of suitable
actions in their respective fields of compe-tence”
and that “the Assembly must take
suitable measures aiming at dealing with
issues raised in the Commission’s Report”.
These mechanisms echo somehow the
principles of collective responsibility
and non-indifference towards what
could occur in a Member State. These
mechanisms create the conditions of the
enforcement of the Charter. With these
mechanisms, and a political will, there
are chances that the Charter on the
Values and Principles of Public Service
and Administration will be applied and
the lives of African peoples significantly
improved through effective service
delivery.
The Draft Charter, to be submitted in
four languages to the consideration and
possible adoption of the deliberating
organs of the Union indicates a real
commitment to work for the modern-ization
and the improvement of African
Public Service and continental integra-tion.
It showcases also the collective will
of the African Union Member States to
prevent and fight corruption, to protect
the users and Public Service Agents as
well as to promote good governance
and sustainable development on the
continent. This Draft Charter can thus
be regarded as a major step towards the
realization of the African Union Shared
Values agenda, in its governance com-ponent.
Its adoption on the occasion of
a Summit devoted to “Shared Values”
would constitute a strong signal in the
common journey of African States and
people towards integration and the
building of a better Africa, and a stron-ger
continental organization.
Hopefully, after the Draft Charter is
adopted in January 2011, it will then be
submitted for the signature and ratifica-tion
of Member States. Fifteen (15)
ratifications will be necessary for its
entry into force. An entry into force will
undoubtedly fill a vacuum in the norma-tive
pillar of the African Governance
Architecture and will open the way for
some dividends of governance that the
African people urgently crave for
reinforcement of the Public Administra-tion‘
s capacities, the participation of the
users in the administrative processes,
the promotion of moral values in the
Public Service, the improvement of
the working conditions of the Public
Service Agents and the protection
of their rights, the harmonization
of public policies and procedures of
African Union Member States relating
to Public Service, the equality between
men and women in the Public Service
and Administration, the reinforcement
of international co-operation for the
improvement of Public Service and the
sharing of good practices and experi-ences
amongst Member States.
The objectives of the Charter demon-strate
that the Draft Charter aims at fa-cilitating
the emergence of a new type of
Public Service, more capable of solving
contemporary African problems and to
comply with a certain number of prin-ciples.
The principles privileged in the
Draft Charter included the equality of
clients of the Public Service and Admin-istration,
the prohibition of discrimina-tion;
impartiality, equity and respect for
the law in Public Services delivery; the
continuity of the Public Services in all
circumstances; adaptation to the needs
of the users, professionalism and ethics
in Public Service and Administration;
the promotion and the protection of the
users and Public Service Agents’ rights;
accountability, integrity and transpar-ency
in Public Service and Administra-tion;
and the effective and efficient use
of resources.
The Draft Charter on the Values and the
Principles of Public Service and Admin-istration
is conceived as a treaty which
will bind African Union Member States
that ratify or accede to it. Once ratified,
it will need to be implemented or ap-plied
by States Parties and this applica-tion
will have to be monitored. That is
why the Draft Charter’s Chapter Six lays
down not only mechanisms of applica-tion,
but also follow-up mechanisms.
Being a collective instrument of the
Member States of the African Union,
the mechanisms of application envisage
actions to be undertaken at the national,
regional and continental levels. To make
sure that the Charter is implemented, re-porting
mechanisms on the application
of the Charter are provided for. Article
To this end, the African Union Commis-sion
organized harmonization meetings
on 27-29 October and 6-8 November
2010 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A har-monization
Committee was appointed
composed of the Maputo Experts Meet-ing
Bureau, African Union Commission
and the United Nations Development
Program. The outcome of the harmo-nization
committee was submitted to
the Office of the Legal Counsel of the
African Union Commission at the end
of the third week of November 2010 for
vetting and certification, and for further
submission to the deliberating bodies
of the AU, for adoption. The Office of
the Legal Counsel completed its work
in mid-December 2010, thus, the Draft
Charter on the Values and the Principles
of Public Service is ready for submis-sion
in January 2011 to the deliberating
organs of the African Union.
Structure, Content and
Importance of the Charter
The revised Draft African Charter on
the Values and Principles of Public Ser-vice
and Administration is a document
composed of a preamble and seven
chapters with thirty-four (34) articles.
Chapter One relates primarily to the
definitions, objectives and principles
enshrined in the Charter. Chapter Two
deals with obligations of the Public
Service and Administration towards
users or the public. Chapters Three
and Four centre on the Public Service
Agents Code of Conduct and rights.
Chapter Five relates to the management
and the valorization of human resources,
while chapters Six and Seven deal on
the one hand with the mechanisms of
application, and on the other, with final
provisions which are common to most
African Union legal instruments. The
initial structure of the draft Charter has
been largely preserved; what has been
done in the review process is to update
and finalize the content.
With regard to the content of the Draft
Charter on the Values and the Principles
of Public Service and Administra-tion,
few points are worthy of note. In
addition to the definitions, there are
significant objectives embedded in the
document. These targeted objectives
include the delivery of innovating and
quality services, the modernization and

Nations General Assembly resolu-tion
A/61/296 on the Cooperation
between the United Nations and the
African Union calls upon the UN
system “to support the AU in develop-ing
a coherent and effective human
rights strategy, including through joint
programmes and activities, for the pro-motion
and protection of human rights
in Africa”.
The starting process on the Strategy
was the convening of a consultative
meeting of a AU Organs with Hu-man
Rights Mandate in September
2008 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso,
organized by the African Com-mission
on Human and Peoples
Rights (ACHPR) The meeting
was attended by representatives/
members of the African Commis-sion
on Human and Peoples’ Rights
(ACHPR), African Court on Human
and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR), the
African Committee of Experts on
the Rights and Welfare of the Child
(ACERWC) and the Department of
Political Affairs of the African Union
Commission (DPA-AUC).
The meeting recommended that AU
organs should establish a mecha-nism
where there would be regular
consultations and annual meetings.
