Assembly of the African Union

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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	1 !President	000000001999-04-27-000027 April 1999
Angola	José Eduardo dos Santos	1 !President	000000001979-09-10-000010 September 1979
Benin	Boni, Thomas YayiThomas Yayi Boni	1 !President	000000002006-04-06-00006 April 2006
Botswana	Khama, IanIan Khama	0 !President	000000002008-04-01-00001 April 2008
Burkina Faso	Kaboré, Roch Marc ChristianRoch Marc Christian Kaboré	1 !President	000000002015-12-06-00006 December 2015
Burundi	Nkurunziza, PierrePierre Nkurunziza	1 !President	000000002005-08-26-000026 August 2005
Cabo Verde	Fonseca, Jorge CarlosJorge Carlos Fonseca	1 !President	000000002011-09-09-00009 September 2011
Cameroon	Biya, PaulPaul Biya	1 !President	000000001982-11-06-00006 November 1982
Central African Republic (Suspended member)	Touadéra, Faustin-ArchangeFaustin-Archange Touadéra	1 !President	000000002016-02-30-000030 February 2016
Chad	Déby, IdrissIdriss Déby	1 !President	000000001990-08-02-00002 August 1990
Comoros	Ikililou Dhoinine	1 !President	000000002011-05-26-000026 May 2011
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Kabila, JosephJoseph Kabila	1 !President	000000002001-01-26-000026 January 2001
Republic of the Congo	Denis Sassou Nguesso	1 !President	000000001997-08-25-000025 August 1997
Côte d'Ivoire	Alassane Ouattara	1 !President	000000002010-12-04-00004 December 2010
Djibouti	Ismail Omar Guelleh	1 !President	000000001999-05-08-00008 May 1999
Egypt	Abdel Fattah el-Sisi	1 !President	000000002014-06-08-00008 June 2014
Equatorial Guinea	Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, TeodoroTeodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo	1 !President	000000001979-08-03-00003 August 1979
Eritrea	Afewerki, IsaiasIsaias Afewerki	1 !President	000000001993-05-24-000024 May 1993
Ethiopia	Desalegne, Haile MariamHaile Mariam Desalegne	1 !Prime Minister	000000002012-08-20-000020 August 2012
Gabon	Ali Bongo Ondimba	1 !President	000000002009-10-19-000019 October 2009
The Gambia	Jammeh, YahyaYahya Jammeh	1 !President	000000001994-07-22-000022 July 1994
Ghana	Mahama, John DramaniJohn Dramani Mahama	1 !President	000000002012-07-24-000024 July 2012
Guinea	Condé, AlphaAlpha Condé	1 !President	000000002010-12-21-000021 December 2010
Guinea-Bissau	Mário Vaz, JoséJosé Mário Vaz	1 !President	000000002014-06-23-000023 June 2014
Kenya	Kenyatta, UhuruUhuru Kenyatta	1 !President	000000002013-04-09-00009 April 2013
Lesotho	Mosisili, PakalithaPakalitha Mosisili	1 !Prime Minister	000000002015-03-17-000017 March 2015
Liberia	Johnson Sirleaf, EllenEllen Johnson Sirleaf	1 !President	000000002006-01-16-000016 January 2006
Libya	al-Thani, AbdullahAbdullah al-Thani	1 !Prime Minister	000000002014-03-11-000011 March 2014
Madagascar	Rajaonarimampianina, HeryHery Rajaonarimampianina	1 !President	000000002014-01-25-000025 January 2014
Malawi	Mutharika, PeterPeter Mutharika	1 !President	000000002014-05-31-000031 May 2014
Mali	Keïta, Ibrahim BoubacarIbrahim Boubacar Keïta	1 !President	000000002013-09-04-00004 September 2013
Mauritania	Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz	1 !President	000000002009-08-05-00005 August 2009
Mauritius	Jugnauth, AneroodAnerood Jugnauth	1 !Prime Minister	000000002014-12-17-000017 December 2014
Mozambique	Nyusi, FilipeFilipe Nyusi	1 !President	000000002015-01-15-000015 January 2015
Namibia	Geingob, HageHage Geingob	1 !President	000000002015-03-21-000021 March 2015
Niger	Issoufou, MahamadouMahamadou Issoufou	1 !President	000000002011-04-07-00007 April 2011
Nigeria	Buhari, MuhammaduMuhammadu Buhari	1 !President	000000002015-05-29-000029 May 2015
Rwanda	Kagame, PaulPaul Kagame	1 !President	000000002000-03-24-000024 March 2000
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Abdelaziz, MohamedMohamed Abdelaziz	1 !President	000000001982-02-22-000022 February 1982
São Tomé and Príncipe	Pinto da Costa, ManuelManuel Pinto da Costa	1 !President	000000002011-09-03-00003 September 2011
Senegal	Sall, MackyMacky Sall	1 !President	000000002012-04-02-00002 April 2012
Seychelles	Michel, JamesJames Michel	1 !President	000000002004-04-16-000016 April 2004
Sierra Leone	Ernest Bai Koroma	1 !President	000000002007-09-17-000017 September 2007
Somalia	Hassan Sheikh Mohamud	1 !President	000000002012-09-06-00006 September 2012
South Africa	Zuma, JacobJacob Zuma	1 !President	000000002009-05-09-00009 May 2009
South Sudan	Kiir Mayardit, SalvaSalva Kiir Mayardit	1 !President	000000002011-07-09-00009 July 2011
Sudan	Omar al-Bashir	1 !President	000000001993-10-16-000016 October 1993
Swaziland	Mswati III	1 !King	000000001986-04-25-000025 April 1986
Tanzania	Magufuli, JohnJohn Magufuli	1 !President	000000002015-11-05-00005 November 2015
Togo	Gnassingbé, FaureFaure Gnassingbé	1 !President	000000002005-05-04-00004 May 2005
Tunisia	Beji Caid Essebsi	1 !President	000000002014-12-31-000031 December 2014
Uganda	Museveni, YoweriYoweri Museveni	1 !President	000000001986-01-26-000026 January 1986
Zambia	Lungu, EdgarEdgar Lungu	1 !President	000000002015-01-25-000025 January 2015
Zimbabwe	Mugabe, RobertRobert Mugabe	1 !President	000000001987-12-31-000031 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

• Assembly of the African Union Official Site