The Suspicious Silence of the AU

The current situation in the Ivory Coast is a testament to how far the African Union can go to address a pressing crisis on the continent. The first move that the body made was to send Thabo Mbeki to mediate rather than putting pressure on Gbagbo to step down. Everyone else around the world seems to be putting pressure for Gbagbo to step down but the African Union has been mute. On the Web site of the organization, there is no statement on the Ivorian issue. It is like nothing is happening in Ivory Coast. But there are statements and pictures about a summit in Cancun, a donation from China, etc. Ecowas considers the situation of Ivory Coast to be more pressing the the African Union, a continental body that seems to be busy begging from everyone else around the world rather than serving their people. The body is just as pathetic as the individual states of which it is comprised. I am not sure that Africa needs such a body that does not even have money to run its own affairs and that cannot put pressure on one of its wayward members who is clinging to power at the detriment of its populace.

Update: AU Suspends Ivory Coast. The Ivorian situation is still not central to current AU deliberations. Ecowas, rather than the AU, was the first to suspend Cote d'Ivoire. AU has to be make this matter central to its current deliberations. This has to be reflected on its Web site.