The African Union ended its 7th Ordinary Session of the General Assembly of Heads of State and Governments in Banjul, Gambia on Monday July 3. The razzmatazz of state events that surrounds these events may be dismissed as the most expensive celebrity watch on the continent.

Yes, they are not cheap and it is obvious that many of the states cannot afford to host such summits but the allure of publicity and the political and diplomatic prestige that comes with hosting them, makes many countries to play host even if it means going into debt.

The big question on everyone's lips in Banjul was how a poor country found the money to host such a grand occasion. A brand new executive estate of Presidential Villas was built for the Summit in addition to a new International Conference Centre.

This is no talk of the brand new Four Wheel vehicles, loads of Mercedes Benzes, entrouge of motorcades and other expensive vehicles conveying the different delegations in blazing heat. I do not think that the people of Gambia officially titled The Smiling Coast of Africa had ever seen anything that big before and may not see such in the near future. With imminent elections, the Government and ruling party (APRC) of President Yayah Jammeh milked the occasion for what it was worth. It was as if the whole of Africa had endorsed Jammeh. Why would Gambians not do the same?

One of the changes in the new AU is the amendment to the old practice of host nations becoming chair of the organization. This is no longer the case. That was why Sudan could not assume the chair even as it hosted the last Summit. And Yayah Jameh thankfully will not become the chair otherwise he could even milk it more in domestic politics as Africa having voted for him.

The AU Summits provide an opportunity to monitor study and observe intra African politics and the power play not only between our Leaders but also Africa and the rest of the world.

A noticeable absentee from the Summit was President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. He used to be a hit with media and other heads of state throughout the 1990s but in recent years, as he clung to power in Uganda, his pan Africanist stocks have fallen. In the past any host wanted Museveni to confirm first, because that was going to make others attend. But these days his absence is not felt!

The other interesting power monitor is the presence of foreign dignitaries. The Chinese and the Indians, historical allies of Africa but increasingly acknowledged as global powers feared by the West, were in Banjul in full force. Of course the various Western powers who have traditionally considered Africa as their exclusive areas of domination were there, with Americans muscling in on everybody in their familiar arrogant way.

But their current bad guys were also their gamely spirit. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran and President Hugo Chavez were both there. Chavez was in his element, defiant, resisting and anti imperialist.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came with a motorcade of awesome Hommer vehicles as long as those Hollywood Chevrolets or stretched Limos! There was mild drama when the technical equipment failed in the middle of his now very familiar speeches that keep Washington and Tel Aviv awake. Many suspected sabotage by, you know whom. The meeting had to be suspended for a few hours.

That little drama for me shows the lack of capacity of some of our states. How can a government that spent so much money on the pomp and pageantry of the Summit not have prepared itself for possible technical sabotage?

There were walk-outs by some western observers at the meeting coordinating their activities through SMS texts. Again this exposes our vulnerability. It raises the perennial issue of why we should have so many Westerners, whether government or NGOS, always having access to our activities at the highest level while we do not do the same in their forums but more importantly limit access by our own people.

It is easy to get lost in these power plays and forget other important events that surrounded the Summit including the Summit agenda itself.

There were a number of Community Social Organizations (CSO)/NGO parallel activities before and during the Summit which built upon spaces that have been opening up since the inauguration of the AU. A number of African CSOs have been raising concerns about CSO participation in the Union which has so far been limited to invited spaces that are too much under the control of the bureaucrats of the Union whether it is through ECOSOCC or the Commission. The tendency is also to allow CSO activities to hold before the Summit and literally drive them out of town by the time the big guys come save for the few who may have secured 'observer' 'special Guest' or other access badges. While the invited spaces are useful it is also important the CSO and other stakeholders have independent spaces whose agenda, content and programmes are determined by them and they can invite the AU and the leaders to them.

A meeting of CSO was held in Nairobi earlier this year before the Khartoum summit to build consensus around emerging issues in CSO-AU engagement. In Banjul some progress was made through a forum organized by the UN millennium Campaign, Africa Office; Africa Regional Policy department of Action Aid International; and the Pan Africa Policy Programme of Oxfam with the support of Action Aid Gambia, Gambian and Pan African CSOs. It was a first at an AU summit.

President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, both participated in the Question Time Africa Forum which is broadcast by SABC. The Presidents were asked questions by an audience of largely CSO/NGO activists. Issues covered included: The state of the Union, Political commitment of leaders to make it work, Aid, Trade, Debt relief, fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals and Yes, issues of justice, governance, impunity, and many others. It was a good start and both sides see the forum as developing in future summits.

The main theme of the Summit was Rationalization of the Regional Economic Communities in order to Strengthen Integration. It is an issue that has been on the agenda for many years. It is simply unworkable that we should have competing instead of complimentary regional blocs and still claim that we want to unite the whole continent Now the decision is that new ones will be recognized while the various regions will work out modalities for rationalizing those existing. It is still a work in progress but necessary if the Union is to fulfill its mission of uniting the peoples of this continent.

On the whole the problem of uniting Africa is really a contradiction between two opposing view points. Do we want to unite states or unite people? So far all efforts have been directed at uniting states that are probably not unifiable given the historical and inorganic nature of most of them. But people are and can be united. One first step is to set our people free for them to move, live and settle across this continent. A sad reminder of the indignities we suffer as Africans was the experience of many people who had to languish in Dakar airport on their way to AU summit because they did not have 'Transit visas'. It is in the power of all our states and leaders to remove the visa requirement for all Africans and if they cannot do it we cannot trust them when they proclaim Pan Africanism. We should embark on a consistent advocacy of naming and shamming those governments and states that put impediments to free movement of Africans but welcome non African foreigners. A gallery of these Pan Africanist rogue states may be launched from summit to summit while we also create awards for those opening up other Africans. So leaders can choose to be Villains or Defenders of Unity of our peoples.