AN APPRAISAL OF AFRICAN UNION’S LEGAL REGIME FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF AFRICAN REGIONAL SECURITY AND SOCIO-POLITICAL STABILITY: THE SUDANESE CONFLICT IN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

African Union (AU) is a Regional International Organization whose membership comprises of independent sovereign countries of Africa. Many African countries are currently grappling with internal armed conflicts, trans-border security challenges and political instability which has left Africa in the worst humanitarian condition globally. The Constitutive Act of the AU and other instruments were enacted inte alia, to facilitate the promotion of peace, security and stability in Africa. This is in recognition of the impacts of the scourge of conflicts which constitutes a formidable social malady that is crippling economic development and political stability in the continent. The pertinent question here is: to what extent has the AU achieved its cardinal mandate of preserving security and stability in Africa as to justify its essence and relevance? This research will highlight AU’s legal and institutional framework for the promotion of peace and security. It will also examine AU’s capacity to curtail the surge of conflicts and instability in Africa based on its paradigm and approach to the management of the recent Sudanese conflict that erupted in 2023. This work will be relevant to AU’s organs, institutions and agencies, African Sub-regional Organizations, governments and political leaders of AU countries, non-African International Organizations, humanitarian agencies, diplomats, political and public affair analysts, scholars, researchers and the general public as it will disclose some major impediments to AU’s conflicts control capacity and will prescribe pragmatic measures that if adopted, will galvanize and consolidate AU’s potentiality for the maintenance of security and regional stability. Doctrinal research approach is adopted here comprising of primary and secondary sources of relevant materials including the Constitutive Act of the AU, newspaper publications, journal articles and other material publications from the internet source. It is recommended that the African Standby Force (ASF) must be adequately equipped and mobilized for prompt, strategic and effective interventions to restore order and stability in the emergence of war or armed conflicts in any part of Africa.