The African Union is better positioned to drive the interests of the continent than it was in 2016, when the body launched institutional reforms, President Paul Kagame said on Saturday, February 17 as he attended the 37th AU Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Kagame, who spearheaded the AU reforms for the past eight years, concluded his mandate and handed over to Kenya’s President William Ruto.

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"Among the achievements we can point to is the revitalization of the Peace Fund,” he said as he presented the reforms to the AU Assembly.

"Almost $400 million has been mobilized. As a direct result, the United Nations Security Council recently decided to finance three-quarters of African Union peace operations for the first time.

"This was only possible because the African Union today is more fit-for-purpose than it was. And we are getting better at defining our common interests, and advocating for them.”

‘Reforms must not end here’

The president said however that the journey was still long before the continental body realises its desired position in the world.

"We still have a long way to go for the African Union to be as strong as we want and need it to be,” he said. "We know where we want to be as a continent. Now, what seems often to be missing is the political will to implement what we ourselves have decided.”

"That is why the reform journey must not end here,” Kagame noted, as he cautioned against "backsliding into inefficient ways of conducting our business.”

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Kagame said there were "pending issues” that still needed to be finalised with regards to the restructuring of the AU organ, such as the division of labour between the Commission and Regional Economic Communities.

"Responsibility for completing these steps should rest with the Commission, working in close consultation with Member States,” he said.

‘Serious challenges’

Kagame said there were still challenges hindering AU’s productivity, including the Assembly agenda that "continues to be too lengthy, with many items that do not require the consideration of Heads of State."

"If we want to be productive, we must prioritize the most important items,” he said.

Second, he noted, is the need to clarify the role of the rotating position of the AU Chairperson of the African Union in relation to the Chairperson of the AU Commission.

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"This has become more important as we work out how Africa will be represented at the G20 and similar gatherings,” he said.

Third is the principle of subsidiarity which "continues to be misinterpreted.”

"Too often, there is an incoherence in decisions taken at the continental and regional levels. Africa is not a monolith. Member States will always have differing views, Kagame said.

"We should not pretend these differences do not exist, but should focus on finding a middle ground.”

He said the AU should keep in mind the global context. "The world is facing unprecedented crises, and everyone is impacted, without any exception. We therefore have to — more than ever — depend on each other,” he noted.

Another challenge he said was to have clear rules and mandates of the legislative and judicial bodies like the Pan-African Parliament and the African Court of Justice. He said they act more as advisory organs and cannot fulfil their original function.

Lastly, he said, decisions taken at the level of Heads of State continue to be revisited and revised, or even resisted, by some members of the Permanent Representatives Committee.

Kagame said this "should really be unacceptable.”

"We even see parallel structures created, whose main purpose seems to be to frustrate and delay the reforms which the Heads of State have suggested and put in place. For example, the restructuring of the organs has been stalled for years in such maneuvers,” he said.