Assembly of the African Union

Last updated

The Assembly of the African Union, which is formally known as the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government (AU-AHSG), is one of several decision-making bodies within the African Union. The other bodies are the Pan-African Parliament; the Executive Council, consisting of foreign ministers of the AU members states; and the African Union Commission. The Assembly of the African Union consists of the 55 heads of state and government of the member countries. The Assembly meets once a year.

Contents

The Chairperson of the Assembly presides the annual African Union Summit as well as the Pan-African Parliament during the election and swearing in of the President of the Pan-African Parliament.

History

The Assembly came into existence on 25 May 1963, as part of the ratification of Organization of African Unity (OAU). Initially the Assembly consisted of 32 independent members, the heads of state of the African states that had achieved independence by 1963. Until 2001, the governing constitution of the Assembly was the OAU Charter. The Assembly is now subject to the Union Act that created the African Union.

Functions

The Assembly has nine basic functions:

  1. Set policies of the Union.
  2. Decide on what action to take after consideration of reports and recommendations from the other organs of the Union.
  3. Consider membership requests into the Union.
  4. Create bodies for the Union.
  5. Monitor the implementation of policies and decisions of the Union as well ensure compliance by all Member States.
  6. Create a budget of the Union.
  7. Provide direction to the Executive Council on conflicts, war and other emergency situations and the restoration of peace.
  8. Select judges for and withdraw judges of the Court of Justice.
  9. Appoint the Chairman of the Commission, Commissioners of the Commission, all respective deputies and determine how long they will serve and what duties they will perform.

Decisions

50th anniversary African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25 May 2013 50th Anniversary African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.jpg
50th anniversary African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25 May 2013

The Assembly shall take its decisions by consensus or, failing which, by a two-thirds majority of the Member States of the Union. However, procedural matters, including the question of whether a matter is one of procedure or not, shall be decided by a simple majority.

Two-thirds of the total membership of the Union shall form a quorum at any meeting of the Assembly.

The Assembly may delegate any of its powers and functions to any organ of the Union.

Members

The AU Assembly of the Heads of State and Government consists of the 55 heads of state and government of the member countries. The Assembly meets once a year at the AU Summit. The current Chairman of the Assembly is President Moussa Faki of Chad.

The current members of the AU-AHSG are:

