By Frank O'Collins (June 2006)
 
  It is an instrument that has been ratified by the vast majority of African nations. It is a document which aspires for the future prosperity and peace of all citizens of Africa. It seeks to develop a common currency, a common market and closer security ties between all nations in Africa. And it is barely four years old. So why change the constitution of the African Union now?
  
  The power of constitutions and political acts
  
  A constitution is the blueprint of a society. It defines our structure, our essential rules and beliefs. It enshrines our culture and who and what we think we are. Therefore, the structure of a society is always determined by the strength of its constitution.
  
  Corrupt and dangerous societies breed evil and sadness. Well constructed societies breed happiness.No matter how many good people exist in Africa, no matter how many honourably intended acts of kindness are provided, poorly constructed constitutions will inevitably lead to poorly constructed societies and to the kind of sadness and evil that has plagued Africa for decades.
 
  The deeper question therefore is “is the current constitution of the African Union such a visionary of cohesive document, or not?”
  
  Beyond the superficial-the underlying malaise
  
  When great Roman Generals sought to control vast lands and populations with only a handful of troops, they did so with all the cunning and wisdom of the ages-that to divide a people, is to weaken their ability to rebel- hence the British Empirical model of control “divide and conquer”.
  
  Not only the British, but all the major European colonial empires understood the value of deliberately imposing divisions upon a previously contiguous landscape- dividing tribes, families, traditional lands and forcing previous enemies to co-exist with one another. Such Machiavellian politics was superbly successful (for relatively short periods of history) in allowing the English and French to control vast tracts of the globe as their own dominion.
  
  In Africa, the “divide and conquer” system of false boundaries and mini colonial states saw the total and complete subjugation of hundreds of millions of people, the stripping of vast wealth, the selling of the people themselves as slaves and the greater wealth for Europe and the Americas.
 
  So successful were the colonists, that the last vestiges of Colonialism survived right up until the very last decade of the twentieth century until apartheid was finally dismantled in South Africa. Even now the boundaries of the fifty plus nation states of Africa remain the enduring poisoned legacy of the former European masters.
  
  Superficially Africa is free. Superficially Africa has never been more united under a common African Union. In truth, the deep and enduring scars of its recent colonial past continue to cripple and haunt Africa and make any lasting and real progress as much a dream as the preamble of the present constitution.
  
  History tells us that dictators rarely willingly give up their power. Most are removed by force, or the force of time. Nor do states, once formed and officially recognized by the world do they amalgamate with other states to better resemble the true shared culture of the land.
  
  So it is, Africa is now cursed with fifty plus states, of which few are culturally or economically self contained. Most are simple strange scribbles on Africa, designed to ensure their permanent dependence on Europe and the Americas. Today, nothing seems to have changed.
  
  While Africa can proudly claim a union of states, it remains deeply dependent on western powers for food aid, for financial aid and for medicines to combat the ravages of modern and ancient diseases.
  
  The only hope. The only future for Africa is that the Union itself becomes so strong as a central and overall government for and on behalf of all the citizens of Africa that it can overcome the evil legacy of the former colonial powers.
  
  The weakness of the present constitution
  
  For such a task as a central government as well as common market spanning all the present states of Africa requires a supremely inspiring and well constructed constitution well beyond the compromised and poorly defined document that at present represents the Union.
  
  Indeed, it must be recognized that even the finest bureaucratic and legal minds of Europe have failed to succeed in designing a constitutional framework for the effective and prosperous future of One Europe. If Europe, the former colonial masters of Africa cannot agree on their own common future, what hope do the African monarchs, elected leaders and various dictators have?
  
  The present constitution deliberately avoids such difficult challenges and questions. The constitution ignores the natural and proper human rights that should be paramount to any lasting document of history. It provides a nominal role for the people of Africa in electing representatives to the Union that have no real or effective power (and will never have unless the constitution is amended). It fails to define systems capable of effecting deep and lasting social improvement beyond the nomination of yet more organs for talk and debate.
  
  The reason for the creation of the Africans Union  
  It is because of these serious deficiencies that the Africans Union was formed--because all attempts to establish respectful dialogue and meaningful change has been met by willful ignorance and extreme arrogance.  
  The reformed charter of the African Union is a document specifically designed for the challenge and task of saving Africa and its future prosperity.
  
  The reformed charter provides all the key systems and methods to implement a central set of structures through the Union that can have immediate effect in improving health, education, law and order, jobs, industry and the environment.
  
  Such claims are possible because the constitution provides the blueprint for such claims to be possible. Rather than leaving the future and the rights of all citizens of Africa in the hands of the few, the constitution embodies the rights and direct vote and power of all Africans. It is by their vote, by their support alone that the reformed constitution receives its power.
  
  The future of the reformed constitution of the African Union
  
  While words may inspire us, greatness comes not from words but actions. While Royalty and elected Leaders may decree something to be so, it is only when we the free peoples of Africa give them our mandate that such decrees shall be just and fair law. It is to these unending truths that we draw humble consideration to our future as one united Africa.
  
  When a document is born out of injustice, it can never become just. The African Union, no matter how noble by its present constitution is an unjust and unrepresentative mandate. It neither presents real and lasting solutions to the deepest of problems of Africa, nor does it provide genuine representation or flow of authority of power. Therefore, inevitably either the constitution will be replaced with one that is just and representative or sadly the Union itself shall cease to be.
  
  For the sake of the lives of million of Africans, it is hoped the Union shall not only survive but thrive. It is then the hope that at least some of the leaders of Africa recognize that only through the reformed constitution of the African Union shall the hopes and dreams of their citizens ever be fulfilled.

  
 
 
 
 
     

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