(MnG SA, SAPA) Borders in Africa 'unnecessary', says EFF
25 Jul 2013 16:56 Sapa
COMMENT - This is a very interesting idea, but it can only work if there is absolute subsidiarity from the municipal level upwards, with the exception of individual human and civil rights. That is the only way to ensure democracy and local accountability of the government or state. And the elimination of elite ownership of the mines or land. - MrK
The Economic Freedom Fighters will advocate the integration of Africa by eliminating national borders, according to its founding manifesto. The "protest movement", led by Julius Malema, said
the borders between African countries were "unnecessary", especially those between
South Africa and Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.
"The EFF will ... advocate for the ultimate integration of the African continent through the erosion and eventual elimination of unnecessary borders, which, in the case of South Africa will entail the Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland borders in a manner that involves and includes the participation and approval of those countries," it said in its manifesto.
"This will also be encouraged in other parts of the African continent."
This formed part of the EFF's policy on "progressive internationalism".
The EFF said it would also advocate for free trade across the continent.
On immigration, the movement committed itself to taking up the struggle of all immigrants, whether they were in South Africa legally or illegally. It said immigrants should be guaranteed basic rights when they were in the country.
'Access to health ... education'
"Certain basic rights cannot be denied to any human being who is in South Africa, whether they are in possession of certain documents or not.
"Basic rights that should be guaranteed include access to health, access to education for children, protection from super-exploitation by employers, and access to burial rights in South Africa."
The process of applying for citizenship should not be complicated.
The EFF is holding a conference in Soweto on Friday and Saturday to work out its policies and manifesto. – Sapa
Labels: BORDERS, ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS, JULIUS MALEMA, PANAFRICANISM
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(SUNDAY MAIL ZW) Nkrumah will never die
Saturday, 25 May 2013 00:00
Kwame Nkrumah, the visionary who led Ghana to independence in 1957, is widely revered as Africa’s greatest son.
Yes, the greatest African of all time is neither Nelson Mandela nor Patrice Lumumba. It is the Osagyefo (the redeemer), Kwame Nkrumah.
On this historic occasion as Africa celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Organisation of African Union (now the African Union), we fondly remember Nkrumah.
Africa has recorded remarkable achievements since 1963, particularly in the realm of political independence, but a lot more needs to be done to usher in economic independence. It is not yet uhuru. The continent is crying out for true Pan-Africanist leadership to deliver the masses to the Promised Land.
Nkrumah’s ideas, philosophy and vision for Africa are as alive today as they were in 1963.
In the spirit of Africa’s golden jubilee festivities, we publish, below, an abridged version of Nkrumah’s epoch-defining speech at the founding of the OAU on May 24 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:
“I am happy to be here in Addis Ababa on this most historic occasion. I bring with me the hopes and fraternal greetings of the government and people of Ghana. Our objective is African union now. There is no time to waste. We must unite now or perish. I am confident that by our concerted effort and determination, we shall lay here the foundations for a continental Union of African states. A whole continent has imposed a mandate upon us to lay the foundation of our union at this conference. It is our responsibility to execute this mandate by creating here and now, the formula upon which the requisite superstructure may be created.
“On this continent, it has not taken us long to discover that the struggle against colonialism does not end with the attainment of national independence. Independence is only the prelude to a new and more involved struggle for the right to conduct our own economic and social affairs; to construct our society according to our aspirations, unhampered by crushing and humiliating neo-colonialist controls and interference.
“From the start we have been threatened with frustration where rapid change is imperative and with instability where sustained effort and ordered rule are indispensable. No sporadic act nor pious resolution can resolve our present problems. Nothing will be of avail, except the united act of a united Africa. We have already reached the stage where we must unite or sink into that condition which has made Latin America the unwilling and distressed prey of imperialism after one-and-a-half centuries of political independence.
“As a continent, we have emerged into independence in a different age, with imperialism grown stronger, more ruthless and experienced, and more dangerous in its international associations. Our economic advancement demands the end of colonialist and neo-colonialist domination of Africa. But just as we understood that the shaping of our national destinies required of each of us our political independence and bent all our strength to this attainment, so we must recognise that our economic independence resides in our African union and requires the same concentration upon the political achievement. The unity of our continent, no less than our separate independence, will be delayed if, indeed, we do not lose it, by hobnobbing with colonialism.
“African unity is, above all, a political kingdom which can only be gained by political means. The social and economic development of Africa will come only within the political kingdom, not the other way round. Is it not unity alone that can weld us into an effective force, capable of creating our own progress and making our valuable contribution to world peace? Which independent African state, which of you here, will claim that its financial structure and banking institutions are fully harnessed to its national development? Which will claim that its material resources and human energies are available for its own national aspirations? Which will disclaim a substantial measure of disappointment and disillusionment in its agricultural and urban development? In independent Africa, we are already re-experiencing the instability and frustration which existed under colonial rule. We are fast learning that political independence is not enough to rid us of the consequences of colonial rule.
“The movement of the masses of the people of Africa for freedom from that kind of rule was not only a revolt against the conditions which it imposed. Our people supported us in our fight for independence because they believed that African governments could cure the ills of the past in a way which could never be accomplished under colonial rule.
“If, therefore, now that we are independent we allow the same conditions to exist that existed in colonial days, all the resentment which overthrew colonialism will be mobilised against us. The resources are there. It is for us to marshal them in the active service of our people. Unless we do this by our concerted efforts, within the framework of our combined planning, we shall not progress at the tempo demanded by today’s events and the mood of our people. The symptoms of our troubles will grow, and the troubles themselves become chronic. It will then be too late for pan-African unity to secure for us stability and tranquillity in our labours for a continent of social justice and material wellbeing.
“Our continent certainly exceeds all the others in potential hydroelectric power, which some experts assess as 42% of the world’s total. What need is there for us to remain hewers of wood and drawers of water for the industrialised areas of the world? It is said, of course, that we have no capital, no industrial skill, no communications, and no internal markets, and that we cannot even agree among ourselves how best to utilise our resources for our own social needs. Yet all stock exchanges in the world are preoccupied with Africa’s gold, diamonds, uranium, platinum, copper and iron ore.
“Our capital flows out in streams to irrigate the whole system of Western economy. Fifty-two percent of the gold in Fort Knox at this moment, where the USA stores its bullion, is believed to have originated from our shores. Africa provides more than 60% of the world’s gold. A great deal of the uranium for nuclear power, of copper for electronics, of titanium for supersonic projectiles, of iron and steel for heavy industries, of other minerals and raw materials for lighter industries — the basic economic might of the foreign powers — come from our continent.
“We have the resources. It was colonialism in the first place that prevented us from accumulating the effective capital; but we ourselves have failed to make full use of our power in independence to mobilise our resources for the most effective take-off into thorough-going economic and social development.
“We have been too busy nursing our separate states to understand fully the basic need of our union, rooted in common purpose, common planning and common endeavour. A union that ignores these fundamental necessities will be but a sham. It is only by uniting our productive capacity and the resultant production that we can amass capital. And once we start, the momentum will increase.
“With capital controlled by our own banks, harnessed to our own true industrial and agricultural development, we shall make our advance.”
Labels: KWAME NKRUMAH, PANAFRICANISM
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(SUNDAY MAIL SA) Africa celebrate golden jubilee
Sunday, 26 May 2013 00:00
Caesar Zvayi in ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
President Mugabe joined over 50 heads of state and government and scores of former presidents for the official launch of the African Union’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations at the new AU headquarters here yesterday.
