Remarks on ECOSOCC Credentials Report

By Helder Malauene

The mammoth task of electing CSOs to the ECOSOCC substantive assembly can not be left to few individuals as heard in the Ghana ‘credentials’ report. In a world where legitimacy, credibility, transparency, ownership and rights-based approaches are increasingly becoming buzz words and have taken center-stage it will be amiss for the African Union ECOSOCC elections to be done in an ‘instant coffee’ and haphazard manner.

The AU itself must put adequate resources and supervision if need be to ensure that proper national consultations and elections are held with minimum confusion. CSOs by their very nature will not endorse shortcuts to progress, but would expect full commitment from the Africa Union in terms of resources, time and energy to be put in the process if it is to pass the litmus test of legitimacy and not be a mere window-dressing exercise.

The establishment of ECOSOCC is to enable the African people and institutions, not only to contribute to the programmes and decisions of the AU, but to also assume ownership of these programmes and to take responsibility in the continent’s development agenda. The establishment of ECOSOCC under the provisions of article 22 of the African Union Constitutive Act is a confirmation and assurance that popular participation in the activities of the African Union as enunciated in the African Charter on Popular Participation is a prerequisite for sustainable development in Africa. Involving CSOs is key considering the role they are expected to play as watchdogs of their governments, guardians of democratic principles, especially observance of human rights, the rule of law and generally inculcating a culture of peace which are all building blocks of good governance.

The ECOSOCC journey has not been without its own humps and potholes, apparently, democracy has proved to be very expensive and beyond the reach of many as certain individual interests seem to have overridden that of many. What seems to puzzle many CSOs is the fact that although the interim ECOSOCC was set up two and half years ago, in most countries the word ECOSOCC is yet to be heard. For those elected to be ordinary members of the ECOSOCC general assembly, the last time they ever heard of ECOSOCC was during their own election. No cent has been released from the African Union‘s CIDO (citizen’s directorate) to go towards the popularization of ECOSOCC national ECOSOCC chapters- which by obvious definition should be the building blocks of important organ of the African Union. Some few pre-summit meetings have been convened by CIDO as a cover up for its failure to truly engage CSOs into the African Union activities. The latest confusing thing we have heard regarding ECOSOCC was the advert issued by CIDO in April (a month that normally begins with a fools day) calling us to apply to be in the substantive ECOSOCC. Ironically, after the Accra African Union Summit in June 2007, we are told that after some mysterious considerations that some of us qualify and others don’t. Others did not even bother to apply as they could not distinguish whether the call was meant for institutions or individuals. Even some naïve ones, thought it robbery to be asked to apply for what they could not understand.

As others have pointed out already, it is no secret that the first ECOSOCC problem is that of the institutional arrangement in which we are operating under or the location of ECOSOCC secretariat within the African Union commission’s citizen’s directorate (CIDO) that forces us to rely heavily on their cooperation. As a secretariat and stewards of ECOSOCC financial resources, they to a large extent determine the pace of CSOs in setting up ECOSOCC. They have the power to make it a success or sabotage it. I am told that the idea of applying to be in ECOSOCC was an idea of the secretariat and not the majority of us in CSOs. I wonder what our good Bureau and others are really do in that interim ECOSOCC when we are missing the mark so openly. The secretariat is supposed to follow the directives of the bureau and not vice-versa.

Other AU institutions such as the Pan-African parliament have been so lucky to have countries such as South Africa hosting them and taking care of their needs. ECOSOCC’s confinement to the AU secretariat poses a threat to CSOs’ ability to move forward both now and in the future. Unless the AU leadership looks at this seriously we will never have a powerful and meaning ECOSOCC.

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