Raila, who was appointed by AU in December 2010 to help settle the Ivorian political crisis, following an election dispute between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara said because of AU’s inaction foreign powers have come in to resolve Africa’s problems.

He cited the Ivory Coast’s and the Libya’s cases where AU just sat back and left foreign forces fix problems that would have otherwise been resolved by the 54-member states organization.

“Why was it hard for AU to send troops to Cote d’Ivoire, yet I talked to Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) about it? In Libya why didn’t AU send troops? NATO came in because there was a vacuum to fill. So, let’s not blame foreigners for our failures,” said Raila.

The PM said AU dithered during the Ivory Coast’s conflict, a situation that led to a long-drawn war and loss of lives in the Cocoa producing country.

“AU prevaricated too long on the Cote d’Ivoire situation, and unfortunately failed to stand up for the democracy and integrity of the polls in that country. That prevarication led to war and loss of lives, and eventually necessitated intervention by French troops to end what could have developed into entrenched civil war,” said Raila.

“The AU stood by as the world accused Gaddafi of butchering his own people. It took Nato troops to intervene in Libya to put an end to the Gaddafi regime.”

Raila was addressing about 150 members of ECOSOCC meeting in Nairobi to elect members of its Executive Council. Raila’s sentiments varied from that of Presiding Officer of ECOSOCC Mr Akere Muna and Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary General, Francis Atwoli.

“External intervention is our main concern, like Nato’s blatant intervention in Libya. Africa should be left alone to determine its own destiny,” said Atwoli.

Mr Muna criticized western powers of accusing African leaders of stashing looted money abroad, yet they do not condemn their own who handle this loot.

Raila said Africa should stop relying on foreign intervention and the AU should stand up and be bold enough to criticize and condemn bad leadership.

“I hope we have learned that the AU must be proactive. It must stand up for Africa’s people, and it must prove that it is not the same old OAU that was so well-known for its inaction and its solidarity with African leaders in the face of excesses committed against their own people,” said the PM.

He at the same time hailed Tunisia for holding free and fair elections after deposing Ben Ali from power. He also called on Egypt, which removed Hosni Mubarak from power, to put the past behind it and chart a united future.