Organization of African Unity

 

(OAU), former international organization, established 1963 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by 37 independent African nations to promote unity and development; defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of members; eradicate all forms of colonialism; promote international cooperation; and coordinate members' economic, diplomatic, educational, health, welfare, scientific, and defense policies. The OAU was, at the time, the most significant result of Pan-Africanism. The organization mediated several border and internal disputes and was instrumental in bringing about majority rule and the end of apartheid in South Africa, which in 1994 became the 53d nation to be admitted to the organization.

In 1997, OAU members established the African Economic Community (AEC), envisioned as an African common market; the AEC signed an agreement with regional African economic groupings that was intended to lead to harmonization of policies of those common markets. A more radical expansion and transformation of the OAU was adopted at Lomé, Togo, in 2000, in the form of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, which replaced the OAU in 2002. The African Union has with greater powers to promote African economic, social, and political integration, and a stronger commmitment to democratic principles.

The Organization of African Unity (OAU) or Organisation de l'Unité Africaine (OUA) was established on May 25, 1963. It was disbanded July 9, 2002 by its last chairperson, South African Thabo Mbeki and replaced by the African Union.

Its intended purpose was to promote the unity and solidarity of the African States and act as a collective voice for the continent. This was important to secure Africa's long-term economic and political future. Years of colonialism had weakened it in both respects.

The OAU was also dedicated to the eradication of colonialism, as there were still a number of states that had not yet won their independence or were minority ruled. South Africa and Angola were two such countries. A Liberation Committee was established to aid independence movements and look after the interests of already-liberated states. The OAU also aimed to stay neutral in terms of global politics, which would prevent them from being controlled once more by outside forces -- an especial danger with the Cold War.

The OAU had other aims, too, though:

• Ensure that all Africans enjoyed human rights.
• Raise the living standards of all Africans.
• Settle arguments and disputes between members -- not through fighting but rather peaceful, diplomatic negotiation.

Soon after achieving independence, a number of African states expressed a growing desire for more unity within the continent. Not everyone was agreed on how this unity should be achieved. Two opinionated groups emerged in this respect:

• The Casablanca bloc, led by Nkrumah of Ghana, wanted a federation of all African countries. Aside from Ghana, it comprised also Algeria, Guinea, Morocco, Egypt Mali and Libya.
• The Monrovian bloc, led by Senghor of Senegal, felt that unity should be achieved gradually, through economic cooperation. It did not support the idea of a political federation. Its other members were Nigeria, Liberia, Ethiopia and most of the French-speaking nations.

The dispute was resolved when Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I invited both groups to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the OAU's headquarters were established. The Charter of the Organisation was signed by 32 independent African states, among them members of the Casablanca Group, founded in 1961 and composed of "progressive states". At the time of its disbanding, 53 out of the 54 states in Africa were members; Morocco left on November 12, 1984 following the admission of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as the government of Western Sahara. in 1982.

The organisation was widely derided as a bureaucratic "talking shop" with little power. It struggled to enforce its decisions, and its lack of armed forces made intervention exceedingly difficult. Civil wars in Nigeria and Angola continued unabated for years.

The policy of non-interference in the affairs of member states also limited the effectiveness of the OAU. Thus, when human rights were violated, as in Uganda under Idi Amin in the 1970s, the OAU was powerless to stop them.

The OAU was praised by Ghanaian former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for bringing Africans together. Nevertheless, in its 39 years of existence critics argue that the OAU did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it as a "Dictators' Club"[1] or "Dictator's Trade Union"[2].

The OAU was however successful in some respects. Many of its members were members of the UN, too, and they stood together within the latter organisation to safeguard African interests -- especially in respect of lingering colonialism.

Total unity was difficult to achieve, however, as the OAU was largely divided. The former French colonies, still dependant on France, formed their own group, and there was a further split between those groups which supported the USA and those which supported the USSR in the Cold War of ideologies. The pro-Socialist faction was led by Kwame Nkrumah; Houphouet-Biogny of the Ivory Coast led the pro-capitalists. Because of these divisions, it was difficult for the OAU to take action against states involved in internal conflict because it could rarely reach an agreement on what was to be done.

