The African Union's Administrative Tribunal has rescinded AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat's appointment of the AU legal counsel and blasted Faki for "obstructing justice" by refusing to give the tribunal an internal report into the legal counsel's suspect qualifications.

The African Union (AU) is the continent's premier intergovernmental organisation and has just had its status enhanced by being admitted as a permanent member of the G20 after the recent summit in India.

In a judgment handed down on 1 September by its president, Sylvester Mainga, and two other judges - Jamila B Sedoi and Paulo D Comoane - the tribunal also concluded that Faki's "unlawful" appointment of Burundian Guy-Fleury Ntwari as legal counsel last year was symptomatic of a general tendency of the AU to appoint people with "strong connections" regardless of their qualifications.

The tribunal added that Ntwari's appointment "wholly vindicates" Sabelo Mbokazi, the president of the AU staff association, who had written to Faki in 2020 calling on him to "dismantle the rampant corrupt recruitment and appointment cartel" at the AU Commission.

The tribunal delivered its judgment on an application by two AU Commission officials who had unsuccessfully applied for the position of legal counsel. They both asked the tribunal to reverse Ntwari's appointment as legal counsel on 2 August 2022.

They argued that Ntwari got the job by claiming to have held management positions which he never held. The tribunal said the AU Commission had appointed...