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The AU has no moral authority to suspend Egypt from membership - Commentary - monitor.co.ug

“Of the 54 members of the AU, Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya are the only ones mentioned in the Holy Bible. Against this background, Egypt deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt and should be treated with due respect.”

By Harold E. Acemah

African Union has been conspicuously silent since the current political crisis in Egypt erupted, but on July 5, two days after former President Mohammed Morsy was peacefully ousted by a popular uprising, the AU suddenly woke up and suspended Egypt from the organisation, but this cannot surely be a good African solution to an African problem!

Egypt is, to borrow a leaf from some former revolutionaries, a historical or original member of the OAU and she, in fact, hosted the second OAU summit in Cairo in 1964; the summit was chaired by the illustrious President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Egypt is an ancient country which gave refuge to Jesus Christ whose parents fled there in AD 1 from a murderous regime which threatened the life of the King!

Of the 54 members of the AU, Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya are the only countries mentioned in the Holy Bible. Against this background, Egypt deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt and should be treated with due respect.

The AU claims that Egypt was suspended because an unconstitutional change of government took place there on July 3. According to a statement issued by the AU’s Peace and Security Council after a meeting held at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the “council decided to suspend the participation of Egypt in AU activities until the restitution of constitutional order”! The council reiterated “the AU’s condemnation and rejection of any illegal seizure of power”.
“The overthrow of the democratically elected president does not conform to the relevant provisions of Egypt’s constitution and, therefore, falls under the definition of unconstitutional change of government”. The AU spokesman read the brief statement with difficulty!

I hardly need to remind the chairperson of the AU, Ms Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, that power belongs to the people and it is the Egyptians themselves who decided to take back the power which they had, by mistake, entrusted to a novice who, within one year in office, had the audacity to arrogantly declare himself the new pharaoh of Egypt. Where is the pharaoh now? In the dust bin of history where he belongs! He even issued a decree which effectively abrogated a new sectarian constitution which he forced down the throats of the law- abiding wananchi of Egypt!

What did he expect the gallant people of Egypt to do? To fold their arms and surrender like Ugandans or bury their heads in the sand of the Sahara desert and pretend that all was well? Of course not and as the Russians would yell at the UN General Assembly, Nyet! If truth be told, Morsy’s political party actually hijacked the Egyptian revolution of 2011 which terminated the long and tyrannical rule of Hosni Mubarak. That on-going revolution also put an end to Mubarak’s sinister and shameless plot to impose his son Gamal on Egyptians as his chosen successor.

The Egyptian army heard the voice and responded positively to the popular will of the overwhelming majority of the Egyptians. A truly national and professional army like that of Egypt has the moral obligation and duty to heed the cry of the wananchi and support their efforts to rid society of tyranny and the enemies of the African revolution. One hopes that the lesson will not be lost on other patriotic armies in Africa.

This could not happen in countries which are stuck with tribal and unprofessional armies! The AU should, in fact, applaud the Egyptians for their patriotic and decisive action; what Egyptians did on July 3 was to stop the rise of an extremist monster and a fascist regime in North Africa.

As doctors tell us, prevention is better than cure. If Germans had succeeded in stopping Adolf Hitler in 1933 or 1934, World War II would most likely not have taken place. The AU should congratulate the gallant and valiant people of Egypt instead of penalising them. In any case Egyptians will not miss an ineffective organisation which has degenerated into a club of despots who scratch each others’ back and practise the politics of self- preservation without shame!

The AU increasingly reflects the mess and rot in most African countries, such as Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia and Zimbabwe to mention, but a few. The AU’s image has been severely damaged by corruption, deceit, intrigue, mediocrity, nepotism and many other negative factors which have combined to prevent Africa from rising!

Until Africa gets a new breed of leaders, the continent will continue to sink deeper and deeper into a bottomless pit. I believe the AU has absolutely no moral authority to suspend Egypt from the union when many of the current African leaders came to power illegally and unconstitutionally through rigged elections, intimidation, fraud and bribery; Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea are classic examples, but the AU treats them as members in good standing!

It is unacceptable for the AU to practise and apply selective justice and double standards. All progressive forces in Africa should join hands and demand an end to the AU’s chicanery and a reversal of its decision.

Mr Acemah is a political scientist, consultant and a retired career diplomat. hacemah@gmail.com