With a view to avoiding duplication
of activities, the meeting called on
all the organs to share information
on their respective calendar of activi-ties,
planned missions, annual work
plans and reports.
1. Enhance coordination, comple-mentarities
and synergy among
continental, regional and national
human rights institutions in Africa
as well as the enforcement of deci-sions,
commitments and resolu-tions;
2. Strengthen the capacity of institu-tions
with human rights mandate
at continental, sub-regional and
national levels;
3. Deepen the culture of human
rights and democratic governance
in Africa;
4. Harmonize human rights instru-ments
at continental and regional
levels; and
5. Track progress made in the pro-motion
of human rights in Africa.
The mandate for undertaking the
Human Rights Strategy for Africa
derives from the Strategic Plan of
the African Union (2009- 2012),
which calls for enhanced coordi-nated
actions amongst AU organs
and institutions with human rights
mandate and between them and
other institutions and stakeholders
on the continent as a means of im-proving
the human rights agenda in
Africa. This Strategy also constitutes
a major part of the “Shared Values”
agenda of the Commission especially
towards the January 2011 Summit.
The United Nations also supported
AU’s initiative on developing the
Human Rights Strategy. The United
The Human
Rights Strategy
for Africa
The African Union Commission
(AUC) and the AU organs with hu-man
rights mandate with the support
of partner institutions like the Office
of the High Commissioner for Hu-man
Rights (OHCHR) and the Unit-ed
Nations Economic Commission
for Africa (UNECA) are currently
developing a Human Rights Strat-egy
for Africa. The Strategy aims
to facilitate cooperation, coordina-tion,
and effective synergy amongst
institutions and actors working on
human rights in Africa with a view to
upscaling the human rights agenda
and ensuring optimal delivery of hu-man
rights services in Africa.
Historically, the African political and
legal order has always been driven by
the need to promote human dignity
and protect human rights in Africa.
This concern expressed itself in the
1963 Charter of the Organization of
African Unity, in the African Char-ter
on Human and Peoples’ Rights
adopted in June 1981, in the Con-stitutive
Act of the African Union
adopted in Lomé in 2000 and more
recently in the African Charter on
Democracy, Elections and Gover-nance,
2007. These four documents
indicate the distance covered by
the African regional political order
in the formulation of principles
and standards to guarantee human
dignity and rights in Africa, and the
development of appropriate mecha-nisms
responsible for securing ad-herence
to and enforcement of those
principles and standards.
While there is a multiplicity of hu-man
rights institutions and man-dates,
there is little or no coordina-tion
amongst those institutions or
the tracking of progress made in the
promotion of human rights in Africa.
The Human Rights Strategy for
Africa therefore seeks to achieve the
following:
Winners of the AU Short Stories Competition, Africa Human Rights Day, October 2010
Photo: Courtesy AU/DPA

ECA Develops “Regional Anti-
Corruption Programme”
Corruption remains the most press-ing
challenge to the promotion
of good governance, sustainable
democracy, peace, security, stabil-ity
and economic development in
Africa. Corruption has a corrosive
effect on governance institutions
in Africa. It erodes trust and confi-dence
in public institutions, belies
the credibility and integrity of politi-cal
leaders, affects the quality and
delivery of public services, distorts
resource allocation and market
functioning, and promotes the
misallocation and misapplication of
scarce resources. In many resource
rich countries in Africa, corruption
has been a major issue in political
conflicts in which rents from those
resources are appropriated by a few
and unevenly distributed amongst
groups and communities especially
to the resource endowed communi-ties.
Corruption continues to deepen
poverty in Africa, and could be a ma-jor
factor in Africa’s (especially Sub-
Saharan Africa) inability in meeting
the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) by the target year of 2015.
The last two editions of the African
Governance Report of the ECA
(2005, and 2009) confirm that
corruption is one of the three most
serious national problems in Africa,
besides poverty and unemployment.
In the 2009 report, corruption
dipped further in the national survey
conducted in 35 African countries.
In response to the debilitating chal-lenge
posed by corruption in Africa,
UNECA has developed a regional
anti-corruption programme meant
to consolidate and provide strategic
direction and intervention on its
work on anti-corruption in Africa.
The programme is consistent with
previous activities and programmes
by the UNECA on anti-corruption
in the last five years. ECA’s recent
works on anti-corruption include
policy research on “Assessing the
Efficiency and Impact of National
Anti-Corruption Institutions in
As a follow-up to the Ouagadougou
meeting and the UN commitment to
enhance the capacity of the AU, the
Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR), the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa
(UNECA) and the African Union
Commission (AUC) embarked on
an initiative to facilitate the process
of developing a comprehensive
human rights strategy for Africa. A
meeting on a draft report on map-ping
the African Human Rights Sys-tem
took place in Arusha, Tanzania
on 25 November 2009. This meeting
endorsed AU’s leadership of the
process in developing the Strategy
and proposed that there should be
further consultations with AU or-gans
with a Human Rights mandate
on the ‘mapping document’- which
is a base document in developing the
Strategy.
On 11th -13 March 2010, a meeting
was arranged by the DPA-AUC in
collaboration with the OHCHR,
UNECA, and ACHPR in Banjul,
The Gambia for AU organs with hu-man
rights mandate and the RECs.
The meeting considered the “Map-ping
Document” and concluded by
adopting a clear path for finalizing
the Human Rights Strategy for Af-rica.
At the end of the meeting, the
“Mapping Document” was reviewed
and inputs made into its further
revision, while a clear ‘roadmap’ was
developed and agreed upon to guide
the process of formulating the Hu-man
Rights Strategy for Africa.
From 25th – 27 October 2010, an
expert meeting was organized in Ar-usha,
Tanzania, to consider the zero
draft of the Strategy. The workshop
reviewed the draft of the Strategy
and agreed to revise it in line with
comments and observations made.
