By Douglas Majwala.
Do wars and conflicts in lovely Africa mean evolution or revolution? Or do they mean second independence struggle? And the very primary question remains, who is behind all this, western powers or unfounded and bothersome leadership styles in Africa that do not seem to command what is right and forbid what is wrong? Which way forward for Africa? Are conflicts and wars Africa’s birthright? Is Africa castaway? Who can mentor Africa to the Promised Land? Has God forsaken Africa? Will the Armageddon improve shattered relationship between God and African leadership?
A civilian Being forced to accept futile democracy.
Armed conflicts in Africa have turned to be the laboratories for breeding refugees, poverty, disease and ignorance for where there is one no productive activity can take place and the same for medical services and education, almost every undertaking stagnates, thus amicably resolving these conflicts means redeeming Africa from the four major curses which have mainly stereotyped leaderships in the continent. Wind of socio-economic and political change in Africa has not been graced with delight and as the result the ball keeps rolling with great uncertainty, which put the continent under spotlight for uncertain destiny.
Riot police men in full combat to quell possible demonstrators against rigged elections.
In 50 years, the continent has seen 186 coup de tats and 26 very expensive major conflicts to date and perhaps many more are expected in duplicate the number above in just another time frequency of the like if situation is not well taken care of, Comoro leading with 19 coups since her independence in 1975. Totalitarian/tyrant cum red tape leadership systems have denied Africa opportunity for political progress, which would have laid foundation for today’s quest for strong and true continental unison. It does not ring a bell to hear that some post colonial modern African states have conducted free and fair elections only once or so in a couple of decades. Election hullabaloo and ululations are costing Africa her potential material and human resources (think of assassinations, jail terms on counts of differences in opinion and plundering of resources) hence a development curse.
Is Pangaring only way-out to express dislikes to counterfeight democracy?
Africa’s agenda in any global forum has always been like a goat’s case brought before hyena for judgment; Africans are born crying, live complaining and die disappointed. Africans in Diaspora remain the same as Africans in Africa in terms of dignity; the continent is developing at a snail’s pace and is somewhat like a fly in the ointment. Situation is critical in Sub Sahara which is endowed with more than half the wealth of the continent and approximately two third the global precious natural resources let alone productive human resource which is severely depleting of catastrophic HIV/AIDS and its partner diseases, tragic accidents, armed banditry, uncontrolled massive brain drain and protracted conflicts resulting into war related deaths.
Butchered apparently for nothing other than tribalism that ensued during electoral mess up.
Afro-centric arguments that the continent is messed by and still grappling with colonial legacy hitherto stand very slim chance of convincement. This in great deal is of no solid reasoning base as some adopted post-colonial policies have come as the result of plagiarism from the then colonial powers thus making the policies barren for Africa though productive for the originators; African policy researchers have not been credited/crowned aloud for their good work, instead in very rare occasions their policy research work have been applied in the continental context. Instead, the foreign institutions through the shadow of NGOs have hired local research and non research experts at the cheapest cost to them though to our eyes the packs seems more than enough, to do the job for them which in turn they trade to the African governments and sometimes with greater returns [capital flight].
Can all this be blamed on the west or on African inept leadership that can not work effectively for the good cause of the people of the continent? It is even evident now that the leadership in the continent lacked stamina and vision in coordinating so called SAP [Structural Adjustment Programme] masterminded by the rich west through Breton wood sister Institutions. SAP has eventually proven to be the wrong prescription for pain killing and the leaders of Africa just swallowed it not knowing its worst reactionary effects which are now spreading like wild fire, to some extent in other countries SAP even laid ground for coup de tats and even losses in elections.
Combatant servicemen walking past civilian who election turmoil cost his life.
Had the African leadership heeded indigenous/local expert’s warnings against accepting such like policies, perhaps Africa would have looked much better today than ever before thus, accepting counterfeited foreign policies in Africa is tantamount to betrayal against Africa and the Africans as doing so sparks holocaust. SAP aimed at cutting the costs for running the governments by streamlining their operations, but today it is even worse as un-controlled corruption is siphoning governments’ coffers to the worst extent ever experienced since colonial domination in Africa.
Innocent citizens burnt in the church where they sought refuge following shelling by government security forces and tribal revenge for failed elections.
Opponents who have lost confidence in the judiciary systems, electoral commissions and the constitutional courts which have most of time never ruled victory on their side, have in turn resorted to insurgency with glowing hope for fostering politics of intrigue and retaliation should they manage to rise to power.
