Situation Report: The Proposed AU Authority: Hybridisation, Balancing Intergovernmentalism and Supranationalism, Chrysantus Ayangafac and Kenneth Mpyisi

The African Union (AU) is an institutional expression of the imperative of
integration as a policy strategy to address Africa’s myriad problems of poverty, underdevelopment and conflict. In an attempt to achieve its objectives,1 the AU created the AU Commission. The Commission is the secretariat of the AU and is charged with, among others, initiating proposals for consideration by other organs of the AU; implementing decisions taken by other organs of the AU; coordinating and monitoring implementation of AU decisions; and representing the AU.2 There is little doubt that the AU Commission can play a critical role in helping the AU to achieve the development and integration of the continent. However, there seems to be consensus that the Commission (as well as other organs of the AU) has not lived up to expectations. The low implementation rate of just over 10 per cent of its decisions by certain departments of the Commission could be seen as evidence of the validity of this assertion.3 The question is, however, whether the low implementation rate points to the ineffectiveness of the Commission or to its weakness. Regardless of the reason, there seems to be a need for change.