The AUC is in the process of revis-ing
and finalizing the Strategy, which
would still be subjected to validation
processes of experts and AU organs,
before being taken forward. The
finalized draft Strategy will subse-quently
be submitted to AU Organs
for consideration, approval and
adoption, as may be deemed appro-priate
Africa”, “Deepening Judiciary Ef-fectiveness
in Combating Corrup-tion
in Africa”, a major international
conference in 2008 on: “Institu-tions,
Culture and Corruption in
Africa”, training for national anti-corruption
institutions, judiciary,
CSOs and other stakeholders and
support to the AU Advisory Board
on Corruption.
ECA’s Regional Anti-Corruption
Programme (ECA-RACP) aims
at ensuring the effective elabora-tion
and implementation of the UN
Convention against Corruption
(UNCAC) and the AU Conven-tion
on Preventing and Combating
Corruption in Africa (AUCPCC). It
is a holistic programme that covers
the areas of policy-based research,
training and capacity development,
advocacy, and support to national,
sub-regional and regional institu-tions
on anti-corruption in Africa. A
major component of the programme
is the Illicit Financial Flows proj-ect.
Africa continues to lose billions
of dollars in illicit financial flows
especially through multinational
corporations (MNCs); funds which
otherwise could have been available
for development projects and the al-leviation
of poverty. According to a
report by Global Financial Integrity,
from 1970 to 2008, Africa lost over
$854 billion dollars, which consti-tutes
‘hidden resources’ for develop-ment
in Africa. ECA in collaboration
with the AUC and AfDB will work
together to address the problem of
illicit financial flows in Africa so that
resources being lost through this
channel can be saved and harnessed
for Africa’s economic growth and
development.
The ECA will work closely with the
AU Advisory Board on Corruption,
the UNDP, the Pan-African Body of
National Anti-Corruption Institu-tions
in Africa, and the RECs in facil-itating
the regional anti-corruption
programme

AU Commission’s Technical Assistance Programme
for Election Management Bodies
In keeping with the technical assis-tance
mandate, the Department of
Political Affairs in collaboration with
International IDEA (Institute of De-mocracy
and Elections Assistance)
has been providing BRIDGE training
programmes for officials from Na-tional
Election Management Bodies.
These courses aim at strengthening
election administrators’ capacity
to conduct their work in an effec-tive
manner and to acquire values,
skills and knowledge which will lead
towards the delivery of acceptable
elections through a succession of
electoral cycles. Apart from provid-ing
quality professional development
training for election administrators,
the courses also focus on a transfer of
skills through a Training of Trainers
approach.
Additionally, to support the Depart-ment’s
technical assistance pro-gramme,
regional meetings on the
promotion of electoral processes
with respect to election conduct are
underway. These meetings will take
the form of seminars at which studies
commissioned by the Department
will be presented setting out findings
with respect to existing mechanisms
and procedures and recommend-ing
improvements, where necessary.
The seminar on the first electoral
disputes resolution study was held
recently for the Southern Africa De-velopment
Community region. The
proposed study on electoral disputes
is aimed at improving standards in
settling electoral disputes
In particular, it calls for Technical
Assistance to enhance the capacity
of Election Management Bodies. In
article 18 for example the Charter
states that “State Parties may request
the Commission, to provide advisory
services or assistance for strengthen-ing
and developing their electoral
institutions and processes”. This
Article is complemented by Article
18 sub-section 2 which states that
“the Commission may at any time,
in consultation with the State Party
concerned, send special advisory
missions to provide assistance to that
State Party for strengthening its elec-toral
institutions and processes”.
The EMB support program has
opened the way for sustainable
electoral technical assistance to be
available to national EMBs from the
Department of Political Affairs. To
date several requests for technical
and financial assistance from individ-ual
EMBs of the continent have been
reviewed with some EMBs receiving
support in various election related
fields. With each of the Electoral
Commissions, the emphasis has been
on assisting either the electoral pro-cedures
or management structures
of a particular Electoral Commission
and to strengthen the organization
and conduct of election processes.
Requests by national EMBs to
strengthen the organization and
conduct of elections may in part be
driven by recommendations from
consultations with the EMBs by
the AUC. These requests alongside
requests from post conflict Member
States will be prioritized. The re-quests
emanating from these sources
could concern a wide variety of
election related issues, such as review
of electoral systems, delimitation of
electoral districts, registration of vot-ers,
campaign financing, and election
logistics management.
Election Management Bodies
(EMBs) are in the forefront of de-mocracy
building and have a funda-mental
role to play in democracy and
governance processes. In recognition
of this role and the role the AU can
play in strengthening capacities of
national electoral authorities, the
Department of Political Affairs of
the African Union Commission
through the Elections Assistance
Unit has embarked on a three-pronged
programme for EMBs. The
programmatic focus for EMBs has
been in drawing up best practices on
key EMB elements and processes; in
creating an interactive mechanism
through which EMB experiences
can be shared and in building the
capacities of Electoral Commissions
through the provision of elections
experts and/or financial contribu-tions,
where possible.
This support transcends the admin-istration
and management of actual
polling to encompass all areas of the
electoral cycle; from the traditional
areas of voter registration and inter-nal
political party processes, to the
impact of possibly archaic and con-tradictory
constitutional, electoral
and legal frameworks that exacerbate
rather than ameliorate tensions that
come to the fore at election time.
The Department of Political Affairs
technical assistance for EMBs is
guided by various policy pronounce-ments
made by the AU that are
significant to EMBs work, in particu-lar,
the adopted African Charter on
Democracy, Elections and Gover-nance
and the Principles Govern-ing
Democratic Elections in Africa.
The provisions of the Charter that
relate to elections provide positive
incentives and empower the Elec-toral
Assistance Unit and Elections
Assistance Fund to support efforts of
electoral commissions at improving
the conduct of elections in Member
States.
This support tran-scends
the administra-tion
and management
of actual polling to
encompass all areas of
the electoral cycle

years. The second decision was to part-ner
with the UNDP in the production of
the report especially the production of
the country reports of the AGR. While
AGR country reports are produced in
all project countries, not all of them are
published or optimal benefits derived
from them. As such, partnering with the
UNDP would afford greater usage of
those reports, and would be useful for
UNDP’s programming and policy dia-logue
and intervention on governance at
the country level. However, ECA leads
the AGR process.