The OAU played did however play a pivotal role in eradicating colonialism and minority rule in Africa. It gave weapons, training and military bases to colonised nations. Groups such as the ANC and PAC, fighting apartheid, and ZANU and ZAPU, fighting for the independence of Rhodesia, were aided in their endeavours by the OAU. African harbours were closed to the South African government, and South African planes were prohibited from flying over the rest of the continent. The UN was convinced to expel South Africa from bodies such as the World Health Organisation.

The OAU also worked with the UN to ease refugee problems. It set up the African Development Bank for economic projects intended to make Africa financially stronger. Although all African countries eventually won their independence, it was still difficult for them to become totally independent from their former colonisers. There was often continued reliance on the former colonial powers for economic aid, which sometimes came attached with strings: loans had to be paid back at a high interest rate, and goods had to be sold at low rates. The USA and USSR also intervened in post-colonial Africa in pursuit of their own objectives. Help was sometimes provided in the form of technology and aid-workers. While useful, such external assistance was often perceived as not necessarily being in the best interests of the former colonies.

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

• Pan-African Telecommunications Union (PATU)
• Pan-African Postal Union (PAPU)
• Pan-African News Agency (PANA)
• Union of African National Television and Radio Organisations (URTNA)
• Union of African Railways (UAR)
• Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU)
• Supreme Council for Sports in Africa

List of Secretaries-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and African Union (AU) Chairs of the Commission

Secretaries-general of the OAU
Name	Beginning of Term	End of Term	Country
Kifle Wodajo (acting)	25 May 1963	21 July 1964	Ethiopia
Diallo Telli	21 July 1964	15 June 1972	Guinea
Nzo Ekangaki	15 June 1972	16 June 1974	Cameroon
William Eteki	16 June 1974	21 July 1978	Cameroon
Edem Kodjo	21 July 1978	12 June 1983	Togo
Peter Onu (acting)	12 June 1983	20 July 1985	Nigeria
Ide Oumarou	20 July 1985	19 September 1989	Niger
Salim Ahmed Salim	19 September 1989	17 September 2001	Tanzania
Amara Essy	17 September 2001	9 July 2002	Côte d'Ivoire
AU Chairs of the Commission
Amara Essy (interim)	9 July 2002	16 September 2003	Côte d'Ivoire
Alpha Oumar Konaré	16 September 2003	Present	Mali

List of Chairs of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) & African Union (AU)