African leadership should bear in mind that the ruled in Africa want to live an alternative Africa not this waning Africa, they want Africa for which they sacrificed their blood, sweat, spirits and wealth during independence struggle for promised good course. They want to live Africa free from wars, conflicts, disease, ignorance, poverty, religion tensions, tribalism, plundering, aggravated democracy, geo-political secessionism and what not?!.
Can AK47 decide for the people democratic route they should take?
Assurance of daily bread has never been possible in Africa even after decades of flag independence with the marvelous natural ecological endowment. Lack of assured daily bread which is the priority for man regardless of his station of life has featured to be the evidence for shattered social security systems in Africa due to expensive investment in politics than anything else that is life giving. The ruled in Africa does not want Africa in which the cake of independence can not be shared evenly among the ruled and the rulers as this raises fears of xenophobia that perhaps independence was attained at the cost of blood and sweat of the poor ruled majority who lined up in the front for the struggle whilst the top brass kept in the air-conditioned lavish posh offices crafting policies and compiling data of the maimed and the killed in the independence battle fields.
The epitome of ailing agriculture in Africa which is the source of bread and employment for the majority can be traced not only in the western policy but rather in the poor African leadership as well let alone vague meteorology. African leadership of the current epoch has never prioritized agriculture as it has done in the defense and security. African leadership thinks its enemy will ever come from outside the borders where in fact even food insecurity can also dethrone the leadership. So when heavily financing defense and security, agriculture should also be equally financed. Failed agriculture which is the mother employer of Africans has brought about multi-dimensional poverty; today one can define poverty in every need, basic and or secondary.
Burnt to ashes during electoral chaos, the settlements of the poor civilians who no election
has ever given them dissent settlement since flag independence.
Terminologies like food poverty, income poverty, education poverty (illiteracy) e.t.c are heard and rampant in Africa than any other developing continent. Countless elections have passed, democratic and non-democratic, but not one has ever shown the voters [sons and daughters of Africa] roadmap to God-made Africa full of milk, honey, tranquility, love and precious stones e.t.c instead they are shown the road to civil wars, widespread corruption, animosity, multi-dimensional poverty, plundering, disease, ignorance, xenophobia, shamble democracy, fundamentalism e.t.c. In poor Africa every infrastructure is damn poor, health facilities, education, and transportation e.t.c. to the contrary, African leadership has ever echoed its determination to improve the situation but to no avail.
Fight for democratic principles in elections earned them death.
In today’s Africa likelihood is that 99% of the graves are of the poor, 99% of the jailed are the poor, 99% of the delayed justice in the courts of law are those of the poor prosecuting the rich, 99% of the hasty court judgments are those of the rich prosecuting the poor, 99% of the delayed justice in service delivery public offices are of the poor and vice-versa.
It is in Africa where it was alleged that some immoral leaders turned cannibalists (e.g. Late Idd Amin and Bouekassa) while some were arraigned either for sodomy or rape (e.g. Rev. Canaan Banana) tarnishing the good image of blacks and their naturally beautiful continent, are these really serious and keen leaderships on which people can be tempted to bet.?!. Does today’s Africa need them anyhow anymore? Even firebrand cum radical African politicians having been elected to the peak post and stonewall themselves following decades of un successful struggle for the throne sometime from behind the bars or bush, with all their dogmatic and rightist stands and some being in the unipolar economies, have snubbed their wananchi having been indoctrinated by their predecessors hence no noticeable material change have been recorded during their tenure.
Minor crying for his killed mother in electoral mayhem. Can this plant hatred into the minor?
It is from this angle that donors see political activism in Africa as lacking ability and interest to analyse into the real roots of continent’s misery e.g. volatile political climate, poor social set-ups, corruption and economic backwardness, Africa is no longer the best performing economy but an economy marred by acts of fraud, struggle for power sometimes by dynasty and depletion of highly needed productive human resources through man-eater HIV/AIDS and chronic brain drain. Some African leaderships have since post-independence multi-party democracy been at loggerheads with donor community apparently for misuse of aid and betraying and sabotaging democratic principles which have resulted into bloodshed whilst our hospital blood banks are drying up for lack of it all. Can wrathful donor community assure us of our continental resurgence?
Douglas O. Majwala,
majwalaoriko@yahoo.co.uk
0752311287,
Box 9292,
Dar es Salaam.