The theme for the next edition of the
AGR is on: Elections and the Manage-ment
of Diversity in Africa. Three major
considerations informed the choice of
the theme. These are; the findings of
AGR I and AGR II; the cross-cutting
issues identified by the APRM in the
reviews done so far, and general pressing
issues on the continent. As the findings
of African Governance Report II (2009)
indicate, the number of elections has
risen across the continent. Between 1996
and 2006, 44 elections were conducted
in Sub-Saharan Africa. For the years
2005 to 2007 alone 26 presidential and
28 parliamentary elections were con-ducted.
However, the trend is not bereft
of challenges; elections continue to
trigger conflicts, polarize people, deepen
ethnic divisiveness and political violence
and promote general insecurity. The
report will explore how elections can be
a major tool of social cohesion, political
harmony and diversity management in
Africa, without compromising the basic
democratic tenets of elections- freeness,
fairness, transparency and credibility
General rightly noted, “without good
governance, predictable administration
and legitimate power, no amount of
funding, no amount of charity will set
Africa on the path to sustainable growth”.
The AGR therefore complements
ECA’s macro-economic policy inter-ventions
aimed at facilitating holistic
development process at the political and
economic levels in Africa. The AGR
adopts a unique methodology, which
both combines three instruments (i) the
expert panel survey (ii) national house-holds’
survey and (iii) desk research.
ECA adopts a decentralized approach
in preparing the report in which inde-pendent
national research institutions
are commissioned to do the country
reports. In terms of value, the report
has become a major tool of governance
policy dialogue, a reference material for
scholars, policy makers and civil society
organizations, and also serves not only as
an authentic instrument for identifying
good practices across countries but also
constitutes the background material used
in the APRM process in many countries.
Two editions of the report have been
produced. The first in 2005 covering
27 African countries and the second in
2009 covering 35 African countries and
published by Oxford Press, England for
ECA. The scope covered by the report
include; Political Governance; Eco-nomic
Governance and Public Financial
Management; Private Sector Devel-opment
and Corporate Governance;
Checks and Balances in Political Power;
Institutional Effectiveness and Account-ability
of the Executive; Human Rights
and the Rule of Law; Corruption in
Africa; and Institutional Capacity Build-ing
for Governance. The main finding of
AGR II is that there is marginal progress
(only 2% points) on governance in Af-rica
against the baseline report of AGR I
(2005). The report also proffered policy
recommendations that are essentially
informed by country specific realities.
After the production of two editions of
the report, there was a rigorous review
process of the report. At the end of
extensive reflections and expert consul-tations,
two decisions were made. First,
is to adopt a thematic approach to the
production of the report every two years,
and produce a general report every six
AGR: A
Landmark
Report on
Governance in
Africa
African Governance Report II
2009
The United Nations Economic Commis-sion
for Africa (ECA) in 1999 initiated
a major project on “Monitoring and
Assessing the Progress towards Democ-racy
and Good Governance in Africa”. A
major output of that project is the land-mark
report on governance in Africa-
The African Governance Report (AGR).
AGR represents a major intervention on
governance by the ECA meant to assess
and monitor the progress African coun-tries
are making on governance; gauge
citizens’ perceptions on the state of
governance in their respective countries;
showcase best practices across countries;
identify capacity gaps in governance
institutions; and propose policy recom-mendations
and strategic interventions
aimed at improving governance on the
continent.
There has emerged a global consensus
that governance is central to economic
growth, human development and politi-cal
stability in the World. The crisis of
governance largely explains the slow
rate of economic progress and social
development on the continent. While
Africa and the East Asian countries were
at relatively similar levels of development
in the immediate post-independent era,
the strong governance systems of the
latter, which some have described as
“development states” that ensured rapid
economic growth and human capacity
development in those countries. As
Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-
Commission for Africa
Report, which is the most comprehensive report on
assesses and monitors the progress African countries
identifi es capacity gaps in governance institutions
strategic interventions aimed at promoting good
political and economic governance, development of the
corporate governance, checks and balances in political power,
continent.
and accountability of the executive, human rights and
and institutional capacity building. It employs a unique
combines three research instruments—a national expert
c household survey and desk research.
second edition of the Report is that Africa has made some
governance. Though modest, this progress has had
the continent: declining levels of violent confl icts and civil
peace and security, economic growth averaging 5% in
improvement in the living standards of the African people
from HIV/AIDS. Africa also continues to post remarkable
economic governance and public fi nancial management. African
better managed, with improvements in the tax system and
mobilization, better budgetary management and a more conducive
private investment and private-sector growth.
Economic Commission for Africa African Governance Report II 2009
African Governance Report II
2009
The African Governance Report, which is the most comprehensive report on
governance in Africa, assesses and monitors the progress African countries
are making on governance, identifi es capacity gaps in governance institutions
and proposes policies and strategic interventions aimed at promoting good
governance on the continent.
The Report focuses on political and economic governance, development of the
private sector and corporate governance, checks and balances in political power,
institutional effectiveness and accountability of the executive, human rights and
the rule of law, corruption and institutional capacity building. It employs a unique
methodology that combines three research instruments—a national expert
opinion panel, a scientifi c household survey and desk research.
The theme of this second edition of the Report is that Africa has made some
progress in improving governance. Though modest, this progress has had
positive spin-offs for the continent: declining levels of violent confl icts and civil
wars, consolidation of peace and security, economic growth averaging 5% in
recent years, modest improvement in the living standards of the African people
and fewer deaths from HIV/AIDS. Africa also continues to post remarkable
progress in economic governance and public fi nancial management. African
economies are better managed, with improvements in the tax system and
revenue mobilization, better budgetary management and a more conducive
environment for private investment and private-sector growth.