Organisation of African Unity
Name	Beginning of Term	End of Term	Country
Haile Selassie	25 May 1963	17 July 1964	Ethiopia
Gamal Abdel Nasser	17 July 1964	21 October 1965	Egypt
Kwame Nkrumah	21 October 1965	24 February 1966	Ghana
Joseph Arthur Ankrah	24 February 1966	5 November 1966	Ghana
Haile Selassie	5 November 1966	11 September 1967	Ethiopia
Joseph-Désiré Mobutu	11 September 1967	13 September 1968	Congo (Kinshasa)
Houari Boumedienne	13 September 1968	6 September 1969	Algeria
Ahmadou Ahidjo	6 September 1969	1 September 1970	Cameroon
Kenneth Kaunda	1 September 1970	21 June 1971	Zambia
Moktar Ould Daddah	21 June 1971	12 June 1972	Mauritania
Hassan II	12 June 1972	27 May 1973	Morocco
Yakubu Gowon	27 May 1973	12 June 1974	Nigeria
Muhammad Siad Barre	12 June 1974	28 July 1975	Somalia
Idi Amin	28 July 1975	2 July 1976	Uganda
Seewoosagur Ramgoolam	2 July 1976	2 July 1977	Mauritius
Omar Bongo	2 July 1977	18 July 1978	Gabon
Gaafar Nimeiry	18 July 1978	12 July 1979	Sudan
William R. Tolbert, Jr.	12 July 1979	12 April 1980	Liberia
Léopold Sédar Senghor (acting)	28 April 1980	1 July 1980	Senegal
Siaka Stevens	1 July 1980	24 June 1981	Sierra Leone
Daniel arap Moi	24 June 1981	6 June 1983	Kenya
Mengistu Haile Mariam	6 June 1983	12 November 1984	Ethiopia
Julius Nyerere	12 November 1984	18 July 1985	Tanzania
Abdou Diouf	18 July 1985	28 July 1986	Senegal
Denis Sassou-Nguesso	28 July 1986	27 July 1987	Congo (Brazzaville)
Kenneth Kaunda	27 July 1987	25 May 1988	Zambia
Moussa Traoré	25 May 1988	24 July 1989	Mali
Hosni Mubarak	24 July 1989	9 July 1990	Egypt
Yoweri Museveni	9 July 1990	3 June 1991	Uganda
Ibrahim Babangida	3 June 1991	29 June 1992	Nigeria
Abdou Diouf	29 June 1992	28 June 1993	Senegal
Hosni Mubarak	28 June 1993	13 June 1994	Egypt
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali	13 June 1994	26 June 1995	Tunisia
Meles Zenawi	26 June 1995	8 July 1996	Ethiopia
Paul Biya	8 July 1996	2 June 1997	Cameroon
Robert Mugabe	2 June 1997	8 June 1998	Zimbabwe
Blaise Compaoré	8 June 1998	12 July 1999	Burkina Faso
Abdelaziz Bouteflika	12 July 1999	10 July 2000	Algeria
Gnassingbé Eyadéma	10 July 2000	9 July 2001	Togo
Frederick Chiluba	9 July 2001	2 January 2002	Zambia
Levy Mwanawasa	2 January 2002	9 July 2002	Zambia
African Union
Name	Beginning of Term	End of Term	Country
Thabo Mbeki	9 July 2002	10 July 2003	South Africa
Joaquim Chissano	10 July 2003	6 July 2004	Mozambique
Olusegun Obasanjo	6 July 2004	24 January 2006	Nigeria
Denis Sassou-Nguesso	24 January 2006	24 January 2007	Congo
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor	30 January 2007	Present	Ghana

OAU Summits

It includes ordinary and extraordinary summits.

• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 22-25 May 1961.
• Cairo(Egypt) : 17-21 July 1964.
• Accra (Ghana) : 21-26 October 1965.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 5-9 November 1966.
• Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire) : 11-14 September 1967.
• Algiers (Algeria) : 13-16 September 1968.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 6-10 September 1969.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 1-3 September 1970.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 21-23 June 1971.
• Rabat (Morocco) : 12-15 June 1972.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 27-28 May 1973.
• Kampala (Uganda) : 28 July. - 1 August 1975.
• Port Louis (Mauritius) : 2-6 July 1976.
• Libreville (Gabon) : 2-5 July 1977.
• Khartoum (Sudan) : 18-22 July 1978.
• Monrovia (Liberia) : 17-20 July 1979.
• Freetown (Sierra Leone) : 1-4 July 1980.
• Nairobi (Kenya) : 24-27 June.1981.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 6-12 June 1983.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 12-15 November 1984.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 18-20 July 1985.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 28-30 July 1986.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 27-29 July.1987.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Extraordinary Summit : Oct. 1987 .
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 25-28 May 1988.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 24-26 July 1989.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 9-11 July 1990.
• Abuja (Nigeria) : 3-5 July 1991.
• Dakar (Senegal) : 29 June. - 1 July 1992.
• Cairo (Egypt) : 28-30 June 1993.
• Tunis (Tunisia) : 13-15 June 1994.
• Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) : 26-28 June 1995.
• Yaoundé (Cameroon) : 8-10 June 1996.
• Harare (Zimbabwe) : 2-4 June 1997.
• Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) : 8-10 June 1998.
• Algiers (Algeria) : 12-14 July 1999.
• Sirt (Libya), Extraordinary Summit : 6-9 September 1999.
• Lomé (Togo) : 10-12 July 2000.
• Lusaka (Zambia) : 9-11 July 2001, It is the last summit of OAU.

