The pursuit of African continental governance: the stone that the builders "forgot"

Abstract

The African Union is an inter-governmental arrangement aimed at fostering democratic ideals and development on the African continent. The metamorphosis of inter-governmental arrangements has led to the need for the inclusion of the civil society in the decisions of such organisations on the basis that at the heart of democracy lies public and inclusive governance. The Pan-African Parliament is one of the organs of the African Union as envisaged in Article 5(1)(c) of the Constitutive Act. The Pan-African Parliament was formally inaugurated in 2004. It attempts to secure the full participation of African people in the development and economic integration of the continent by providing a platform for civil society participation. the importance of having a legislative and oversight body especially in organisations at a continental scale cannot be over emphasised, however the manner in which the Pan-African Parliament has been established leaves much to be desired. this paper will analyse the institutional arrangements around the establishment of the AU and in particular, the Pan African Parliament. It will illustrate the importance of civil society participation in governance and determine whether the African Union has attained an acceptable level of civic-inclusive arrangements in its architecture.