adminThe Herald, July 13, 1979
A PROPOSED Organisation of African Unity army primarily to help black Africa in its struggles against South Africa and to act as an African peacekeeping force lost its first battle here yesterday when OAU foreign ministers decided they did not know enough about its implications to make a decision to form it.
The army is the brainchild of an OAU defence commission, which was set up at last year’s Summit meeting in Khartoum.
After hours of debate, the foreign ministers announced that they had called for more information.
They wanted to know whether states could afford to pay for it; what would be its structure; what would be the relationship of the OAU Council of Ministers to a proposed ten-member defence council to be set up to control it and, whether the army would be used as an observer force or operational force.
Apart from this, the creation of the force was agreed upon in principle. OAU spokesman Peter Onu said the force proposed by the defence commission was not a standing OAU army, but a force which could be called into operation on an ad hoc basis with various countries contributing men and arms to it by pre-arrangement.
Unable to obtain answers to all their questions, the foreign ministers decided to recommend that the heads of state refer the proposal back to the defence commission with a request that it report further after obtaining expert financial and other advice.
The foreign ministers also agreed that, if and when formed, the force would operate only in Africa.
Observers pointed out that this could preclude its use to replace UN troops now comprising the peacekeeping force in the Middle East – a move, which has been proposed by Nigeria.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
A standby force is critical especially on the African continent which is still being challenged by things like civil wars and insurgencies.
For the standby force to be effective, there is need for participation by all member states in terms of the provision of the soldiers, weapons, and other equipment and money to sustain the force.
A standby force constituted by African soldiers has an advantage in that the soldiers will be familiar with the terrain, languages and customs as opposed to forces constituted by foreign nationals.
An African Union standby force is easy to control and dictate to as opposed to foreign nationals that get instructions from their countries.
Online Reporter