Kenyan president William Ruto has suggested that African leaders stop meeting any non-African leader in their numbers. He says it is belittling. Before now, Ruto, elected president in September 2022, had announced cancellation of the visa requirement for fellow Africans visiting Kenya. Two other countries, Ruanda and Malawi have done so. Back to Ruto’s small-is-smart diplomatic advocacy. He says it is demeaning seeing African leaders massing up to receive visiting delegations from America and Europe. Sometimes they ask to see this American or European head of state or government on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly meets in New York. Ruto thinks this is not right. And it should stop.
Instead of lining up in numbers to see one white leader, African leaders should ask the chair of the African Union to go on their behalf. Besides keep their self respect intact, the AU will be made more powerful and visible than it is today, according to Ruto. “Member states must consider donating power to AU on matters of trade, regional and global security as well as others that Africa can benefit from engaging together rather than individually,” he said. Ruto warns that without such sacrifices made as a “priority”, the vision of the continental bloc, including Agenda 2063, and such mantras as African Solutions for African Problems’ would never be met. “We should merge the position of chair of the AU Summit and that of the AU Commission into one so as to give it sufficient leverage to engage on behalf of Africa,” he added.
Much as this idea of surrendering powers to the AU to “engage on behalf of Africa,” may seem radical, it is not something entirely new. Indeed, it is a leaf taken from the European Union book. The EU traditionally negotiates trade and global security policies jointly. It has a head for foreign policy and security issues. Individual countries have their respective foreign Minister’s, but the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy generally speaks for the bloc as its top diplomat. Unlike the EU, our AU has been unable to to rally a common position for members on specifically the overthrow of democratic governments in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Niger. Senegal may also fall in, who knows!
This EU model and mentality shift that Ruto is proposing will prove to be a hard sale to African states that traditionally hold their sovereignty close to their chests. It will be difficult for nations that depend on aid packages for much of their budgets to cotoe to their western donors. Kenyan, for instance, received 3989.95 million dollars in foreign aid and development assistance in 2021, Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa 3982.52 million dollars and Malawi 1154.61 million dollars. These aid dependent African states are the ones that beg to be invited to western capitals and western-backed fora such as the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Doha, Switzerland. Nigeria, which doesn’t get as much in foreign aid, hardly is invited to attend. For such aid dependencies, a WEF invitation is an official stamp of recognition. To ask them to decline a midnight call to visit the White House or Downing Street is like saying they commit suicide. They will not hear of it.
It was the same slavish mentality that killed the OAU, the progenitor of the African Union. Even so called progressives like Ruto and Ruanda’s Paul Kigame, in spite of their preachment, will not cede power to any supra-structure by whatever name called. It will be good to hear an African leader has rejected a call to visit a western metropole, but will it ever happen? I fear not.