Member StateRepresentativeTitleMember sincePhoto
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune President 19 December 2019 Abdelmadjid Tebboune 20200119 (cropped).jpg
Flag of Angola.svg  Angola João Lourenço President 26 September 2017 2018-07-04 President Joao Lourenco-0555.jpg
Flag of Benin.svg  Benin Patrice Talon President 6 April 2016 Patrice Talon at the 52nd African Development Bank Annual Meeting in Gandhinagar (Cropped).jpg
Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi President 1 April 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference London 2018 (45245990491) (cropped Version 2).jpg
Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso VacantMembership Suspended31 January 2022 Coat of arms of Burkina Faso.svg
Flag of Burundi.svg  Burundi Évariste Ndayishimiye President 18 June 2020 Evariste Ndayishimiye (cropped).jpg
Flag of Cape Verde.svg  Cabo Verde José Maria Neves President 9 November 2021 Jose Maria Neves.jpg
Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon Paul Biya President 6 November 1982 Paul Biya 2014.png
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadéra President 30 February 2016 Faustin Touadera.jpg
Flag of Chad.svg  Chad Mahamat Déby Itno President of the Transitional Military Council 20 April 2021 Participation of Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, in the 6th European Union Africa Union Summit (cropped).jpg
Flag of the Comoros.svg  Comoros Azali Assoumani President 26 May 2016 President Azali Assoumani.jpg
Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  Democratic Republic of the Congo Félix Tshisekedi President 24 January 2019 Felix Tshisekedi (september 2018).jpg
Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg  Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso President 25 August 1997 Denis Sassou Nguesso 2014.png
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Côte d'Ivoire Alassane Ouattara President 4 December 2010 President Alassane Ouattara in Washington - 2017 (38244569701) (cropped).jpg
Flag of Djibouti.svg  Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh President 8 May 1999 Ismail Omar Guelleh 2018.jpg
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi President 8 June 2014 AbdelFattah Elsisi.jpg
Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg  Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo President 3 August 1979 Teodoro Obiang.png
Flag of Eritrea.svg  Eritrea Isaias Afwerki President 24 May 1993 Isaias Afwerki in 2002.jpg
Flag of Eswatini.svg  Eswatini Mswati III King 25 April 1986 King Mswati III 2014.jpg
Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed Prime Minister 2 April 2018 The state visit of Reuven Rivlin to Ethiopia, May 2018 (6810) (cropped).jpg
Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba President 19 October 2009 London Conference on The Illegal Wildlife Trade (cropped).jpg
Flag of The Gambia.svg  The Gambia Adama Barrow President 19 January 2017 Adama Barrow - 2018 (39774084330) (cropped).jpg
Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana Nana Akuffo-Addo President 7 January 2017 Nana Akufo-Addo at European Development Days 2017.jpg
Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea VacantMembership Suspended10 September 2021 Coat of Arms of Guinea.svg
Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg  Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embaló President 27 February 2020 Umaro Sissoco Embalo (51315757792).jpg
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta President 9 April 2013 Uhuru Kenyatta.png
Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho Moeketsi Majoro Prime Minister 20 May 2020 Moeketsi Majoro (01910409) (9654273280) (cropped).jpg
Flag of Liberia.svg  Liberia George Weah President 22 January 2018 George Weah 2019 (cropped).jpg
Flag of Libya.svg  Libya Mohamed al-Menfi Chairman of the Presidential Council 15 March 2021 Mukhammad Al'-Manfi (51120607759).jpg
Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar Andry Rajoelina President 19 January 2019 Andry Rajoelina greeting crowd (cropped).jpg
Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi Lazarus Chakwera President 28 June 2020 Lazarus Chakwera 2017.jpg
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali VacantMembership Suspended2 June 2021 Coat of arms of Mali.svg
Flag of Mauritania.svg  Mauritania Mohamed Ould Ghazouani President 1 August 2019 Hi Excellency Mohammed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, President of Mauritania, at the UK-Africa Investment Summit, 20 January 2020 (cropped).jpg
Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth Prime Minister 23 January 2017 Pravind Jugnauth.jpg
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco Mohammed VI King 31 January 2017 King Mohammed VI of Morocco, Africa Forum Summit 2015 (cropped).jpg
Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique Filipe Nyusi President 15 January 2015 Filipe Nyusi, President, Republic of Mozambique - 2018 (40689535485) (cropped).jpg
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia Hage Geingob President 21 March 2015 Hage Geingob.jpg
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger Mohamed Bazoum President 2 April 2021 Mohamed Bazoum (cropped).jpg
Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari President 29 May 2015 Muhammadu Buhari - Chatham House.jpg
Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda Paul Kagame President 24 March 2000 Paul Kagame 2014.jpg
Flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.svg  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Brahim Ghali President 12 July 2016 Brahim Ghali.jpg
Flag of Sao Tome and Principe.svg  São Tomé and Príncipe Evaristo Carvalho President 3 September 2016 Evaristo Carvalho 2016.jpg
Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal Macky Sall President 2 April 2012 Macky Sall with Obamas 2014 (cropped).jpg
Flag of Seychelles.svg  Seychelles Wavel Ramkalawan President 26 October 2020 Wavel Ramkalawan (face) 2020.jpg
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio President 4 April 2018 Julius Maada Bio - 2023 (cropped).jpg
Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia Mohamed Hussein Roble Prime Minister 23 September 2020 Mohamed Hussein Roble (cropped).png
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa President 15 February 2018 Cyril Ramaphosa.jpg
Flag of South Sudan.svg  South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit President 9 July 2011 Salva Kiir Mayardit at the White House (cropped).jpg
Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan VacantMembership Suspended26 October 2021 Emblem of Sudan.svg
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan President 19 March 2021 Samia Suluhu Hassan in May 2017.jpg
Flag of Togo.svg  Togo Faure Gnassingbé President 4 May 2005 Faure Gnassingbe 2014.png
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia Kais Saied President 23 October 2019 President Kais Saied cropped.jpg
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda Yoweri Museveni President 26 January 1986 Museveni July 2012 Cropped.jpg
Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia Hakainde Hichilema President 21 August 2021 President of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema at the US SFRC (cropped).jpg
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa President 24 November 2017 Emmerson Mnangagwa (2019-01-15).jpg

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Vietnam</span> Political system of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The politics of Vietnam is dominated by a single party under an authoritarian system, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The President of Vietnam is the head of state, and the Prime Minister of Vietnam is the head of government, both of these are separate from the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam who leads the CPV and is head of the Politburo and the Central Military Commission, thus the General Secretary is the de facto supreme leader of Vietnam. Executive power is exercised by the government and the President of Vietnam. Legislative power is vested in the National Assembly of Vietnam. The Judiciary is independent of the executive. The parliament adopted the current Constitution of Vietnam, its fifth, on 28 November 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Partnership for Africa's Development</span> Economic development program of the African Union

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is an economic development program of the African Union (AU). NEPAD was adopted by the AU at the 37th session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia. NEPAD aims to provide an overarching vision and policy framework for accelerating economic co-operation and integration among African countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Armenia</span> National government of Armenia

The Government of the Republic of Armenia or the executive branch of the Armenian government is an executive council of government ministers in Armenia. It is one of the three main governmental branches of Armenia and is headed by the Prime Minister of Armenia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Botswana</span>

The Government of Botswana often abbreviated as GOB, is the union government created by the constitution of Botswana having the executive, parliament, and the judiciary. The Seat of the Government is located in Gaborone, Botswana. The government is led by the president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan-African Parliament</span> International parliament