The celebrations, being held under the theme Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance, precede the 21st Ordinary Session of the African Union General Assembly that opens here today and come at a time the relevance of the continental bloc to the challenges confronting the continent is under question.
Most of the current crop of leaders are pale shadows of the luminaries who gathered here 50 years ago.
President Mugabe, who represents the last crop of the leaders of the founding fathers’ ilk, is on record bemoaning the loss of direction in the AU which is why the Golden Jubilee theme, Pan-Africanism and African Rennaissance, has been hailed as a realisation on the part of the leaders that the continental body was in need of rebirth.
The official launch comprised addresses by AU chairman and Ethiopiam Prime Minister Mr Hailemariam Desalegn, AU Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and a select group of panelists, among them African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka, former Jamaican premier Percival Patterson; gender advocate, writer and academic Dr Amina Mama and Mrs Tendai Wenyika-Gava, the chairperson of the Pan African Youth Union.
Mr Desalegn said the AU’s original Pan-African aspirations remain relevant. He identified five important interventions, among them the development of the agricultural sector, building human and technological capability, building infrastructure, promoting the private sector and nurturing democratic governance and popular participation.
Dr Dlamini-Zuma said the questions Africa faces pertain to self-reliance, economic independence, rising social inequalities, integration through modernised infrastructure and industries.
To achieve these targets in the future and sustainably change the narrative on Africa, Dr Dlamini-Zuma urged Africa to create free trade areas and move towards a common market.
Mrs Wenyika-Gava, who spoke on behalf of the youth, said young people were tired of being touted as the future and wanted to be given charge of their destiny today.
She said most of the African leaders present will not be there in 2063 the time by which they hope the vision they intend to thrash out during the 21st Session will have borne fruit.
The Grand Debate of the official launch centered on four major areas: better utilisation of economic opportunities, the need to have strategies for the future, challenges relating to governance and changing the discourse on Africa, and inclusion.
The outcome of the Grand Debate as well as the recommendations from consultations conducted by the AU Commission with key stakeholders will inform Africa’s Agenda 2063, a framework expected to guide the continent’s political and socio-economic development over the next 50 years.
Various interventions were made by African Heads of State and Government present.
After the launch, the celebrations – which are expected to last a year – reached a crescendo in the vast Millennium Hall that accommodated about 10 000 guests who witnessed several dancing troupes perform musical dramas.
Legendary musicians such as Congolese Rhumba giant Papa Wemba, the Mansa of Mali, Salif Keita, and British-based reggae band Steel Pulse, were pencilled in to perform last night.
Giant screens were set up across Addis Ababa to bring the festivities to the people.
The 21st Ordinary Session of the Africa Union General Assembly opens here today and is expected to be seized with mapping Vision 2063 as well as the peace and security challenges facing the continent
Mali, which recently underwent unconstitutional regime change, is expected to be discussed along with Madagascar which is in an impasse since a 2009 coup as well the DRC whose eastern region has been overrun by rebels that a UN-backed force has failed to contain.
Labels: AU, PANAFRICANISM
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Chavez warns that Africa and South America Must Unite or face Western Interventions
By Global Research News
Global Research, February 24, 2013
Venezuela Analysis 22 February 2013
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in an open letter has urged countries of the South American and African continents to unite into a “true pole of power”, while railing against recent Western interventions in Africa.
The letter was read out yesterday by Venezuelan foreign minister Elias Jaua to the sixty-three countries at the III Africa – South America Summit (ASA), which is taking place in Equatorial Guinea.
In the letter, Chavez called for “an authentic and permanent link of joint work” between Africa and South America to search for strategies of sustainable development that could benefit both continents.
“It’s in our continents, where enough natural, political and historic resources are found…to save the planet from the chaos it’s been driven towards [by the capitalist system],” he argued.
The Venezuelan president further urged countries of the two continents “not to miss the opportunity…to unite the capacities of our nations into a true pole of power”.
He also wrote that while “in no way do we deny our sovereign relations with Western powers, we must remember that they are not the source of the comprehensive and definitive solution to the problems that our countries share”.
Venezuelan foreign policy during the Chavez presidency has held that greater cooperation between Africa and Latin America is important to the attainment of a “multipolar” world order, to counteract the dominance of the United States and its allies.
Venezuela has been a key nation promoting the ASA Summit initiative, hosting the II ASA Summit in 2009 and taking on the organisation’s secretariat. The first summit was held in Nigeria in 2006.
In his letter Chavez urged that the pace of integration between the two continents be picked up, and argued that priorities for cooperation should be energy, education, agriculture, finance and communications.
He also suggested that Venezuela’s proposals for integration projects be advanced, such as the University of the Peoples of the South, Petrosur, and the Bank of the South. Trade between the two regions has increased from US $7.2 billion in 2002 to $39.4 billion in 2011, Telesur reports.
Representatives of other South American countries also argued for the need to increase cooperation with Africa. Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño said that sometimes it had been difficult for the two regions to reach agreements.
He said that this was because “we don’t know each other well, we don’t have experience of joint work…there’s so much we can offer each other, and not only in terms of commerce”. The minister argued that the historic lack of cooperation between the two continents was rooted in the legacy of colonialism by European powers.
Chavez claimed in his letter that modern-day intervention by Western powers had interrupted the path of joint work between Africa and South America set by the ASA summit in 2009.
Referring to Western interventions in Libya and Mali, among others, Chavez wrote, “It’s not by luck or chance…[that] since the Summit in Margarita (Venezuela) the African continent has been the victim of multiple interventions and attacks by Western powers”.
The Venezuelan president argued that one of the objectives of these interventions had been to put a brake on the consolidation of African unity, in turn slowing cooperation between Africa and South America.
As such, Chavez repeated Venezuela’s “total rejection of all interventionist activity by NATO” in Africa and around the world.
The summit continues, with president of Bolivia Evo Morales and summit host and president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, making speeches today.
Health update
The Venezuelan government released another update on Chavez’s health yesterday as he is recovering from a cancer operation undergone last December.
The official statement informed that “[Chavez’s] respiratory insufficiency, emerging in the course of the post operatory phase, persists and its tendency has not been favourable, due to which it continues to be treated”.
“However, medical treatment for the base illness [cancer] continues, without presenting any significant adverse effects up to now,” the statement added.
Chavez returned to Venezuelan on Monday after spending over two months in Cuba recovering from his operation. He will continue to receive treatment at the Dr. Carlos Arvelo military hospital in Caracas.
Labels: HUGO CHAVEZ, PANAFRICANISM, VENEZUELA
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Lesotho PM lavishes praise on Mugabe
Arrival ... Motsoahae with security chiefs Augustine Chihuri and Constantine Chiwenga
23/08/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter I NewZiana
LESOTHO Prime Minister Thomas Motsoahae has lavished effusive praise on President Robert Mugabe and declared that Zimbabwe would overcome its problems with the veteran leader at the helm.
Motsoahae, who is in the country on a three-day visit during which he will open the Harare Agricultural Show, described Mugabe as "one of the greatest Pan Africanists in the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Patrice Lumumba and Nelson Mandela."
"As a result of the difficult and bold decisions that you took, Mr President, Zimbabwe may have gone through hard times economically, but that was the price to be paid," Motsoahae said at a State Banquette in his honour Wednesday.
"Today, many of us in our region acknowledge with admiration the solid foundation that your policies and decisions have built for the economic development of Zimbabwe and her future generations."
