THE INSTITUTIONAL ROLE OF THE ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (OAU) IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN AFRICA By John Gay Nout Yoh Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject INTERNATIONAL POLITICS at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTOR: PROF. GS LABUSCHAGNE JOINT PROMOTOR: DR SUSAN BOTHA FEBRUARY 2008 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE SUMMARY 11 DECLARATION 13 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 14 DEDICATION 17 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 18 1.1 Introduction 18 1.2 Purpose 21 1.3 Objectives 24 1.4 The scope of the study 26 1.5 Theoretical, conceptual and methodological framework of the study 26 1.5.1 Approach and methodology 29 1.5.2 Archival sources 29 1.5.3 Secondary sources 32 1.6 The Ethiopian-Somali Boundary Dispute in 1960s and 70s: case study 33 1.7 The outline of chapters 35 2 CHAPTER TWO: THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 40 2.1 Introduction 40 2.2 The concept of conflict 43 2.3 Classifications of conflicts 47 2.3.1 Biological conflicts 49 2.3.2 Physiological conflicts 50 3 2.3.3 Societal conflicts 50 2.3.4 International conflicts 51 2.3.5 Global conflicts 53 2.3.6 Conclusion 53 2.4 The nature of conflicts in Africa 54 2.5 Conventional mechanisms for handling conflicts 56 2. 2.5.1 Conflict prevention 57 2.5.2 Conflict management 60 2.5.3 Conflict resolution 63 2.5.4 Conclusion 66 2.6 Schools of Conflict Resolution 67 2.6.1 International conflict resolution school 67 2.6.2 Regional conflict resolution school 68 2.6.3 School of African conflict resolution 69 2.6.3.1 The nature and patterns of conflicts in Africa 70 2.6.3.2 Trends of school of African conflict resolution 73 2.6.3.3 The first trend 73 2.6.3.4 The second trend 77 2.6.3.5 The third trend 78 2.6.4 Conclusion 79 2.7 Theories of conflicts 80 2.7.1 Structural theories 81 2.7.2 Psycho-cultural theories 82 2.7.3 Game theories 83 2.7.4 Dispute level theories 83 2.8 New-Institutionalism theories and the OAU structural system 84 2.9 Types of New Institutionalist Theories 86 2.10 Dynamics of New Institutionalist theories 89 2.11 Conclusion 92 4 3 CHAPTER THREE: THE PHILOSOPHICAL, IDEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF THE OAU 94 3.1 Introduction 94 3.2. Foundations of the Pan-African Movement 96 3.2.1 Imperialist and colonial School 98 3.2.2 Pan-Africanist School 100 3.2.3 African Nationalist School 102 3.2.4 Conclusion 104 3.3 The Origins and development of Pan-Africanism 104 3.3.1 Pan-Africanism 105 3.3.2 Pan African Congresses 111 3.3.4 Conclusion 124 3.4 African Nationalism: Consolidation of African Unity ideology 126 3.4.1 The evolution of African Nationalism 128 3.4.2 Differences within the Pan-African Movement in the Mainland 135 3.4.3 The establishment of the OAU 139 3.4.4 The Ethiopian initiative 141 3.4.5 The Addis Ababa Summit 144 3.4.6 Conclusion 151 4 CHAPTER FOUR: STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE OAU 161 4.1 Introduction 161 4.2 The OAU structural set up 163 4.3 Principles 165 4.4 Objectives 167 4.5 Membership 168 4.6 Organs established by the OAU Charter 169 4.6.1 Assembly of Heads of State and Government 169 4.6.2 Council of Ministers 170 4.6.3 Secretariat 171 5 4.6.4 Commission of Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration 172 4.6.5 Specialised Commissions 173 4.7 Implications of the structures of the OAU 174 4.7.1 The de-colonisation 175 4.7.2 Neo-colonialism 180 4.8 The OAU and Cold War politics 185 4.8.1 The United States of America 186 4.8.2 The Soviet Union 188 4.8.3 The People’s Republic of China 191 4.8.4 Non-Alignment 193 4.9 Conclusion 195 5 CHAPTER FIVE: EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONFLICT RESOLUTION SYSTEM OF THE OAU 201 5.1 Introduction 201 5.2 The Commission of Mediation, Conciliation, and Arbitration 205 5.2.1 Establishment of the Commission 205 5.2.2 Objectives and duties of the Commission 206 5.3 Ad Hoc Committees and Commissions 212 5.3.1 Advantages of the Ad Hoc Committees/Commissions 213 5.3.2 Weaknesses of the Ad Hoc Committees/Commissions 215 5.4 The OAU Secretariat’s and the AU Commission’s policy and decision making processes in conflict resolution issues 217 5.4.1 The Office of Secretary General of the OAU 217 5.5 Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution 220 5.5.1 The aims and duties of the Mechanism 223 5.5.2 Conflict Management Centre, CMC 226 5.5.3 The Central Organ 228 5.5.4 The OAU Early Warning System (EWS) Unit 230 5.5.5 Field Operation Unit (FOU) 235 5.5.6 African Standby Force (ASF) 236 5.5.7 Peace Fund 241 6 5.5.8 Panel of the Wise 243 5.6 Conclusion 246 6 CHAPTER SIX: INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL COOPERATION BETWEEN THE OAU AND THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM 259 6.1 Introduction 259 6.2 Legal basis of institutional cooperation between the UN and the OAU 262 6.3 Institutional cooperation between the OAU and the UN 269 6.4 The types of conflicts in which the OAU and the UN were involved in Africa 270 6.5 Structural Obstacles and challenges to