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, having lasting for the first five years. Initially the seat of the Pan-African Parliament was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but was later moved to Midrand, South Africa. The goal in establishing the parliament was creating a space where people from all states of Africa could meet, deliberate, and pass some policy on issues that affect the entire continent of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Ikimi</span> Nigerian politician

Chief Tom Ikimi in Kumba-Southern, British Cameroons to John Onile Ikimi and Victoria Isiemoa Ikimi, both from Igueben. He is married, with three sons and a daughter. He is a Roman Catholic. He was appointed Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1995. He has been chairman of ECOWAS council of ministers and ECOWAS committee of Nine on Liberia(C-9) from 26 July 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights</span> Quasi-judicial body

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) is a quasi-judicial body tasked with promoting and protecting human rights and collective (peoples') rights throughout the African continent as well as interpreting the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and considering individual complaints of violations of the Charter. This includes investigating human rights violations, creating and approving programs of action towards encouraging human rights, and set up effect communication between them and states to get first hand information on violations of human rights. Although the ACHPR is under a regional government facility, they don't have any actual power and enforcement over laws. This ends up in them drafting up proposals to send up the chain of command to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government and they will act accordingly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of the African Union</span> Flag

The current flag of the African Union was adopted at its 14th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, which took place in Addis Ababa on 31 January 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace and Security Council</span> African Unions security council

The Peace and Security Council (PSC) is the organ of the African Union in charge of enforcing union decisions. It is patterned somewhat after the United Nations Security Council. The PSC is also the main pillar of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), and works with other pillars of the APSA in order to promote "peace, security and stability in Africa". The specific goal of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) is the "prevention, management and resolution of conflicts". To achieve these goals, it involves subsidiary organizations such as the Military Staff Committee and the Committee of Experts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic, Social and Cultural Council</span>

The Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) is an advisory body of the African Union designed to give civil society organizations (CSOs) a voice within the AU institutions and decision-making processes. ECOSOCC is made up of civil society organizations from a wide range of sectors including labour, business and professional groups, service providers and policy think tanks, both from within Africa and the African diaspora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intergovernmental Authority on Development</span> Eight-country trade bloc in East Africa

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is an eight-country trade bloc in Africa. It includes governments from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and the African Great Lakes. It is headquartered in Djibouti.

The German Democratic Republic was created as a socialist republic on 7 October 1949 and began to institute a government based on the government of the Soviet Union during the Stalin era. The equivalent of the Communist Party in East Germany was the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, which along with other parties, was part of the National Front of Democratic Germany. It was created in 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany. Following German reunification, the SED was renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), which eventually merged with the West German Electoral Alternative for Labor and Social Justice to form the modern Left Party.

A continental union is a regional organization which facilitates pan-continental integration. Continental unions vary from collaborative intergovernmental organizations, to supranational politico-economic unions. Continental unions are a relatively new type of political entity in the history of human government. Throughout most of human history, political organization has been at the local level and in more recent centuries, the sub-regional ("regional")/sub-continental level ; however, starting with the advent of better transportation, weapons and communication there was for the first time the ability for a union of member states to organize at the continental level. After the devastation of the First and Second World Wars in the middle of the twentieth century, Europe began to slowly integrate with the founding of the "European Community", which became a political union covering much of the European continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Peer Review Mechanism</span>

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is a mutually agreed instrument voluntarily acceded to by the member states of the African Union (AU) as a self-monitoring mechanism. It was founded in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enlargement of the African Union</span>

When the African Union (AU) was founded in 2002, it represented almost the entire African continent, inheriting the membership of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was founded in 1963, as its successor. Currently, the AU has 55 member states. Growth in the OAU typically came from post-colonial independence; as decolonisation ended, the borders of the OAU had overlapped almost all of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Union</span> Continental union of African states

The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The bloc was founded on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa. The intention of the AU was to replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU), established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa by 32 signatory governments; the OAU was disbanded on 9 July 2002. The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.

The African Energy Commission (AFREC) is a specialized agency of the African Union (AU), under the Commission for Infrastructure and Energy, in charge of coordinating, harmonizing, protecting, conserving, developing, rational exploitation, commercializing and integrating energy resources on the African continent.

The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa group together individual countries in subregions for the purposes of achieving greater economic integration. They are described as the "building blocks" of the African Union and are also central to the strategy for implementing the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

The Panel of the Wise (PoW) is a consultative body of the African Union, composed of five appointed members who each serve three year terms. Its mandate is to provide opinions to the Peace and Security Council on issues relevant to conflict prevention, management, and resolution. Representatives are chosen for the North, East, South, West, and Central regions of the continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Union–Ethiopia relations</span> Bilateral relations

Ethiopia is one of founding African states of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on 25 May 1963 under Emperor Haile Selassie, headquartered in Addis Ababa. At the time the organization evolved up to 54 African states, except Morocco.