53. A member of the panel is assigned to lead the process for each country reviewed, and in particular to head at least two missions to the country, the “country support mission” at the outset of the process and the “country review mission” when the final report is being prepared. Some members of the panel stepped down during 2008 and 2009, leaving the panel seriously incomplete until four new members were appointed in January 2010.8 Following further retirements, new panel members were appointed by the APR Forum at a meeting held in January 2012, and at subsequent Summits on a regular basis, as mandated under the Operating Procedures of the APRM as approved at the January 2012 Summit.9 The APR Panel currently has eight members: Dr Mustapha Mekideche (Panel Chairperson, Algeria); Prof. M.Y. Khayal (Deputychairperson, Chad), Amb. Ashraf Rashed (Egypt); Amb. Fatuma Ndangiza Nyirakobwa (Rwanda), Hon. Mr. J. Tsang Mang Kin (Mauritius), H. E. Mr Edem Kodjo (Togo), Hon. Ms Brigitte Mabandla (South Africa), and Prof. A. Abu-Manga (Sudan). the Government to take the necessary decisions and measures to put right what is identified to be amiss”. Then, “if the necessary political will is not forthcoming”, there are steps to engage in “constructive dialogue”. Ultimately, “[i]f dialogue proves unavailing, the participating Heads of State and Government may wish to put the Government on notice of their collective intention to proceed with appropriate measures by a given date”. These measures shall be undertaken as a “last resort”. Six months after the report has been considered by the Heads of State and Government of the participating member countries, it should be formally and publicly tabled at various regional structures, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Pan-African Parliament.10 55. In practice, the tone of the meetings of the Forum of the African Peer Review Mechanism, made up of the Heads of State or Government of all States participating in APRM (a group separate from the NEPAD HSGIC), could be made more robust, while reporting to other African Union institutions needs to be strengthened. A desire to improve the functioning of the APRM led to the recognition by the Forum in January 2012 of an additional governance structure, the APR Committee of Focal Points, made up of the personal representatives of the Heads of State and Government participating in APRM, to serve as an intermediary between the APR Forum and the APRM Secretariat responsible for oversight of administration and finance. 54. APRM founding documents provided for a robust review process that would insist on remedial measures for identified governance issues. States would undertake to submit to, and facilitate, periodic peer reviews by a team directed and managed by the eminent persons “to ascertain progress being made towards achieving mutually agreed goals”. The report of the team would be discussed with the Government concerned. This would include establishing whether there is “the will on the part of 8 9 56. The APRM Secretariat, which has been functioning since late 2003 from its base in South Africa, provides “secretarial, technical, coordinating and administrative support services for the APRM”. In that capacity one of the earliest tasks of the APRM Secretariat was to develop a questionnaire11 to guide the assessment of participating States’ compliance with the principles contained in the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. The questionnaire was formally adopted in February 2004, in Kigali, at the first meeting of the APR Forum. Recognising that the original documents were inadequate in themselves for this task, the APRM Secretariat drew on a wide range of African and international human rights treaties and standards, including all the African The new panel consisted of Adebayo Adedeji (Nigeria, Chair since 2007), Mohamed-Séghir Babès (Algeria) and Domitilia Mukantangazwa (Rwanda) (appointed in 2009), Akere Tabang Muna (Cameroon), Siteke Mwale (Zambia), Julienne OndzielGnelenga (Congo) and Amos Sawyer (Liberia). Professor Adedeji stepped down as Chair and as a member of the panel at the next meeting of APRF in July 2010. However, his deputy, Graça Machel, who would normally have replaced him, was (controversially) not reappointed as a member of the panel in January 2010 although she had been due to lead a second review of Kenya. Professor Adedeji was instead replaced as Chair by the next most senior member, Professor Babès. Professor Mwale was already ill when appointed to the panel in January 2010 and unfortunately died later that year. The two empty places on the panel were not filled at the 2011 APRF meeting. The full panel after the January 2012 Summit consisted of: Professor Amos Sawyer (Liberia), replacing Mohamed-Séghir Babès as Chair; Barrister Julienne Ondziel Gnelenga (Congo); Barrister Akere Tabeng Muna (Cameroon); Ambassador Professor Okon Edet Uya (Nigeria); Ms Baleka Mbete (South Africa); Ambassador Ashraf Gamal (Egypt); Dr Mekideche Mustapha (Algeria); and Ambassador Fatuma Ndangiza Nyirakobwa (Rwanda). 10 11 –9– See document AHG/235 (XXXVIII), annex II. Available from www.afrimap.org, in the African Standards section