Zimbabwe is emerging from a ten-year recession characterised by world record inflation and a near-economic collapse which forced more than a million people to escape to neighbouring countries and overseas to countries such as the Australia, New Zealand the UK and the UK.
[Not to forget the economic sanctions that caused this economic destruction. The Zimbabwean government has been under a credit freeze since Jan. 1st 2002, through Section 4C of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. - MrK]
But Motsoahae said the country was poised for a political and economic rebound with Mugabe in charge.
“History will record that the people of Zimbabwe were lucky to have you as a leader at that critical time in the history of their nationhood,” he said.
“I dare say you were the only leader, at that moment in history, with sufficient political credentials, stature and tenacity to withstand the pressures that were unleashed by those who wanted to prove that Zimbabwe was wrong to assert its independence, and to fully reverse the injustices of colonialism.
"We in Lesotho are confident that with a person of your calibre and vision at the helm of Zimbabwe, this country is destined to overcome obstacles placed in its path of development, to be among the best economic performers in our region and to restore itself as an important political centre.”
The Lesotho premier said his country, which has been following developments in Zimbabwe with "interest, sympathy and admiration", wants to see sanctions imposed by the West and blamed by Mugabe for the country’s problems lifted.
“Despite the limited relaxation of sanctions by countries of the European Union, we continue to call for the lifting of all sanctions against this sisterly country,” he said.
Motshoahae is scheduled to open the Harare Agricultural Show on Friday.
Labels: HARARE AGRICULTURAL SHOW, LESOTHO, PANAFRICANISM, ROBERT MUGABE
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KK calls on AU to unite
TIME PUBLISHED - Sunday, July 15, 2012, 7:45 pm
First Republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda has called for a United African Union if the spirit of Pan-Africanism which the organisation has stood for over the years is to be kept alive. Dr Kaunda says the new generation of leaders on the continent should be united to advance the AU’s interests.
He was speaking in an interview with ZANIS on arrival on Saturday night at Bole International airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dr Kaunda is in Addis Ababa at the invitation of the Forum for Former African heads of state and government, commonly known as the African forum.
Dr Kaunda says the AU needs to ensure unity and solidarity to make the organisation stronger. He was received at Bole international Airport by Foreign Affairs Minister Given Lubinda, Commerce, Trade and Industry Bob Sichinga, Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Francis Simenda and some senior government officials.
Dr Kaunda will on Sunday witness the Official opening of the 19th AU summit in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Meanwhile,the 19th African Union summit officially opened today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with AU Chairperson Boni Yayi warning of the continental body’s looming split if leaders again fail to elect the AU Commission Chairperson.
QFM’s David Bweupe that President Michael Sata is being represented at the summit by Foreign Affairs Minister Given Lubinda who will cast the Zambian vote when elections are held later this evening.
Speaking during the official opening of the 19th AU Summit of heads of State and Government, AU Chairperson and Benin President Boni Yayi reminded his fellow leaders to be weary of the challenges facing the continent especially in the area of leadership.
Mr Yayi said African leaders have no right this time around to fail to elect the AU Commission Chairperson and the eight Commissioners. He stated that the African people will put to test the ability of their leaders to elect a new commission.
President Yayi warned that another failure to elect the AU Commission Chairperson will split the continental body and tarnish its image. He urged the leaders gathered in the Ethiopian capital to put aside their individual interests as they elect the new AU commission.
ZNBC
Labels: AU, KENNETH KAUNDA, PANAFRICANISM
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AU praises Zambia on Pan-Africanism
By Tilyenji Mwanza and Bright Mukwasa
Sun 17 June 2012, 13:21 CAT
THE African Union Commission has praised Zambia for remaining faithful to the creed of Pan-Africanism.
During the launch of the African governance platform in Lusaka on Friday, African Union commissioner for political affairs Julia Joiner said Zambia and its people in many respects embodied and glorified the new spirit of Africa.
"As a former frontline state, Zambia has never shied away when called upon to contribute to the African agenda. In moments of tribulation and triumph, it has surged forward not simply because of the commitment and vision of its leaders, but because it has always remained faithful to the creed of Pan-Africanism," Joiner said.
"It is for this reason that the Commission deemed it fitting to convene this inaugural session of the African governance platform in Lusaka."
Joiner also said despite the impressive economic growth, Africa must not lose focus on the need to accelerate integration and deepen in unity.
"Democracy and governance can act as a catalyst to accelerate continental integration as well as provide a solid foundation for building a more prosperous Africa," she said.
She said the African governance platform would be an informal and non-decision making mechanism meant to foster exchange of information.
"We need to move away from pretence that the sensitivity of politics demands that our activities should be reactionary rather than preventive and pre-emptive."
And justice minister Sebastian Zulu said the platform would provide an avenue for member states to share information on governance challenges and good practices that could help in improving good governance across member countries.
Zulu said Zambia, with the help of donors, had been making efforts to increase transparency and accountability in policy and decision-making in the government.
He said there was political will in driving the reforms in the country.
Labels: AU, PANAFRICANISM
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Foreigners should not divide Africa - Matoka
By Abigail Sitenge
Sat 26 May 2012, 12:45 CAT
FREEDOM fighter Dr Peter Matoka says Africans should not allow external forces to divide the continent. In an interview in Lusaka after the commemoration of Africa Freedom Day celebrations at Mulungushi International Conference Centre, Dr Matoka said foreigners should not divide Africa again.
"…We are now building the African unity for the rest of a happier future for our young people," he said.
Dr Matoka who is also Copperstone University chancellor said Africa would not be divided by anyone once the continent remained united and ran its affairs in a proper way.
"Unity is strength…We should be proud of our continent Africa," he said.
Dr Matoka said Africa Freedom Day celebrations should be encouraged because they bring about unity.
"…And young people should learn that they don't just belong to Zambia but to Africa as a whole," said Dr Matoka.
And during the same occasion, dean of African Diplomats and Botswana High Commissioner to Zambia, Ditlhabi Oliphant, said Africa Freedom Day was born as a result of the desire and commitment by African leaders who had a vision for the liberation, independence, redemption and unity of the African continent.
Oliphant paid special tribute to the gallant freedom fighters of the Zambian Liberation Struggle, both past and present.
The celebrations attracted freedom fighters among them Grey Zulu, General Malimba Masheke, Bernadette Sikanyika and Christina Mulunolika.
Meanwhile, foreign affairs deputy minister Effron Lungu said there was need to fully harness the economic potential and promote intra-Africa trade as well as investment within the continent.
Dr Lungu said Africa must strive towards attaining economic cooperation both at bilateral and multi-lateral levels, having been freed from the bondage of colonialism.
Labels: AFRICA FREEDOM DAY, PANAFRICANISM, PETER MATOKA
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Neo colonialism swarms Africa?
Monday, 14 May 2012 00:00
Herald Correspondents
The goal of Pan-Africanism was to liberate Africa and create a wholly independent continent. It was meant to emancipate Africa in all spheres, and enhance Africans to be determiners of their own destiny. The unitary support endowed by African countries during the liberation of Africa was a symbol of the true spirit of African brotherhood devoid of any connotations or hidden agendas.
Westerners are pretending to be philanthropic in order to shift the blame to leaders whom they see as dictators and bad governors. As a show of their ‘façade’ benevolence they have undertaken to sponsor dubious aid and security programmes via specific NGOs for the sole purpose of regime change.