Economic Commission for Africa African Governance Report II 2009
AGR Dr. Abdalla Hamdok, Director GPAD-ECA;
The Division that produces AGR

The Role of the APRM in
fostering African Shared Values
population including Algeria, Angola,
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape
Verde, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ga-bon,
Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi,
Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozam-bique,
Nigeria, Republic of Congo,
Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Sen-egal,
Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan,
Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.
and faithful adherence to, and imple-mentation
codes, standards and conventions in
the four thematic areas, to which the
member states have acceded. It has the
potential to seek collective, sustainable
and equitable solutions to common
African problems; put into motion a
strategic re-orientation towards the
The mechanism is one of the core
frameworks for upholding and deepening
of the shared values of the African Union.
The process of peer review is premised on
the establishment of
institutions, structures and systems that
are based on African Union shared values,
codes, norms and standards in political,
economic and social governance;
human rights; the rule-of-law and in the
socio-political culture.
Among the above acceded countries,
the following thirteen countries had
been peer reviewed and their reports
made publicly available: Algeria, Benin,
Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho,
Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria,
Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.
Ethiopia is at an advanced stage of
review.
The APRM stresses the responsibil-ity
of national governments and other
stakeholders, including “participating
Heads of State and Government,” to
ensure and monitor the domestication
The African Peer Review Mechanism
(APRM) is a mutually agreed instru-ment
voluntarily acceded to by the
Member States of the African Union
(AU) as an African self-monitoring
mechanism. The APRM is a bold,
unique and innovative approach
designed and implemented by Africans
for Africa. It is aimed at monitoring
participating
countries’ prog-ress
towards
adopting and
implementing
the new Partner-ship
for Africa’s
Development
(NEPAD)’s
priorities and
programme on
democracy and
governance.
The mandate of
the mechanism
is to ensure that
the policies
and practices
of participat-ing
countries
conform to the
agreed values
in the following
four thematic
areas namely
Democracy and
Political Gover-nance;
Eco-nomic
Governance and Management;
Corporate Governance; and Socio-
Economic Development. The APRM
process entails periodic reviews of the
policies and practices of participating
countries to ascertain progress being
made towards achieving the mutually
agreed goals and compliance in the
aforementioned four thematic areas.
The APRM is open to all member
states of the AU of which thirty mem-bers
of the African Union have volun-tarily
acceded at present representing
more than 75% of the continent’s
of African and international
validation of univer-sal
as well as African
values; accelerate
the process of intra-
Africa technical
cooperation through
popularizing best
practices identified
in each country re-viewed
and provides
space for the multi-faceted
dialogue and
open discussion of
national agenda.
The mechanism
is one of the core
frameworks for
upholding and deep-ening
of the shared
values of the African
Union. The process
of peer review is
premised on the
establishment of in-stitutions,
structures
and systems that are
based on African
Union shared values,
codes, norms and standards in political,
economic and social governance; hu-man
rights; the rule-of-law and in the
socio-political culture. The mechanism
seeks to emphasize the interdependen-cy
of democracy and development; and
that they should be mutually reinforc-ing.
Viewed in the context of Constitu-tive
Act of the African Union, there-fore,
the APRM embodies and seeks to
promote three fundamental values of
the African Union: (1) Freedom and
human rights (2) Participatory gover-nance;
and (3) Accountability

Collective Rejection of Unconstitutional Change of
Government as a Shared Value in Africa
stability in Africa. From the Egyp-tian
revolution in 1952 to 1998,
there were 85 violent or unconstitu-tional
changes of government in Af-rica.
This situation often gives rise to
political dictatorships, stifling of the
political space and suppression of
civil liberties, rampant human rights
violations, and denial of popular
participation in governance. Politi-cal
dictatorship has also undermined
economic progress and development
in Africa, hence the strong stance of
the continent on the phenomenon of
coups and unconstitutional change
of government.
The AU and RECs zero tolerance
policy on coups d’etat and the strong
stance taken by some African Coun-tries
at the United Nations encour-aged
the UN Security Council to
take an historical decision over the
resurgence of the scourge of uncon-stitutional
change of government in
Africa. In May 2009, the UNSC de-clared
its support for the AU−RECs’
policy on coups d’etat and welcomed
the preventative measures under-taken
by the AU and RECs against
unconstitutional changes of govern-ments
in Africa
At the level of the RECs, the ECOW-AS
example is worthy of note. The
ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol
on Democracy and Good Governance
of 2001 outlaws the unconstitutional
seizure of power and proffers sanc-tions
for erring Member States. SADC
has also followed suit in this regard.
Over the past few years, the com-mitment
towards the upholding and
application of this shared value in the
continent has been demonstrated
in the consistent denunciation of
unconstitutional changes of govern-ments.
ECOWAS and SADC, amongst
others, joined the African Union
in condemning the coups that took
place in their own sub-regions and
a number of Member States were
suspended from the continental and
regional organizations. In addition to
demanding a return to constitutional
order, targeted sanctions, such as
assets freezes and travel bans against
the perpetrators of the coups, were
imposed with a view to facilitating
the restoration of constitutional and
democratic governance.
Unconstitutional change of govern-ment
has had deleterious effects on
governance, democracy, and political
In Africa over the last decade, there
has evolved an agreed political norm
and commitment to reject uncon-stitutional
change of government
either through a coup d’état or any
other illegal of seizure of political
power. Both at the continental level
of the AU and some of the RECs
like the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) and
the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), unconstitu-tional
change of government has
been outlawed. In the AU, three basic
policy instruments, namely the Lomé
Declaration on the Framework for
OAU Responses to Unconstitution-al
Changes of Government (Lomé,
Togo, July 2000); the Constitutive
Act of the African Union (Lomé,
Togo, July 2000); and the African
Charter on Democracy, Elections
and Governance (Addis Ababa, Ethi-opia,
January 2007) all emphasize a
clear rejection of unconstitutional
change of power in African countries.
