Futility of African Peer Review

Gawaya Tegulle—For lack of a better word, we shall call it diplomacy; especially since it was an exchange between states on matters of mutual concern, but without gunfire. On another day it could even pass for polite; because when you have Libya and Nigeria, who share the unofficial title of Africa’s loudest, asking you to kindly reconsider, you really have to give it to them.

But maybe it was only because they were talking to a fellow big boy: South African President Thabo Mbeki.

It was February 2004 in Kigali, Rwanda; and, under the auspices of the African Union (AU), about half of Africa had formally agreed to have what they called the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

This new baby was conceived as a sequel to the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) - which Africans are supposed to be excited about as the magical process that will take Africa higher.

APRM is “a mutually agreed instrument voluntarily acceded to by the member states of the AU as a self-monitoring mechanism… to encourage conformity in regard to political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards, among African countries within the framework of NEPAD”. Or so the technocrats say.

Cutting the jargon out, it is a way of having African leaders compare notes and ensure that they are steering their nations according to a set standard, whose aim is to ensure a democratic, free, prosperous and peaceful continent. Predictably, APRM met opposition from the very beginning, from Libya and Nigeria who felt they could be reviewed in all areas except political governance which was a private matter for the respective states.

Anyone missing from this list? Yeah...Sudan (surprise!). Now this was absurd, since political governance is at the root of Africa’s crisis and to omit it would be to defeat the whole concept at its inception. Mbeki (head boy among African leaders, but better at debating than playing hard ball) sounded an “okay by me”, offering that political governance could be handled by the AU mainstream.

It was not until intense pressure from Canada’s Jean Chretien, then President of the G8 that Mbeki caved in and had political governance included in the areas for review.

Currently, plenty of donor and local funding is being invested in APRM; and Africans are supposed to expect their leaders to peer review each other, resulting in improved quality of life on the continent.

To be fair, the APRM concept is actually a great idea that Africa could use.

But it comes at a wrong time; when the majority of Africa’s leaders are preoccupied with consolidating themselves in power, with the mindset that no one else can run their countries. Many of them spend a good chunk of limited national resources suppressing anyone who seems likely to uproot them, even when urgent crises in the social sectors remain unmet, citing “lack of funds”.

Sounds familiar?

Secondly, the whole review process is so methodical that even if it were to work, by the time a review is completed and implemented, so much water would have passed under the bridge; the desired end result would be only a meaningless victory. Even then, a process funded and controlled in every detail by the African leaders themselves most of who are averse to criticism is ridiculous.

Worse still, APRM is anchored in the AU, a weak institution which in itself is a badly conceived idea, lacking in originality and seeking to copycat the European Union, without bothering to identify and address the distinct dichotomies between the grassroots dynamics in Europe and Africa.

While the EU prides itself in exclusivity and opens only to worthy members with impeccable democratic and human rights credentials, the AU is premised on accommodativeness, accentuating quantity above quality, thereby pitching dictators and outright thugs on the same table with the fewer fairly credible and people-focused leaders.

It therefore follows that for APRM to work, it will have to be with a new(er) breed of African leaders whose passion is to see Africa built on institutions that in due time build individuals who will steer Africa the right way for thousands of years; focusing on the welfare of African people, rather than the primitive and parochial preservation of the ruling elite. Ask me what a white elephant is and I will show you the new darling of the zoo: APRM.

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