IF the African Union (AU) was ever on the weighing scale or in the dock, it is now. It is now that the AU Summit is being held in Kampala just days after the horrific twin bombings of July 11, in Kampala that caused the death of scores of innocent, unarmed people who were simply having a good time watching the World Cup final.

If the AU —an organization that has come under plenty of fire since its inception, with many questioning its ability and commitment to solving Africa’s problems—is to be seen as meaningful this is its first real test. There have been so many summits and with each one that ends, people sneer at the AU and accuse it of being a talkshop with no commitment to orchestrating change of any kind on the continent.

The whole world is waiting to see how Africa will handle this problem; whether we shall be systemic and methodical; elaborate and meticulous, leaving nothing to chance and handling terrorism on our terrain with firmness, decisiveness and finality. So far what is coming in from the summit is giving us hope that the AU has finally taken effective control of the affairs of Africa.

Djibouti and Guinea will both send troops to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, AU Commission President Jean Ping announced last week. The peacekeeping mission is authorized to send up to 8,000 soldiers, but Ping said the number may eventually rise to more than 10,000. The AU currently has about 6,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi in Somalia.

Since Guinea and Djibouti are predominantly Muslim nations, this will be the first time Somalia is receiving peacekeepers dominated by Muslims and it should go a long way in enhancing the acceptability of troops in the troubled country and helping to neutralize tension which the Al Shabaab had fanned by painting this as a Christian-Muslim conflict. In fact the press reports after the bombings quoted the Al Shabaab as saying they had killed the Christian ‘infidels’ – and yet as we all know, the people who died belonged to various religions.

The diversification of troops is a very positive and welcome trend, because it does bring out well the true nature of the AU mandate in Somalia and makes it clear that there has never been a war between Uganda and Burundi on the one hand, against Somalia on the other just because the two countries have troops in the troubled country. At a time when misconceptions are flying all over the place about the true nature of Uganda’s involvement and people calling for the immediate withdrawal of Ugandan troops, the pictures being painted by the AU Summit put paid to all this by making it clear that the Somalia crisis has never been about Uganda; it is about Africa. As a matter of fact it is important to portray the big picture that the crisis in the Horn of Africa is being dealt with at a global level and that our being in Somalia as Ugandans was simply the outcome of a decision by the United Nations Security Council that cleared the AU to handle the crisis.

This conflict should never be seen as Uganda and Burundi against Somalia; or even as Africa united against Somalia; we are talking about Africa using her available local continental structures to fight terrorism and restore sanity to the area that is Somalia.Since the beginning of the Kampala summit, the focus has been broadened from the main theme of maternal and child health to that of regional security – something that has raised eyebrows and objections from several quarters.

It is of course obvious that the original theme is very cardinal, but you cannot do anything if you do not secure your environment; suggesting that Africa’s leaders have distinguished between what is important and what is urgent and simply cannot wait. The security of the African continent —and indeed the whole world is now an emergency. This brings a sigh of relief to many who were hoping that the AU Summit would focus on issue of security, coming so soon after the terror attacks of July 11.

What is the way forward on this matter? First, we would like to hear and register more voices coming on board, with Africa continuing to speak as one voice and with a unity and consistency that will overwhelm the terrorists; for at the end of the day they cannot fight everyone around them. We shall watch and wait to see how many new countries will come on board to sort out the Somalia issue. The problem comes when solitary, isolated voices ring out and find no echoes on the continent. That is when the terrorists isolate you and blow you to smithereens. But when every African country declines to give any manner of sympathy and refuge to terrorists, and they find they have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and certainly no ally to turn to, they will think again.

This is where unity among the African people and their respective governments will come in as a weapon most handy in bringing the terrorists to their knees.

Secondly, the terrorists have said nothing about coming to Uganda to fight the National Resistance Movement (NRM) administration; their mission is to destroy without discrimination. This means unity will be essential at the national level too.

Ugandans of all shades of political opinion must look beyond their parties and look at this as a security and public safety issue in which Government must be supported. Thirdly, the international community will need to stand with Africa at this time. The Al Shabaab aside, when you factor in the notorious Somali pirates that are making millions of dollars unleashing terror on the high seas in complete disregard of international law and civilized conduct, and that they have destabilized international trade and caused undue inflation in the global marketplace you realize that the crisis in Somalia is no longer a regional or continental problem. It is a global issue.

Lastly, our friends in the West would do us good to tighten the bolts on the merchants of terror by closing the doors of military hardware stores in the face of those who are known to be terrorists or their sponsors.

This is a war that can and must be won; but only if there is a collective effort.