ABSTRACT
Secession has long been regarded as the antithesis of African statehood by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). State sovereignty was based, paradoxically, on the right of self-determination from colonial subjugation, then on fixing those same colonial boundaries at the time of independence. This chapter considers Africa's 'bondage of boundaries' in light of the new normative framework of the African Union (AU). In ten years, the transformation of the OAU into the AU has changed its reputation from a 'trade union for leaders' to a vehicle for the greater security of Africa's peoples. If the AU is genuinely committed to a new norm of 'non-indifference' to the needs of Africa's people, then human rights protection should come before the preservation of existing borders. The OAU was renamed and relaunched as the African Union (AU) in July 2002. The OAU Charter on which the organisation was founded in 1963 was replaced by the Constitutive Act of the African Union, 2000.