In addition, in January 2010 the AU
Summit approved a set of “prohibi-tive
stipulations” and restrictions,
which are meant to serve as deter-rent
against perpetrators of coups
d’état. These stipulations include: a)
prohibition to stand for new elections
(b) possibility for legitimate authori-ties
to try the perpetrator(s) at the
African Court on Human and Peoples
Rights’ (c) set of sanctions against
perpetrator(s). The Heads of State
also recommended the revitalization
of the mechanism of structural pre-vention
of unconstitutional chang-es
of government – for instance,
Members States were encouraged to
speed up both signature and ratifica-tion
of AU Charter on Democracy,
Elections and Governance – and the
promotion of further cooperation
with International Organizations
(UN, European Union) in dealing
with coups d’état.
“The Assembly emphasises the need
for a comprehensive approach to the
issue of unconstitutional changes of Govern-ment
based on zero tolerance for coups d’Etat
but also for violations of democratic stan-dards,
the persistence of reccurrence of which
could result in unconstitutional changes.”
Decision of the AU Assembly/AU/Dec.269(XIV)
January 2010

Commissioner for Political Affairs, AUC interview with the African Governance Newsletter
lishing the required policy frame-work,
as reflected, for instance in the
adopted African Charter on De-mocracy,
Elections and Governance
and the African Union Convention
for the Protection and Assistance
of Internally Displaced Persons in
Africa, we all recognize that with the
passage of time our priorities need
to shift from policy development
towards policy implementation.
Over the last three or so years, I
have prioritized efforts directed at
ensuring that the adopted policy
frameworks are known and that
Member States ratify the instru-ments.
Whereas policy development
is always a continuing process, we
have moved to a stage where we are
focusing added attention on imple-mentation,
support to Member
States and the monitoring of domes-tication.
Much of this has already
started, as for example in the work of
the Advisory Board on Corruption,
which I took a lead in establishing
as part of the overall mandate of the
Department. As we move deeper
into issues of implementation, one of
the emerging priorities of the Union
is the consolidation of continental
and regional efforts in Governance
scratch and engage in both strategic
issues and operational level details
for delivering on the mandate and
vision emanating from Maputo. Mat-ters
of Governance and Democracy
were only, by and large, introduced
during the 1990s and affirmed in
the Constitutive Act of the African
Union. During the initial phase, I
had no option but to focus attention
on building the human resource and
financial capacity of the Department
and at the same time, drive forward
the establishment of coherent policy
frameworks for the African Union
in, amongst others, Governance and
Democracy.
Today, as I reflect back on the jour-ney,
I can say with a level of humility,
that we have come a long way as we
now have a coherent policy frame-work
in Governance and Democracy
and have a better capacitated Depart-ment.
Whilst there have been some
developments within the policy
realm that add to the work of the
Department, the overall mandate of
the Department has been consistent
with what emerged in Maputo and
we continue to draw inspiration from
the Constitutive Act. In as much as
we have made major strides in estab-
Interview:
Interview with Her
Excellency, Mrs.
Julia Dolly Joiner,
Commissioner for
Political Affairs, African
Union Commission, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia,
by the Chair, Editorial Committee of the
Newsletter, Prof. Said Adejumobi
1. Can you share with us some
of the major changes that
have taken place in the focus,
mandate and priorities of the
since you were first elected to
the position of Commissioner?
The broad vision and mandate of
the Department of Political Affairs
was established during the Maputo
Summit in 2003. In addition to the
supervision of Representational
Offices and the Secretariat of the
African Commission on Human
and Peoples’ Rights, the mandate
included humanitarian issues, the
promotion of governance, democ-racy,
respect for human rights,
elections observation and assistance,
the free movement of persons and
Africa-Arab relations, including the
organization of the 2nd Africa-Arab
Summit. At the time, I also carried
the overall responsibility for the
establishment of the Washington
Office of the AU, the Pan African
Parliament and the African Courts
on Human and Peoples’ Rights and
Justice. Whilst the mandate and
responsibilities were very wide, the
available human resource capacity
within the Department was limited,
as the Political Affairs Portfolio was
relatively new and the structure that
we inherited from the Organization
of African Unity (OAU) was weak,
with only seven Officials allocated to
the Department.
When I was elected, the reality that I
faced was one of having to start from

most instrumental in enhancing the
capacity for delivery of all AU institu-tions
and Organs within Governance
and Democracy.
3. What were some of the
challenges you faced as you
grappled with shaping and
implementing the mandate
established by the Union in
Governance and Democracy?
The challenges, I would say, are gener-ally
at two levels. The first relates to
institutional capacity and the second
to overall strategic orientation. At the
level of strategy, it goes without saying
that there is always a tension between
the application of shared values and
the particularities and specificities of
each Member State. The Commission
and the Union it serves, have limited
powers and hence there are con-straints
and established parameters on
what can be done in Governance and
Democracy. Whilst there is a propen-sity
to suggest that the Union should
do more, it is equally imperative to
recognize that even as new principles
are established, it would take long
before Member States fully appreci-ate
and accept that in order to move
forward as a collective, compliance to
adopted shared values is not a choice,
but a necessity. This is a continuing
challenge and does find expression
in all the programmes and activities
that we establish to take forward the
mandate.
Our ability to respond to Member
States aspirations and indeed to man-age
the strategic tension that exists
between the collective and individual
interest, is largely dependent on avail-able
capacity. The simple reality here
is that the capacity and resources
made available have never matched
expectations and the mandate. To fill
many of the capacity gaps, we worked
overall Shared Values space, we can
conclude that there have been many
successes and milestones in our efforts
to establish the required policy frame-works
in a participative and inclusive
manner. Viewed in context, it will also
be recognized that the African Charter
on Democracy, Election and Gover-nance
is most progressive and serves
as a global benchmark for the estab-lishment
of similar instruments. We
also know well that the African Union
Convention for the Protection and
Assistance of Internally Displaced Per-son
in Africa is an international first
and a very positive step on the part of
African Union Member States.