Western atrocities have continued unabated when one recounts what has happened in Libya and all other disturbances and killings in North Africa. All these incidences are testimony that the westerners are simply shedding crocodile tears. The West cannot afford the luxury of leaving Africa alone and it explains why there was a lot of resistance from the colonisers for Africa to attain political independence.
Dear reader, the crux of the matter is the hypocrisy of the West. The West has reconstructed their approach and strategies by influencing Africa’s elite responsible for economic and political issues.
They have simply refined methods for attaining the same old interests or what some can refer to as covert colonialism. Visionary leaders like Kwame Nkrumah predicted that Africa would be overtaken by new forms of colonialism. Neo-colonialism is aided by a complex web of influences and is a complicated process.
The master plan was drafted in such a way that any country that does not comply is liable to punishment. An example is the current Western induced Zimbabwe crisis. The Western countries are taking advantage of globalisation and thus use international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF as political tools to pursue their own national interests by providing policies and conditions which are not compatible to the African problem.
Africa cannot afford to continue taking the same medicine prescribed for different patients and different ailments, what a doctor? Through their Western oriented NGO’s, the EU and the US are trying to influence neo-liberal policies. This is evidenced by their pressure over petty issues of dual citizenship and homosexuality (cheap politics) whilst there are more vital issues of state and governance.
They always speak of African politics, African development, economics, human rights . . . poking their noses in African affairs without the consent of the African masses, as if Africans do not have the brains to solve their own problems. Africa should wake up and smell the coffee. The West is sponsoring neo-liberal political parties to dethrone revolutionary governments and establish their own puppet systems.
If we follow the events in Cote d’ Ivoire, Tunisia and recently Libya, they further expose how the West is using human rights issues as a strategic weapon meant for national gain. They have simply adopted new methods to attain the same strategic interests, they now use pseudo political players whilst they are the major forces of influence behind the scenes.
They bomb to reconstruct!, supply weapons for brother to fight brother. They cause turmoil and confusion to only come in as rescuers, killing more people! They use NATO, and test its new weapons on African soil in promotion of human rights!
With much exception from the Hobbesian theory (Thomas Hobbes) which says that states are bound by national interests, one can possibly notice that the US, UK, EU have engaged in new ways of recolonising Africa through their neo-liberal principles. Hans Morgenthau one of the founding fathers of realism defined politics in as the continuous struggle for power and dominance over scarce resources.
The writers Givemore Mugadzaweta, Tichaedza Chipinda and Vimbikayi Mafika are students of Peace and Governance at Bindura University of Science Education.
Labels: NEOCOLONIALISM, PANAFRICANISM
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Tribalism: A Western creation?
Friday, 20 April 2012 00:00
Amengeo Amengeo
The unfolding and expanding crises in Kenya and Chad demonstrate for all who refuse to delude themselves that Western-style solutions to African problems inevitably end in disaster. The emphasis of the Western media is on the “tribal” element of the disturbances, but the truth lies deeper and goes back further, back to the inception of Africa’s struggle for liberation from white colonial rule.
Although it is considered divisive and politically incorrect to question the role of Western imperialism and neo-colonialism in Africa’s ongoing crises, it must be acknowledged. At the start of the Liberation Era, there was no mention or room for “tribalism”. Tribalism had no place in the unifying ideology of the struggle for African freedom. Goals were defined and the enemy clearly identified.
All Africans were united in their struggle for freedom. The potential for greatness was awesome. The whole of Africa, with perhaps the exception of DRC then Zaire and Cote d’ Ivoire (then both beachheads of neo-colonialism) supported materially and morally the armed struggles in the South, North, West and East.
There were no Kikuyus, Luos, Northerners or Southerners but Africans striving for their freedom and unity with dreams of growth and development and the urge to rise above the imperialist past.
Thinkers like Kwame Nkrumah and Nyerere, Amilcar Cabral and Frantz Fanon advocated for African unity and continual struggle against an unrepentant imperialism. Their dreams and ideals have been sidelined and discredited. The idea of African thinkers seeking African solutions has been replaced by alien ideologies which fit like square pegs in round holes in the African body politic.
Africa is in a state of constant regional instability with the West slapping the “tribal” label on every conflict and lecturing Africans on how to run their lives as if they are incapable of governing themselves. What went wrong and why? To begin with, as the Liberation era dawned in the late 1950s and early 60s, the West realised the great threat posed to its hegemony by an independent and unified Africa.
Frantz Fanon, the Martinique-born psychiatrist was organising an African Continental Liberation Army, building on the growing success of the Algerian FLN which was then waging war against the French.
Many times, he escaped the assassins of the French intelligence services as he traversed West Africa organising networks and building contacts. Nkrumah was preaching the need for African unity and warning about the dangers of neo-colonialism.
The entire continent was in outrage and mourning at the assassination of Patrice Lumumba with the guidance of the CIA, who feared his independent Pan-African thinking and had him killed using the rationale that he was a “communist” when the true reason for his death was that he was sitting on the most mineral-rich country in the world and could deny the West to access the strategic minerals therein.
King Leopold had killed 10 million Congolese to get at these resources in a genocide that outdid any genocide that occurred in the 20th century, an historical barbarity that the West has conveniently chosen to forget. In this period (1960s) the Liberation Committee of the OAU was formed to train and arm guerillas for the anti-colonial wars then raging in Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Guinea-Bissau.
Networks were set up, arms shipped, intelligence collected, guerillas trained and sent to wage increasingly successful war against the enemy. This remains the one great Pan-African achievement of the OAU. Thanks to the commitment of African leaders and their people in this epoch. The liberation forces were able to force the Portuguese to relinquish their empire, the “Rhodesians” to a ceasefire and South Africa to the negotiation table. None of this could have occurred had not Africans worked together, fought together in a spirit of true Pan-Africanism. There was no tribe or “ethnic cleansing,” there was vision and unity of purpose and dedication to the ideals of liberation and unity of the continent, much of which is sorely lacking among Africa’s leaders today. Africans have lost their way, culturally, politically and economically. Nowhere is the neo-colonial thumbprint more evident than in Kenya.
In the book Every Spy a Prince: the Complete History of Israel’s Intelligence Community, the author Dan Raviv reveals how pivotal Kenya is to Israel’s intelligence activities in Africa and the Middle East and boasts of how Israel “owned Kenya.”
Naturally, given this mindset one should not be surprised that foreigners are exploiting crises in Africa for their own benefit. Immediately a crisis breaks out in Africa, the Western media invokes the genie of “tribalism,” or if they want to be politically “sensitive” they use the term “ethnic.”
Africa is at the mercy of Western propaganda and media conglomerates which relentlessly paint the Continent as one beset by poverty, crime, diseases and endless wars which has to be rescued by white aid workers and sanctimonious celebrities. What is happening in Kenya is the result of decades of Western support for corrupt autocrats in order to facilitate hegemonic and neo-colonialist interests.
Bad advice, meddlesome aid agencies and “charities,” resource speculators and competing geopolitics have all served to exacerbate the sociopolitical fault lines in Africa caused by the wholesale adoption of Western political ideologies and values. As a result, Kenya and most African countries have developed societies headed by Westernised elites, negligible middle classes and a vast poverty-stricken majority that reaps very little of the benefits of economic growth.
l The writer is a specialist in Spanish, Latin American, Caribbean as well as African History. He has also been a journalist, civil servant and graphic artist.
