Assembly of the African Union

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government 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 the Pan-African Parliament, the Executive Council consisting of foreign ministers of the AU members states, and the African Union Commission. The Chairperson 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 the Pan-African Parliament.

History of the Assembly

The Assembly came into existence on 25 May 1963, as part of the ratification of Organization of African Unity (OAU). Initially the Assembly consisted of 32 independent members, the heads of state of the African states that had achieved independence by 1963. Until 2001, the governing constitution of the Assembly was the OAU Charter. The Assembly is now subject to the Union Act that created the African Union.

Members of the Assembly

The AU Assembly of the Heads of State and Government consists of the 54 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 is President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

The current members of the AU-AHSG are:

Member State Representative Title Member since Photo
 Algeria Bouteflika, AbdelazizAbdelaziz Bouteflika President 27 April 1999
 Angola José Eduardo dos Santos President 10 September 1979
 Benin Boni, Thomas YayiThomas Yayi Boni President 6 April 2006
 Botswana Khama, IanIan Khama President 1 April 2008
 Burkina Faso Kaboré, Roch Marc ChristianRoch Marc Christian Kaboré President 6 December 2015
 Burundi Nkurunziza, PierrePierre Nkurunziza President 26 August 2005
 Cabo Verde Fonseca, Jorge CarlosJorge Carlos Fonseca President 9 September 2011
 Cameroon Biya, PaulPaul Biya President 6 November 1982
 Central African Republic

(Suspended member)
Touadéra, Faustin-ArchangeFaustin-Archange Touadéra President 30 February 2016
 Chad Déby, IdrissIdriss Déby President 2 August 1990
 Comoros Ikililou Dhoinine President 26 May 2011
 Democratic Republic of the Congo Kabila, JosephJoseph Kabila President 26 January 2001
 Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso President 25 August 1997
 Côte d'Ivoire Alassane Ouattara President 4 December 2010
 Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh President 8 May 1999
 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi President 8 June 2014
 Equatorial Guinea Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, TeodoroTeodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo President 3 August 1979
 Eritrea Afewerki, IsaiasIsaias Afewerki President 24 May 1993
 Ethiopia Desalegne, Haile MariamHaile Mariam Desalegne Prime Minister 20 August 2012
 Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba President 19 October 2009
 The Gambia Jammeh, YahyaYahya Jammeh President 22 July 1994
 Ghana Mahama, John DramaniJohn Dramani Mahama President 24 July 2012
 Guinea Condé, AlphaAlpha Condé President 21 December 2010
 Guinea-Bissau Mário Vaz, JoséJosé Mário Vaz President 23 June 2014
 Kenya Kenyatta, UhuruUhuru Kenyatta President 9 April 2013
 Lesotho Mosisili, PakalithaPakalitha Mosisili Prime Minister 17 March 2015
 Liberia Johnson Sirleaf, EllenEllen Johnson Sirleaf President 16 January 2006
 Libya al-Thani, AbdullahAbdullah al-Thani Prime Minister 11 March 2014
 Madagascar Rajaonarimampianina, HeryHery Rajaonarimampianina President 25 January 2014
 Malawi Mutharika, PeterPeter Mutharika President 31 May 2014
 Mali Keïta, Ibrahim BoubacarIbrahim Boubacar Keïta President 4 September 2013
 Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz President 5 August 2009
 Mauritius Jugnauth, AneroodAnerood Jugnauth Prime Minister 17 December 2014
 Mozambique Nyusi, FilipeFilipe Nyusi President 15 January 2015
 Namibia Geingob, HageHage Geingob President 21 March 2015
 Niger Issoufou, MahamadouMahamadou Issoufou President 7 April 2011
 Nigeria Buhari, MuhammaduMuhammadu Buhari President 29 May 2015
 Rwanda Kagame, PaulPaul Kagame President 24 March 2000
 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Abdelaziz, MohamedMohamed Abdelaziz President 22 February 1982
 São Tomé and Príncipe Pinto da Costa, ManuelManuel Pinto da Costa President 3 September 2011
 Senegal Sall, MackyMacky Sall President 2 April 2012
 Seychelles Michel, JamesJames Michel President 16 April 2004
 Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma President 17 September 2007
 Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud President 6 September 2012
 South Africa Zuma, JacobJacob Zuma President 9 May 2009
 South Sudan Kiir Mayardit, SalvaSalva Kiir Mayardit President 9 July 2011
 Sudan Omar al-Bashir President 16 October 1993
 Swaziland Mswati III King 25 April 1986
 Tanzania Magufuli, JohnJohn Magufuli President 5 November 2015
 Togo Gnassingbé, FaureFaure Gnassingbé President 4 May 2005
 Tunisia Beji Caid Essebsi President 31 December 2014
 Uganda Museveni, YoweriYoweri Museveni President 26 January 1986
 Zambia Lungu, EdgarEdgar Lungu President 25 January 2015
 Zimbabwe Mugabe, RobertRobert Mugabe President 31 December 1987

Functions of the Assembly

50th anniversary African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25 May 2013

The Assembly has nine basic functions:

  1. set policies of the Union.
  2. decide on what action to take after consideration of reports and recommendations from the other organs of the Union.
  3. consider membership requests into the Union.
  4. create bodies for the Union.
  5. monitor the implementation of policies and decisions of the Union as well ensure compliance by all Member States.
  6. create a budget of the Union.
  7. provide direction to the Executive Council on conflicts, war and other emergency situations and the restoration of peace.
  8. select judges for and withdraw judges of the Court of Justice.
  9. 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

See also

European Council, the European alternative.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.