At the level of institutions, we can
look back with some satisfaction that
despite all of the challenges associated
with institution building, including
getting Member States to match man-dates
with actual budgets, we have
made significant progress. As is widely
known, we have, from the most basics,
built a functional Department of
Political Affairs and I must add, with
a sense of contentment, a small but
necessary Democracy and Electoral
Assistance Unit that is resourced by a
Democracy and Electoral Assistance
Fund. The fact that the African Union
is now observing all National elec-tions
in Member States is testimony
to our success at building the required
capacity. At the level of institutional
building, I must also highlight that,
through our efforts and direct hands-on
involvement, we established the
Washington Office, the Pan African
Parliament, the African Court on
Human and Peoples’ Rights and have
been instrumental in launching the
African Union Advisory Board on
Corruption. In fact, this institutional
building role was very time consum-ing
and we can conclude that the De-partment
of Political Affairs has been
and Democracy. I have thus also pri-oritized
the process for elaborating
the African Governance Architecture
and the establishment the African
Governance Platform as the underly-ing
coordinating mechanism within
the Architecture. In a nutshell, the
mandate remains consistent, but
the focus and priorities are now on
implementation and consolidation.
2. What are the key landmarks,
achievements and successes
that you consider important
during your tenure as
Commissioner?
Whilst there have been many chal-lenges,
the overall successes and
achievements registered do bode
well for the Continent. Although we
might be inclined to attribute suc-cess
to individuals, it is important
that we recognize that progress is a
matter of collective achievement and
involves, amongst others, the Com-mission,
Member States, Civil Soci-ety
and our partners. As we focus on
the larger achievements, let us not
lose sight of the small but significant
efforts of all stakeholders that con-tribute
to our collective success.
As intimated earlier, there are two
specific broad areas of functional
focus within my portfolio - the first
relates to the establishment of the
required policy frameworks and the
second to the institutions and capacity
for achieving the vision of the Union.
In addition to the Convention on
Combating and Preventing Corrup-tion,
a very significant milestone for
the Continent was the adoption, in
2007, of the African Charter on De-mocracy,
Elections and Governance.
Whilst the adopted Charter is consid-ered
a very important achievement,
we were always aware that policy de-velopment
is a continuing process and
hence, in 2009 the Assembly adopted
the Convention for the Protection and
Assistance of Internally Displaced Per-sons
in Africa and, as many know, the
African Ministers of Public Service
have finalized a Draft African Charter
on the Values and Principles of Public
Service and Administration for sub-mission
to the January 2011 Assembly
for adoption. Indeed, as we look at the
instruments established within the

responsible for issues within the Gov-ernance
and Democracy fold.
As we engaged in extensive consulta-tions
before the Summit, I remain
confident that the Summit will be a
success and that the Member States
will adopt a Declaration that reaf-firms
our mandate and that provides
sufficient guidance for the future. I
would also expect that Member States
would value the preparatory work that
we engaged upon prior to the Summit
and hence continue to demonstrate a
commitment to the mandate that they
established for us.
6. How do you think that the
outcome of the Summit will
be carried forward? Are there
plans by your office to ensure
that the Theme of the Summit
does not constitute an event,
but a process that will be
carried forward?
In as much as we all recognize that the
Session on the Summit Theme should
not be treated as an event, it is also
imperative that we be cognizant of
the fact that this Summit takes place
in a context of a continuing journey
and process. The Commission and
the Department are at the service of
Member States and the peoples of this
Continent and hence there should
be no doubt as to our responsibility
in taking forward the decisions of
Assembly. To facilitate matters, it is
standard practice for each Summit to
consider a report on the implementa-tion
of its decisions. There is thus an
established practice towards ensuring
that decisions are implemented. The
carrying forward of the Summit Dec-laration
and relevant decisions happen
at two levels. Firstly, as the Theme
relates to the ongoing work of the
Department, the annual and medium
term plans of the Department should
reflect the outcomes anticipated. I am
also secondly, most certain that the
Department would establish a very
specific action plan to ensure that
there is follow-up on the outcomes of
the Summit.
Talking about actions for the future,
it is imperative that we recognize that
the Summit is furthermore about
Member States taking their obliga-democracy
and governance journey
and is likely to provide added energy
to the path established.
The Summit, one must admit also
forces us to confront the reality that
we do face challenges at the level of
Member States and at the continental
level. In grappling with these chal-lenges,
the Summit would invari-ably
focus attention on, for example,
speeding up the ratification of relevant
instruments in Governance and De-mocracy
and the application of shared
values in the face of some of the inter-nal
difficulties that emerge from time
to time within Member States. The
Summit would thus, in my view, be
important for reasserting the Gover-nance
and Democracy commitments
that were enshrined in the Constitu-tive
Act of the Union. As such, the
Summit could have both a practical
and a policy value. It would serve to
provide some realistic elements for
taking forward the Governance and
Democracy mandate and provide a
basis for reasserting the policy vision
that was established as far back as the
Maputo Summit in 2003.
5. What are your expectations
from the Summit?
The Summit is a Member States’ event
and hence it is their expectations that
should be most paramount in our re-flections
and actions. Our leaders have
expressed the desire for continental
unity and have affirmed on many
occasions that Africa has a common
destiny. It is thus, in my view, their
expectations that careful stock is taken
and that they are given an opportunity
to reflect on the journey and provide
perspectives on the future. Whilst
there have been prior consultations
with Civil Society, the Youth and Gen-der
Communities and with Experts
from Member States, my expectations
are that the Summit would respond
to the desire amongst Member States
to reflect on the obstacles that stand
before integration through shared
values and the aspiration to articu-late
measures to overcome these to
facilitate integration. If Member State
expectations are fulfilled, they would
go a long way in satisfying the outlook
I would have as the Commissioner
with a range of partners and created
innovative interventions that maintain
ownership over the programmes and
actions taken in our response to de-liver
on the demands for results. This
has not been easy, but as many would
witness we have done a lot with very
limited human and financial resources.