Labels: NEOCOLONIALISM, PANAFRICANISM, TRIBALISM
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ZIM envoy to UK optimistic of Africa's economic liberation
By Sheikh Chifuwe in London
Tue 13 Mar. 2012, 13:58 CAT
ZIMBABWE'S Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Gabriel Machinga says the African dream of economic emancipation will one day be realised. In an interview, Ambassador Machinga, who is also acting dean of the African diplomatic corps, said Africans were determined to promote the continent on the global stage.
He said Africans, just like they fought against colonialism starting in the 1950s up until the independence of South Africa in 1994, were prepared to go through the economic emancipation process.
"What we are working at is the advancement of the African agenda and the African agenda is the one that seeks to elevate the position and role of the Africa continent on the global platform," Ambassador Machinga said.
"We have moved to another stage where want to look at ourselves not as a weak, poor, cheap and colonised continent because we come a long way. We would like to transform our former status, we would like to become a continent that has a bigger say."
He said the legitimacy of the African renaissance and realisation of its dream was very evident in the world politics and economy today due to its abundant natural resources, which were required to amass power and wealth for the continent.
Ambassador Machinga expressed confidence that the African dream would be realised because it was no longer a battle for politicians but all the Africans in their diversity.
"The dream is no longer in the hands of the leadership; it is driven by the people - if those in leadership are half-hearted, they are forced to dance in unison," he said.
"We shall continue to have problems but Africa should face up to these challenges. Africa should be different tomorrow."
He said the continent should take advantage of the technological advancement in communication to realise its dream in a record time compared to the time the European Union took to attain its current status.
Ambassador Machinga pointed out that the African continent was advancing its agenda through regional bodies such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) and were now improving their geopolitics, which were a prerequisite to socio-economic emancipation.
"You find that all these regional bodies have mechanisms to try and address some of these social and economic problems that might arise. On the economic front, these regional bodies are working tirelessly," he said.
He acknowledged that the realisation of the dream would not be easy and that the process would take long and needed resilience by the Africans themselves.
Ambassador Machinga argued that African countries were now very clear about the investment policies in their respective countries saying such policies and principles were more tilted towards benefiting the indigenous citizens.
He said African diplomats had a responsibility to interact and campaign for investment in Africa following the continent's limitation in the technological resource and capital capacity to exploit the economic opportunities.
Ambassador Machinga warned against self-pity and resignation by the Africans about their situation, saying this 'was a serious enemy to the African dream' and would ultimately not help develop the continent.
He urged countries calling for reparations over the pre-independence exploited resources to refocus their energies towards claiming and realising the African dream.
"What has happened in the past is a reality, what we seek to do is that we draw lessons, we are not mourning about what already happened, these minerals may have been exploited to exhaustion ... we still have other reserves which can still transform our countries and the region. We can avoid mistakes of the past and negotiate," he said.
Ambassador Machinga said Africans had the capacity now than before to negotiate for terms that would benefit the local people and the continent in general.
He also said the Diaspora in the West were strategic ambassadors to advocate for technological transfer to the African continent. On the Zimbabwe situation, Ambassador Machinga claimed that the country had continued to record economic growth at the height of economic sanctions.
"...but we want to be careful about being infatuated by the growth rate; we want this growth to be translated into the better lives for the local communities in the villages," he said.
He explained that the land reform programme had taken root and that production had resumed to full capacity.
Labels: LAND REFORM, NEOCOLONIALISM, PANAFRICANISM
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The black man’s burden
29/02/2012 00:00:00
by Garikai Chengu
SO MUCH has been said of the “white man's burden”, namely how the collapsing American Empire and bygone British Empire have shouldered the weight of civilising Africa and driving the global economy for centuries. The opposite is true. The fact of the matter is that not only was
Western civilisation invented by black Africans in ancient Egypt,
Africa has driven global economic growth for centuries.African
natural resources, labour, land, slavery and skilled émigré – as any decent economic historian will tell you – have fuelled the world's economy for many, many decades. To this day, Africa is the world's engine-room for growth.
In short, driving global economic growth abroad, whilst benefiting little at home is the “black man's burden”. That Africans know that there are immense riches just beneath their feet as well as just above their heads in High Office, only adds to the burden.
The roots of "Western" civilisation – technology, religion, culture and science – are to be found not in Greece, but in Black Egypt. In fact as early as 9,000 BC to 500 A.D., black empires, from the prehistoric Zingh of Mauritania to ancient Khemet of Egypt, were at the forefront of development in technology, politics and culture.
Far from “civilising the natives,” Europeans replaced communitarianism, cooperation and spirituality that prevailed across Africa with a corrupt, aggressive and inhumane form of civilisation.
First, there was the brutal kidnapping of millions of Africans, so as to replace the indigenous Americans that Europeans had wiped out. The slave trade broke the back of African economies whilst creating capital for plantation owners that kick-started Europe's industrial revolution.
Africans were stripped of their land and forced down gold mines and onto rubber plantations. The naked theft of African land and minerals including gold, copper, rubber, ivory and tin continued ravenously throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This culminated in the infamous Berlin Conference of 1884, where Europe gleefully divied up Africa and formalised the “Scramble For Africa”.
After World War II, Europeans were severely weakened by years of unremitting industrial slaughter of each another. To make matters worse, liberation movements were gaining momentum. This ultimately made the cost of containing “restless natives” greater than the benefits Europeans could extract from them. As British power waned, the baton of colonialism was passed to American imperialism.
Poverty and disunity have been the essential ingredients that have allowed this neo-colonial exploitation to continue. But, thanks largely to soaring mineral prices and Chinese win-win investments, poverty levels are beginning to tumble.
Disunity however persists. America is making sure of it. Washington is fomenting disunity by funding reactionary neo-liberal political parties across the continent as well as the odd “good dictator”.
A bad dictator named Muammar Gaddafi was hunted down and assassinated by Washington not least because of his plans for an African IMF, gold-backed Afro-currency and a United States of Africa.
In essence, Colonel Gaddafi's plans for African unity were as good as a hand written suicide note addressed directly to NATO. By losing Gaddafi, Africa may also have lost Libya. For, NATO will ensure that Gaddafi’s plans for African unity will be smothered in their crib.
Then of course there is United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) which will almost certainly establish a military base in Libya. In fact any African government that America offered money to host AFRICOM, Gaddafi would offer double the amount to refuse.
US President Barack Obama would have us believe that hundreds of highly-trained US Special Forces are braving tsetse flies, dengue fever and running around in the African bush to flush out Ugandan rebels. All for freedom and democracy. Coincidentally in one of the most oil rich enclaves on earth. Home to Sub-Saharan Africa's biggest onshore oil discovery in 20 years of two billion barrels.
The new cold war between America and China will be over resources, not ideology. Africa will take centre stage. Should America's hard power and divide-and-rule approach triumph, Africa may descend into one large theatre of war with many actors, chapters and a tragic ending. Should China's soft power and win-win economic approach triumph, this may end up becoming a truly African Century.
To this day, Africans produce cheap, often slave labour and ship raw materials north for peanuts. In return, Africans purchase finished products at a premium from the north. This skewed trade relationship is what helped build the west and underdeveloped Africa for centuries.
Reversing this trend would allow the black man to free himself of a centuries old burden. Reversing this trend is this generation's struggle. That said, Africa's future looks bright, for the ingredients are present for an economic boom, which actually benefits Africans: favourable demographics, a commodities boom, a burgeoning middle class and growing enthusiasm for technology with more than 600 million mobile-phone users — more than America or Europe.