the UN interventions in conflicts in Africa 274 6.6 Impediments to institutional cooperation between the OAU and the UN in peacekeeping operations on the continent 278 6.7 The politics of the institutional cooperation between the OAU and the UN in conflicts in Africa 280 6.8 Conclusion 286 7 CHAPTER SEVEN: DYNAMICS OF INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL COOPERATION BETWEEN THE OAU AND AFRICAN SUB-REGIONAL ORGANISATIONS 292 7.1 Introduction 292 7.2 The establishment and role of African sub-regional organisations in conflict resolution 296 7.3 Institutional and legal cooperation and coordination between the OAU and sub-regional organisations 398 7.4 Examples of African-sub-regional organisations and their role in conflict resolution on the continent 303 7.4.1 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) 304 7.4.2 Southern African Development Community (SADC) 307 7.4.3 Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) 311 7.5 Conclusion 314 7 8. CHAPTER EIGHT: THE INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL COOPERATION BETWEEN THE OAU AND THE AMERICAN-EUROPEAN BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL CONFLICT PREVENTION AND RESOLUTION INITIATIVES IN AFRICA 319 8.1 Introduction 319 8.2 African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) 321 8.2.1 Objectives and challenges for ACRI 322 8.2.2 The problems of the implementation of ACRI programme 323 8.2.3 Solutions to the implementation of the ACRI programme 325 8.3 Renforcement des capacités Africainnes de maintien de la paix, (RECAMP) 326 8.3.1 Dynamics of and challenges for RECAMP Programme 327 8.3.2 Opportunities and Challenges to ACRI and French Initiatives in Africa 330 8.4 European Union Conflict Prevention and Peace-building Initiative in Africa 332 8.4.1 Searching for an EU policy on conflict prevention and resolution in Africa 333 8.4.2 The EU policy on conflicts prevention and resolution in Africa 335 8.5 Conclusion 340 9 CHAPTER NINE: THE ETHIOPIAN-SOMALI BOUNDARY DISPUTE, 1960S AND 1970S: CASE STUDY 344 9.1 Introduction 344 9.2 Characteristics of Boundary Disputes 346 9.3 The Origins and the Background of the Ethiopian-Somalia Boundary Dispute 349 9.3.1 Geographical, ethnic and historical links between Ethiopia and Somalia 350 9.3.2 The Advent of the European powers and the origins of boundary disputes in the Horn of Africa 351 9.3.3 The Wuchale Treaty between Ethiopia and Italy, May 1889 352 9.3.4 Ethiopia-British Treaty, March 1897 352 9.3.5 Ethiopian-Italian Agreement, September 1897 353 9.3.6 The Tripartite Agreement between Britain, France and Italy, December 1906 353 9.3.7 The Ethiopian-Italian Agreement, May 1908 354 8 9.3.8 The Dynamics of the Ethiopian-Italian Boundary Dispute during and after the Second World War 355 9.3.9 The Ethiopian-Somali Boundary Dispute after Somalia Independence 358 9.4 Position of the OAU on the boundaries in Africa 359 9.5 Dynamics of the Cold War politics during the Ethiopian-Somali boundary conflict 362 9.6 Approaches, mechanisms and methods used by the OAU mediators in the Ethiopian Somali boundary dispute 367 9.7 Characteristics of the Ethiopian-Somali boundary dispute that affected the role of the OAU 370 9.7.1 Nationalism, Statehood and Assimilation 370 9.7.2 European versus African colonialism 371 9.7.3 Structural Weaknesses of States 372 9.7.4 Lack of binding rules of international law 373 9.7.5 The Problem of colonial boundary disputes 374 9.7.6 The problem of nomadism 374 9.7.7 Lessons from the Ethiopian-Somali boundary dispute 375 9.8 Conclusion 377 10. CHAPTER TEN: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 382 10.1 Types and nature of conflicts in Africa 383 10.2 Structural evolution of the Pan-Africanism 385 10.3 Structural evolution of the OAU 392 10.4 Evolution of structural reforms within the OAU conflict resolution mechanisms 396 10.5 Institutional evolution of the OAU and the UN structures of cooperation 403 10.6 Advantages and disadvantages of the role of sub-regional organisations in conflict resolution situations in Africa 407 10.7 Institutional cooperation between the OAU and the European and American peace initiatives 411 10.8 Problems of inter-state conflicts: The case of Ethiopian-Somali boundary conflict 413 10.9 The transformation of the OAU to AU and the impact of that process on the institutional role of the AU in conflict resolution in Africa 417 9 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY 423 11.1 Documents, books, periodicals and dissertations 423 11.2 Interviews 472 11.3 Web Links 473 12 APPENDICES 474 12.1 The Charter of the Organisation of the African Unity (OAU) 474 12.2 The Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) 482 12.3 The List of the Chairmen of the OAU (May 1963-July 2002) 495 12.4 The List of Secretaries General of the OAU (May 1963-July 2002) 497 12.5 The List of the OAU Assistant Secretaries General (1963-2002) 498 12.6 The List of the OAU Summits (May 1963-July 2002) 500 10 SUMMARY The main objective of this thesis is to critically investigate and analyse the institutional role of the OAU in conflict resolution in Africa.