We continue to face implementation
challenges on a day-to-day basis, but I
am proud to say that we have been cre-ative
and managed to sustain delivery
under very difficult and trying condi-tions.
It is very evident from my own
experience that we can finally con-clude
that institutional transformation
is on track, the foundations have been
laid for more efficient, effective and
responsive delivery on the mandate
and the Commission that we sought is
beginning to emerge from the institu-tion
that we inherited from the OAU.
4. Briefly share with us your
thoughts on the Shared Values
Summit and why you think
that this theme is important
for the progress of building
and consolidating democracy
and good governance in
Africa?
Since the decision of the Assembly
on the Summit on Shared Values
was made, I have been encouraging
all stakeholders to recognize that it
represents an important opportunity
to reaffirm the link between shared
or common values and the overall
integration process. In this respect,
we need to recognize that enhanced
implementation and monitoring of
governance standards would encour-age
policy convergence, thereby ac-celerating
Africa’s integration.
The Theme is most significant as we
are beginning to see and experience
some visible governance and democ-racy
changes. As the Summit takes
place, almost a decade after the birth
of the AU, it makes good sense that
the Assembly reflects on shared values
at this point in the continuing journey.
In any path or journey, it is always im-perative
that at certain points we take
stock of progress and assess how we
can overcome challenges that stand in
the way of achieving the established
vision. Indeed, the Summit is thus
a significant step in the continuing

nerships that have been most effec-tive
have been the ones within which
there is recognition of common vision
and a focus on results.
Whilst any partnership relationship
embodies an element of mutual ac-countability
and reciprocity, we have
found that where partners are flex-ible
and where there is commitment
to helping Africa help itself, we are
able to make positive headway. In a
world where all have opinions of what
should and should not be done, we
have been accommodative of part-ner
views, but have been insistent
that ownership and decisions are for
our Member States and the relevant
Policy Organs.
In the partnership journey, we are
also mindful that there is a pro-pensity
towards wanting to use the
legitimacy of the Commission for re-source
mobilization. One key lesson
from our experience is that a focus
on results provides an adequate basis
for partnerships, thus rendering re-sources
a secondary issue. Resources
that flow for our mandate, whilst not
optimal, flow, not because we have
to beg for these, but because they
are made available as we articulate
clearly the results we want to achieve.
Where there is a focus on detail and
a meddling in activities, we find such
arrangements time consuming and
a distraction from results and wider
accountability to Member States.
9. What would be your
advice to different
stakeholders in supporting
and upscaling the
governance agenda in
Africa?
It would be impossible for me to
go into any detail on the numerous
different stakeholders that have or
should have a direct interest in mat-ters
of Governance and Democracy,
so allow me to make some general
comments that would be of relevance
to all. Firstly, it is always important to
recognize that the African Union has
been affirmed, through the Constitu-tive
Act, to be a peoples’ organiza-tion.
By virtue of this, the role of
all peoples and all stakeholders is
affirmed and it goes without saying
obstacles in the march towards de-mocracy
and appropriate governance.
Many of these setbacks are reflected in
post-electoral violence that has been
experienced in a few Member States
and in incidences of un-constitutional
changes to government. However,
even in these instances, the AU has
been very firm in upholding shared
values and as many witness, there is
zero a tolerance for un-constitutional
changes in government. On the face
of what I have experienced over the
past ten years and in the perspectives
that have been articulated by Member
States, we can conclude that there has
been good progress and we are achiev-ing
the vision of Governance and
Democracy that has been established
within the Constitutive Act of the
African Union. Indeed, it should be
recognised that democracy building
is work in progress. It should never
be viewed in a linear manner, as the
advancements of the Continent over
the past fifty years have demonstrated
that on many fronts we have, because
of our own unique history made many
very positive steps, beyond what has
unfolded in other parts of the globe.
8. What has been the role
of partner institutions in
supporting the DPA on its
democracy and governance
agenda?
In the context of limited resources
and the reality that no one institu-tion
would have all that is required to
achieve the continental vision, part-nerships
are fundamental. We have
benefited immensely from a range of
partners. Some of our partners have
provided resources and some have fo-cused
on providing technical support
for our work. Without the support
that we have received, we could not
have achieved much and would not
have made the progress that is now
most visible to all.
Even as we appreciate the role of our
resource and technical partners, we
have always maintained the perspec-tive
that we must retain and protect
Member State ownership over all
programmes and activities. This pro-cess
is never easy and often we have
to keep a careful balance between our
needs and partner interests. The part-tions
seriously. The commitments are
for Member States and it is my hope
that they would continue to take the
lead by, for example, ensuring that
the relevant Governance and Democ-racy
instruments are ratified, domes-ticated
and implemented.
7. Where do you think
Africa is today in its march
towards democracy, and
good governance? Do you
think the Continent has made
progress?
I can express an opinion and perspec-tive
on progress, but it is always useful
to look at available empirical evidence
and actual data. I know that if one is
to look deeper at the pattern across
the Continent, we will conclude that
despite the challenges, the overall
trend over the past decade has been
quite encouraging. Even prior to the
adoption of the African Charter on
Democracy, Elections and Gover-nance,
Member States of the Union
demonstrated, through action, a
commitment to a shared approach to
Governance and Democracy. Consis-tent
progress has been demonstrated
in many areas of democratisation,
including the reduction in corrup-tion
and the building of systems for
transparency and accountability in
government. The democratic aspira-tions
of the African people are firmly
implanted in the popular conscious-ness
and civil society, women and
youth involvement in important na-tional
and regional issues has become
an integral part of the African political
landscape.
Today, more Africans live under
democratic rule compared to the
situation in the early 1980s when only
a handful of African countries were
considered democratic. The number
of credible elections held over the past
decade in the Continent is tangible
testimony to Africa’s steady march
towards democratisation. Although
setbacks are experienced occasionally,
the numbers of civil conflicts within
states are much less compared to the
situation a decade ago. In as much
as the overall trend has been posi-tive,
we must also admit that there
are still many challenges that need to
be overcome and we do experience

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