If Africans resolutely build the capacity to refine their own crude oil, gold and platinum as well as the capability to cut and polish their diamonds, they will certainly turn this into an African century. If Africans staunchly defend their resources and turn them into finished products, they will finally turn the “black man's burden” into Africa’s renaissance.
Garikai Chengu is a research scholar at Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Science
Labels: PANAFRICANISM
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PAP blasts AU over Libya
Saturday, 29 October 2011 00:00
Herald Reporter
THE African Union has come under fire from Pan African Parliament for failure to stamp its authority in stopping Nato from bombarding Libya.
PAP members met in South Africa early this month and expressed displeasure over AU's silence on the events in Libya, which led to the capture and murder of that country's leader Muammar Gaddafi last week.
Cde Joram Gumbo, who is PAP vice president, said PAP members had also raised concerns about Libya's dual membership.
"Members criticised the AU because it didn't take a firm position against Nato. The general feeling was that Africa had shown a great weakness by allowing people from outside to manage our issues here.
"The members said the AU should have sent an army to Libya to stop it falling apart like we have done in other African countries. PAP was very much against Nato intervention," he said.
PAP members, Cde Gumbo said, raised concern with African countries, which have dual membership of the AU and Arab League.
He said this conflict of interests would make it difficult for the AU to act in such cases.
Cde Gumbo, however, said PAP had resolved to send a goodwill and solidarity mission to Libya with a view to meet with the interim leadership on the evolution of the situation in Libya.
He said PAP has also resolved to be involved in the national reconstruction mechanisms to reinforce national unity and to preserve the integrity of Libyan citizens.
In line with the current AU policy of empowering the youths in Africa, Cde Gumbo said PAP had invited youth representatives from all the regions to explain how they would want to be empowered.
"African National Congress youth league deputy president Ranold Lamola told delegates that the only living leader in Africa was President Mugabe because he wants to empower his people.
"He said President Mugabe's lead in making sure black Zimbabweans got back their land for no cent is the best form of empowerment because it had been stolen from them," Cde Gumbo said.
He said Cde Lamola had also told the delegates that the AU predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity had liberated the continent politically and now was the time for the AU to liberate it economically.
Labels: AU, LIBYA, PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT, PANAFRICANISM
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President Mugabe on Gaddafi
Sunday, 23 October 2011 01:56 Top Stories
By Tafadzwa Chiremba
PRESIDENT Mugabe and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had sharp differences founded on principles, but it was up to the people of Libya, and not Nato, to change the political system in their country, Presidential spokesman Cde George Charamba has said.
Cde Charamba yesterday said the President disagreed with Col Gaddafi after he opened up Libyan systems to the West as part of reconciliation efforts.
He also said the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces did not support the creation of a single African government under the banner of the “United States of Africa” because the concept was “too idealistic”.
“There were serious differences, founded on principle, between President Mugabe and Col Gaddafi,” said Cde Charamba, who is also Secretary for Media, Information and Publicity.
“President Mugabe did not agree with Gaddafi when he opened his system to the West; from the military to the economy, in the name of rapprochement.”
Cde Charamba said creating a centralised continental governance system was difficult given the political dispensation in Africa.
He said while Libya experienced difficulties regarding democratic processes, only its people could bring about transformation. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation does not have the same mandate, he said, adding that the US and Europe lacked the moral right to choose friends for Africans.
“Relationships must come from our own experiences; through history and contemporary relationships. The relationship between Zimbabwe and Libya dates back to and is rooted in the days of the liberation\strugglewhen thousands of (Zimbabwean liberation war) fighters went to the North African country for military training.
“Even the integration of the army at independence in 1980 was aided by Libya. We have very senior officers in Government who went to that country for further military training.”
The Presidential spokesman said Africa should be allowed to build relationships globally without undue influence. He said Col Gaddafi was among the African leaders who supported the historic land reform programme and openly castigated the illegal economic sanctions against Zimbabwe.
In 2002, he drove from Zambia to Harare in a show of solidarity with the Southern African state. Zimbabwe also turned to Libya for fuel at the height of economic difficulties.
“Africa must build relationships with the rest of the world independently. It should never receive friends or foes from Europe and America.
“During the days of the land reform exercise, Gaddafi was one of the few African leaders who unambiguously lent support to the programme and proceeded to declare it in public. He understood that it was the continuation of the liberation of Africans. He even sent some tillage units as a symbolic act to defy sanctions, which were meant to undermine the land reform. When Libya was under sanctions, our President took the same stance against its sanctions.
“Our President defiantly flew into Libya soon after the sanctions were removed.
“How many billions did Gaddafi commit to Italy, Europe or France? Yet, these are the same countries that attacked Libya.”
Col Gaddafi was killed by rebel fighters last Thursday following an eight-month war between his loyalists and Nato-backed rebels. The United Nations has ordered an investigation into his killing.
Labels: ASSASSINATION, AU, GEORGE CHARAMBA, LIBYA, MUAMMAR AL-GADDAFI, PANAFRICANISM, ROBERT MUGABE
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Xenophobic attacks: Barbaric, unAfrican
Friday, 01 July 2011 01:00
TAKING a sabbatical and retreating to the village after a year or so of continued churning out of news stories, features, opinions and analyses for the national flagship, where this villager works with hordes of other inspiring wordsmiths, can be as soothing as it is refreshing.
Spending time on a rock along the banks of Dande River, watching some fish swim non-chalantly in the crystal clear waters, a kingfisher performing antics for its breakfast and two fish eagles perform a duet atop a riverine tree, makes this villager enjoy the fruits, peace and tranquility of Zimbabwe.
Yes, Independent Zimbabwe, for, more than three decades ago in Rhodesia, it was taboo for all villagers - elders, youngsters and yes, I mean all blacks - to cross Dande River and sit on this stone which was on the side of a white man's farm.
Yes, Andrew Pears would not allow me to cross Dande River, without beating me and everyone from my ancestry lineage.
The barren land, west of Dande River, aptly named Sipolilo (Chipuriro) Tribal Trust Land, now the land of milk, honey and dust or Guruve, if you like is where he belonged, and it was a dream to cross the Dande River eastwards. It was a no go area.
While sitting on the stone, one question crossed this villager's mind. Could he be equally safe if he sat on a stone on the other side of the Limpopo River?
Limpopo and Dande are rivers in Africa and so are Zambezi, Nile, Niger, Tungwi, Tugwana, Chobe or Musengezi, Bubi and Ruya, among others.
Is a river not a river? Are Africans not Africans, wherever they are? It is courtesy of Zimbabwe's land reform programme that today this villager owns the land, till and rest on any corner and enjoy the river breeze.
This villager, who is so used to reading and writing had decided not to vomit his ink this week, taking time off to spend moments, between the river bank and the village soothsayer's hovel, learning to throw bones.
The ability to foretell the future seems fascinating but, I had to abandon that lesson because of South Africa. South Africa . . . South Africa . . . South Africa. This South Africa, former apartheid South Africa now attacking black Zimbabweans because they belong to the other side of the Limpopo and are therefore not entitled to eke a living from Azania.
It was the news from the Rainbow Nation, which, unlike the beautiful hues, is not so multi-hued when it comes to accepting African people from neighbouring countries.
South Africa remains a thorn in the villager's flesh. For a country born out of a revolution, in which Zimbabwe played a vital role and, for a country run by a revolutionary party, which should be the vanguard of Africanism, to have its cadres militantly engage in xenophobic attacks on neighbours is not only shocking but barbaric.
