African Peer Review Mechanism and Crisis of Good Governance in Africa

Abstract

The transformation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) in July 2002 at the Heads of State Summit in Durban, South Africa increased hopes for the African continent as it grappled with a broad range of challenges. These hopes were further bolstered with the adoption of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as the AU’s framework for development. NEPAD recognises governance, peace and security as central precondition for development. The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) by which African countries are judged on their compliance with stated norms of governance is a remarkable innovation designed to facilitate the delivery not only of good governance but also peace and security. Moreover, security within the context of a new African Union has taken on a broader meaning since the end of the cold war from a traditional state-centric and ideologically- inspired concept to encompassing a human security approach. From this holistic perspective, the threats to human security in Africa remain a challenge for the AU and NEPAD. Similarly, failure to manage Africa’s diverse peoples and resources has resulted in devastating conflicts across the continent. While governance and security are not the only challenges in Africa, it seems clear that the process towards the continent’s renewal would need to proceed on a sound governance and security base. Moreover, as the dominantinstitutions and programmers representing the collective vision of the continent, success in dealing with Africa’s security and governance issue will largely depend on the AU/NEPAD and its programmes that is, APRM.

Keywords: NEPAD, peer review mechanism,good governance