1.1. Background

Africa is a conflict torn continent and the African Union (AU), primarily a peace and security actor, has been tasked with bringing peace and security to the continent. The organization initially came into being with a new mandate to manage conflict in the continent, for its predecessor the Organization of African Unity (OAU) failed to take matters on its own mainly because of its non-intervention principle. Non-indifference is the new approach that the AU has adopted. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 has been one of the factors that triggered in the transformation of the OAU to the AU with a quest to finding African Solutions to African Problems. Professor Amadou Sessay states that the establishment of the Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) by the AU shows the emphasis the organization is laying on local conflict prevention and management, and the ownership of processes as reflected in the Constitutive Act.1

Africa has been a victim of foreign intervention since the time of colonialism and even after more than 50 years of independence this intervention continues. Ferim Valery argues that for decades, African leaders and scholars alike have expressed concerns over foreign intervention in the internal affairs of African countries. They have decried humanitarian intervention as a neo-colonialist agenda propelled by self-interest.2 With the reality that compelled foreign intervention in the continent being one of self interest and not a real aspiration to help; Africans have felt the need for taking ownership of their own affairs. ‘African Solutions’ or ‘Try Africa First’ reflects the response of African leaders through their multilateral institutions – the OAU, and now the AU and RECs – to minimize as much as practicable, direct external powers involvement in African conflicts.