For victims of apartheid to accept being dragged to court in their own country by their former oppressors for singing the songs that drove and oiled their revolution against the same oppressors and then fail to co-habit with fellow Africans, just because they come from across the river is not only stupid but unimaginable.
It is silly to kill each other based on the boundaries, imposed on us by westerners.
Was it not the hodgepodge and mishmash of Euro-centric boundaries born in yonder Berlin in 1884 that imposed the boundaries on us?
So, can we kill each other so badly because one comes from across the river. What difference does it make to come from across Dande River or Limpopo River? Are these not mere geomorphological features on one continent?
The village soothsayer, that ageless fountain of wisdom, says the South Africans are being too myopic in that they still need Zimbabweans in the same manner they needed them during their struggle.
"South Africa has not yet started the struggle to economically emancipate its people so they are very disgruntled.
"Unlike in Zimbabwe where the black majority have taken the reigns of political and economic power, black South Africans are still dazzled by the rainbow, confused by their poverty and still insignificantly participating in national economics.
"Are we not being not being forgetful? Are we not having short memories? Vendas are Mapungubwe. Are the Zulus, Xhosa, Swatis, Ndebele not of Nguni ancestry lineage? Why should the Limpopo River mean so much in terms of dividing us the people of these two countries?
"Zimbabwe was bombed, ask those who were in Avondale, by South African mercenaries for supporting the liberation movements and they cannot just payback by unleashing xenophobic attacks on Zimbabweans.
"Sooner than later, the black South African will know where to vent their anger for they are stuck in poverty, while respecting a rainbow of hunger, dehumanisation and abject poverty. What is the purpose of this rainbow save to keep the minority's hegemony on economic power.
"Soon, South Africa will explode and I mean soon, over the land issue. We changed from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe but they could not change to Azania to please the West. Soon, I said soon . . .,'' contends the soothsayer.
It is a trite but true observation that xenophobic attacks are callous, barbaric, inhuman and unAfrican.
The nonsense must stop now and Africans must live as one, for they are all victims of colonialism and neo-colonialism, and are all still licking wounds from the humiliation and brutality they suffered in colonial Africa.
Instead of xenophobic attacks, Afri-cans must be united to the marrow.
isadore.guvamombe@zimpapers.co.zw
Labels: PANAFRICANISM, SOUTH AFRICA, XENOPHOBIA
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Unite against imperialism on Africa Day: analysts
Posted by By Brett Mashingaidze at 24 May, at 17 : 22 PM
Political analysts say as the continent celebrates Africa Day on this Wednesday, there is need for Africans to remain vigilant in safeguarding the goals, objectives and vision of Africa’s founding fathers against the neo-imperialism of the so called opposition movements and rebels, who are being used by western countries to derail the gains of the Pan-African Movement.
Recent events in West and North Africa show a resurgence of western imperialism and aggression. Politicians, scholars and analysts know that political independence did not mean the end of imperialism as the west’s imperial structures were not dismantled.
President Robert Mugabe is on record for quoting the late great Pan Africanist, Kwame Nkrumah saying, “Only a good imperialist is a dead one.”
With imperialism rearing its ugly head on the African continent again, political analysts have reminded the people that as they celebrate Africa Day, they should remember the strongly anti-imperial vision of the founding fathers such as the late Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Muritana Mohammed of Nigeria , Nasser of Egypt and many other great visionary leaders like President Robert Mugabe, Kenneth Kaunda ,Steve Biko and Samora Machel, who fought a protracted liberation struggle to emancipate Africans from colonial bondage.
Political analyst, Ambassador Chris Mustvangwa said people should be wary of the resurgence of the imperialist, who are trekking back into Africa using divide and rule tactics in their quest to regain control of the continent’s abundant resources.
“As the biggest continent, Africa is entitled to a seat in the United Nations Security Council, but our leaders need to be careful and stop being dangled by the west.
“We have seen UN chair trying to entice Nigeria and trying to divide Sadc to play their ball to get the seat. So as we celebrate Africa Day, we need to solidify and safeguard the resources, which Europe is envying,” said Ambassador Mutsvangwa.
He added that if Africa watches Libya being taken, then Africa will continue to be in trouble.
A military and international relations expert, Retired Brigadier General Felix Muchemwa said Africa Day calls for African leaders to understand the geopolitics and roots of the current wave of destabilisation in some parts of the continent, whereby the west’s interests in regaining control of Africa’s resources is now threatening to erode the vision of the continent’s founding fathers.
“What we are fighting now is a ‘resources war’ with the imperialist, their interest in Africa continues to be that of resources. So what is needed as we celebrate Africa Day is for our leaders to understand the geopolitics whereby Europe’s efforts to erode the vision of pan-African founding fathers has intensified. The so called opposition movements are puppets of the enemy that should not be allowed to ride over the vision of pan-Africanism,” said Dr Muchemwa.
This year’s Africa Day commemorations come at time when the continent is under siege from western machinations with Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Cote d’Ivoire, being some of the most affected countries.
It is against this background that political analysts have encouraged African leaders to stand up and safeguard the vision of founding fathers in their fight against imperialism.
New Ziana-TZG
Labels: NEOCOLONIALISM, PANAFRICANISM
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Africa under imperial siege
Thursday, 14 April 2011 20:43
AFRICA on fire . . . This graphic design demonstrates the continued onslaught on some African states by NATO countries, a situation that is not only a threat to peace and security, but is also seen as a move by the US and the EU at recolonising the continent. — Graphic by Wellington Ziduche and Tatenda Moyana.
By Abayomi Azikiwe
UNITED States, United Nations and Nato military forces have intensified the implementation of policies aimed at total economic domination and regime-change for those states which resist interference in their internal affairs.
As Africa becomes even more of a major source for the exploitation of oil, strategic minerals and agricultural commodities, the continent will be under increasing pressure from the Western capitalist countries.
These military attacks against African states are accelerating at a time when the capitalist governments in western Europe and north America continue to tout the belief that the recovery from the global recession is well underway.
Nonetheless, a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast indicates that the imperialist states are still very concerned about the future stability of the world markets.
A World Economic Outlook from the IMF reports that "among the challenges are rising oil prices, unrest in the Middle East, continued inflation in China and debt problems in Europe. The recovery has solidified, but the unemployment remains high." (BBC News, April 11)
Fears related to the cutoff of oil supplies, unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, the gloomy economic picture facing Portugal, Greece, Spain, and the Irish Republic are cited specifically by the IMF.
The various countries in Africa that have been targetted for destabilisation and regime-change are large-scale producers of oil and other valuable resources and commodities.
AU peace plan accepted by Libya, rejected by rebels
Since March 19, the United States and other imperialist states under the ostensible control of Nato have been carrying out a bombing campaign against the North Africa state of Libya.
These air strikes and cruise missile attacks have pounded the capital of Tripoli as well as other cities throughout the country.
On April 10, the African Union sent several heads-of-state, a foreign minister and the Commission Chair to begin a mediation process to end the conflict in Libya.
The AU delegation consisted of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, Jean Ping of the African Union as well as the foreign minister of Uganda.
In meetings with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the government accepted the peace proposal put forward by the AU.
The proposal called for "the immediate cessation of all hostilities, the co-operation of the concerned Libyan authorities to facilitate the diligent delivery of humanitarian assistance to the needy populations, the protection of foreign nationals, including African migrant workers living in Libya and dialogue between the Libyan parties and the establishment of an inclusive transition period." (AU Press Release, April 10, 2011)
The AU delegation then travelled on April 11 to Benghazi to meet with the Transitional National Council which represents the opposition rebel forces. The leadership of the TNC rejected outright the peace proposal from the AU in addition to ruling out any solution short of regime-change in Libya.
