- Assembly of the African Union
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 thePan African Parliament , theExecutive Council consisting of foreign ministers of the AU members states, and theAfrican Union Commission . The Assembly corresponds to the National Governors association of the US. The Chair of the Assembly has few formal functions, the most important of which is to preside at the Pan African Parliament during the election and swearing in of the President of thePan African Parliament .History of the Assembly
The Assembly was came into existence on 25 May 1963, as part of the ratification of
Organization of African Unity . Initially the Assembly consisted of 32 independent member, the heads of state of the African states that had achieved independence by 1963. Until 2001, the governing constitution of the Assembly was theOAU Charter . The Assembly is now subject to theUnion Act that created theAfrican Union .Members of the Assembly
The AU Assembly of the Heads of State and Government consists of the 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 isJakaya Kikwete , president of the AU state ofTanzania .The current members of the AU-AHSG are:
*
Gertrude Mongella , President of thePan African Parliament *
Fernando José Dias Van-Dúnem , Vice President of the Pan African Parliament*
Mohammed Lutfi Farhat , Vice President of the Pan African Parliament*
Loum N. Neloumsei Elise , Vice President of the Pan African Parliament.*
Theophile Nata , Vice President of the Pan African Parliament*
Jean Ping , Chair of theAfrican Union Commission *
Abdelaziz Bouteflika ofAlgeria *
José Eduardo dos Santos ofAngola *
Yayi Boni ofBenin *
Festus Mogae ofBotswana *
Blaise Compaoré ofBurkina Faso *
Pierre Nkurunziza ofBurundi *
Paul Biya ofCameroon *
Pedro Pires ofCape Verde *
François Bozizé ofCentral African Republic *
Idriss Déby ofChad *
Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi ofComoros *
Joseph Kabila of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo *
Denis Sassou-Nguesso ofRepublic of the Congo *
Laurent Gbagbo ofCôte d'Ivoire *
Ismail Omar Guelleh ofDjibouti *
Hosni Mubarak ofEgypt *
Isaias Afewerki ofEritrea *
Girma Wolde-Giorgis ofEthiopia *
Omar Bongo ofGabon *
Yahya Jammeh ofThe Gambia *
John Kufuor ofGhana *
Lansana Conté ofGuinea *
João Bernardo Vieira ofGuinea-Bissau *
Mwai Kibaki ofKenya *
Letsie III ofLesotho *
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf ofLiberia *
Muammar al-Gaddafi ofLibya *
Marc Ravalomanana ofMadagascar *
Bingu wa Mutharika ofMalawi *
Amadou Toumani Touré ofMali *
Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi ofMauritania *
Anerood Jugnauth ofMauritius *
Armando Guebuza ofMozambique *
Hifikepunye Pohamba ofNamibia *
Tandja Mamadou ofNiger *
Umaru Yar'Adua ofNigeria *
Paul Kagame ofRwanda *
Mohamed Abdelaziz of theSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic *
Fradique de Menezes ofSão Tomé and Príncipe *
Abdoulaye Wade ofSenegal *
James Michel ofSeychelles *
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah ofSierra Leone *
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed ofSomalia *
Thabo Mbeki ofSouth Africa *
Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir ofSudan *
Mswati III ofSwaziland *
Jakaya Kikwete ofTanzania *
Edem Kodjo ofTogo *
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ofTunisia *
Yoweri Museveni ofUganda *
Levy Mwanawasa ofZambia *
Robert Mugabe ofZimbabwe Functions of the Assembly
The Assembly has nine basic functions:
* set policies of the Union.
* decide on what action to take after consideration of reports and recommendations from the other organs of the Union.
* consider membership requests into the Union.
* create bodies for the Union.
* monitor the implementation of policies and decisions of the Union as well ensure compliance by all Member States.
* create a budget of the Union.
* provide diretion to the Executive Council on conflicts, war and other emergency situations and the restoration of peace.
* select judges for and withdraw judges of the Court of Justice.
* 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 of the Assembly
* 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
References
* [http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/organs/assembly_en.htm Official website]
External links
* [http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/organs/assembly_en.htm Assembly of the African Union] Official Site
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