OAU members by date of admission (53 states)

• 25 May 1963 :

Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Léopoldville).^[1] Dahomey,^[2] Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast,^[3] Liberia, Libya, Madagascar,^[4] Mali, Mauritania,^[5] Morocco,^[6] Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, The Sudan, Tanganyika,^[7] Togo,^[8] Tunisia, Uganda, Upper Volta,^[9] Zanzibar^[7]

• 13 December 1963 :

Kenya

• 13 July 1964 :

Malawi

• 16 December 1964 :

Zambia

• Oct 1965 :

The Gambia

• 31 October 1966 :

Botswana, Lesotho

• Aug 1968 :

Mauritius

• 24 September 1968 :

Swaziland

• 12 October 1968 :

Equatorial Guinea

• 19 November 1973 :

Guinea-Bissau

• 11 February 1975 :

Angola

• 18 July 1975 :

Cape Verde, Comoros, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe

• 29 June 1976 :

Seychelles

• 27 June 1977 :

Djibouti

• Jun 1980 :

Zimbabwe

• 22 February 1982 :

Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)

• Jun 1990 :

Namibia

• 24 May 1993 :

Eritrea

• 6 June 1994 :

South Africa

Notes

1. ^ 1966-71 and from 1997 Congo (Kinshasa); 1971-97 Zaire.
2. ^ From 1975 Benin.
3. ^ From 1985 Côte d'Ivoire.
4. ^ Suspended Dec 2001 - 10 July 2003.
5. ^ Suspended 4 August 2005.
6. ^ Withdrew 12 November 1984.
7. ^ ^{a b} Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which was renamed Tanzania 1 November 1964.
8. ^ Suspended from 25 February 2005.
9. ^ From 1984 Burkina Faso.

References

• "OAU After Twenty Years"; Pub. Praeger; ISBN 0-03-062473-8; (May 1984)
• "Africa's First Peacekeeping Operation: The OAU in Chad, 1981-1982" by Terry M. Mays, Pub. Praeger; ISBN 0-275-97606-8; (April 30 2002)
• "African Exodus: Refugee Crisis, Human Rights, & the 1969 OAU Convention" by Chaloka Beyani, Chris Stringer, Pub. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights; ISBN 0-934143-73-0; (July 1995)
• Report on the Rwandan Genocide in 2000.

See also

• Casablanca Group
• Pan-Africanism
• MPAIAC

Pan-Africanism
Proponents	Molefi Kete Asante · Nnamdi Azikiwe · Steve Biko · Francis Ohanyido · Edward Wilmot Blyden · Amílcar Cabral · David Comissiong · Cheikh Anta Diop · W. E. B. Du Bois · Frantz Fanon · Muammar al-Gaddafi · Marcus Garvey · Yosef Ben-Jochannan · Sankofa Juba · Maulana Karenga · Kenneth Kaunda · Jomo Kenyatta · Akwatu Khenti · Patrice Lumumba · Bob Marley · Malcolm X · Thabo Mbeki · Zephania Mothopeng · Abdias do Nascimento · Kwame Nkrumah · Julius Nyerere · George Padmore · Dr Motsoko Pheko · John Nyathi Pokela · Runoko Rashidi · Walter Rodney · Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia · Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe · Burning Spear · Henry Sylvester-Williams · Ahmed Sékou Touré · Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) · I.T.A. Wallace-Johnson · Omali Yeshitela
Concepts	United States of Africa · Afrocentrism · Kwanzaa · Pan-African colours · Pan-African flag · Négritude · African nationalism · African socialism · African Century · Africanization · Kawaida  · Ujamaa  · Harambee  · Ubuntu
Organizations and movements	African Union (OAU) · AAPRP · Uhuru Movement · UNIA-ACL · AllAfrica.com · African Unification Front · African diaspora

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