This is not the first time that peace proposals have been rejected by the rebels and their supporters in the US and western Europe. Latin American states under the leadership of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made overtures prior to the US/Nato bombings to work towards a ceasefire, but the efforts were rejected by the imperialists and the rebels.
On March 11, the AU Peace and Security Council issued an earlier communiqué calling for a ceasefire and opposing foreign military intervention. This proposal was also dismissed by the Western states now bombing Libya and the rebel forces.
The Obama administration has demanded that the Libyan government be toppled.
US military attacks on Libya and its on-going naval blockade of the north African state has been condemned by progressive forces within the peace movement and the oppressed communities inside the country.
Internationally, opposition to the US/Nato bombing has increased on a daily basis with demonstrations against the war taking place in Egypt, Mali, Greece, Serbia, Canada and other countries.
An Associated Press news report said on April 11 that "the military intervention in Libya cost the US an extra US$608 million in the first few weeks of the operation.
Officials call it extra costs because it doesn't include complete spending such as paychecks for US sailors, airmen and other forces, who would have been deployed somewhere in the world anyway."
Ivorian leader seized by French forces
Another source of instability in Africa is the world's largest cocoa-producing west African state of Cote d'Ivoire, where the former colonial power France in conjunction with the UN, have toppled the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, arrested him and installed his rival, the Western-backed Alassane Ouattara.
This conflict in Cote d'Ivoire stemmed from a dispute over a run-off election in November 2010 where the imperialist states backed the candidacy of Ouattara.
Gbagbo insisted that he won the elections and that the decision by the Ivorian Supreme Court upholding his position, nullified the claims made by UN observers and the national electoral commission.
On March 31, French and UN military forces accompanied by gendarmes under the control of Ouattara launched an offensive against positions held by military units remaining loyal to the incumbent President Gbagbo.
France and the UN used heavy artillery, helicopters and air strikes to attack the Gbagbo forces. During the period of the siege on the presidential palace in the capital of Abidjan, two massacres were carried out inside the country.
At Duekoue it has been reported that up to 1 000 people may have been killed. Although supporters of Ouattara have been accused of the massacre, the UN has attempted to also apportion partial blame on the Gbagbo forces.
Nonetheless, all of the victims were said to be have been traditional supporters of incumbent President Gbagbo.
Later on April 7, Rupert Colville, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman said that 40 bodies were found in Blolequin. The culpability for these massacres will undoubtedly be investigated by independent journalists in the weeks to come.
The French and UN involvement in both the attempts to topple the Libyan government as well as the overthrow and arrest of Ivorian incumbent Gbagbo represents the increasing aggressive military posture of Paris on the African continent.
Although French said that the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo was done by the Ouattara forces in Ivory Coast, initial reports indicated that special forces from the European country led the assault on his residence and seized him.
Israeli air strike kills two
The Sudanese government has blamed the Israeli Defense Forces for the bombing of a vehicle where two people were killed on April 5.
According to reports from people around Port Sudan, "We heard three loud explosions. We went outside to see what was happening and eye witnesses told us they saw two helicopters which looked like Apaches flying past." (Sudan Tribune, April 5)
This attack follows a similar strike that occurred in early 2009 when in eastern Sudan the IDF used fighter jets against a convoy of vehicles resulting in the reported deaths of 119 people.
The Sudan Tribune said of the current attack on April 4 that "a foreign plane launched the attack in an area known as Kalaneeb which was described as 14 kilometres away from the coastal city of Port Sudan and on the main road leading to the regional airport." (Sudan Tribune, April 5)
The State of Israel failed to acknowledge or deny their involvement in the attack. Israel has accused Sudan of transporting weapons from Iran to the Hamas government in Gaza. Sudan has denied these allegations.
Zimbabwe's national anti-sanctions campaign
In the southern African nation of Zimbabwe, the ruling Zanu-PF and the Government in Harare has embarked upon a campaign to collect signatures calling for the removal of Western economic sanctions against the country.
The sanctions were levelled in the aftermath of the adoption of a radical land redistribution program in 2000 that took control of large tracts of territory seized by British settler-colonialists during the latter years of the 19th century.
Although the Zimbabwe Government under the leadership of President Robert Mugabe has established a coalition with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change factions, the United States, Britain, Australia and the European Union have maintained the economic sanctions against the country.
The Zimbabwe Government is currently preparing for national elections in the aftermath of the drafting of a new constitution.
The US and other imperialist states are continuing their support for the Western-oriented MDC-T faction headed by Morgan Tsvangirai. The US and other Western states are planning to translate their support for the MDC-T into an electoral victory for the party which has refused to take a position against the sanctions.
In an editorial recently published in the state-controlled Zimbabwe Herald newspaper, the ruling Zanu-PF party of President Mugabe said that "The Western hysterical expression about saving civilians in Libya must be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. The civilians of Libya do not matter as their oil does." (The Herald, April 6)
This same editorial continues by noting: "What Barack Obama has done in fact is to sign an assassination order for Muammar Gaddafi, and his desire may as well come to materialise as did that of his predecessor, George W Bush, who pursued Saddam Hussein to the gallows.
But Obama only sings humanitarian songs for civilians belonging to countries ruled by leaders that prevent the US from imperially dominating their natural resources, such as the civilians in Libya, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Iran and Venezuela."
Role of anti-war movement in US
The recent April 9-10 anti-war demonstrations in New York and San Francisco represent the strengthening of the movement for peace and social justice inside the US.
With the increasing attacks on labour, the poor and the oppressed by the bankers and their backers in government, it will become increasingly important for people inside the country to draw links between the worsening conditions of the workers and its relationship to ever-rising Pentagon budget.
In north Africa and the Middle East, the masses have engaged in mass demonstrations, strikes and rebellions against the ravages of world capitalism and its economic crisis.
The struggles of workers in Wisconsin and other states in the US have gained inspiration from the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Bahrain.
This year's May Day will also take on added significance by providing an opportunity for these linkages of the worldwide struggles against capitalism and imperialism to be raised to thousands of workers in cities across the country.
It will be the unity of programme and action of the workers and oppressed across the globe that will end the exploitative systems and create the conditions for world peace and social justice for the majority of humanity.
Abayomi Azikiwe is the founder and editor of the Pan-African News Wire. His feedback address is: panafnewswire@yahoo.com
Labels: AFRICOM, AU, PANAFRICANISM
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Africa must reawaken
Wednesday, 13 April 2011 22:10
THE axis of evil is now on African soil. And, Africa, welcome to the real world where masters of the universe are dictating your fate, under their terms.
If this were a column in my mother tongue, Shona, I'd have aptly headlined it, "Kubatwa negarwe wapeta zvirauro" (To be attacked by a crocodile just after you've packed and/ or put away your fishing rods. That is, after you're confident that you have accomplished your mission).
This idiomatic expression, pregnant with mea-ning says a lot about the state of Africa, months after some pioneers in the struggle to dislodge settler colonialism led by the likes of Ghana's Kwame Nkru-mah, celebrated their gol-den jubilees in 2010.
Despite the challenges, the past half century was supposed to be a memorable journey - an African success story that would have seen the continent regaining lost ground and bequeathing the legacy of the continent to future generations.
However, if events of the past few months are anything to go by, it means that although the fishing expedition seems successful; the fishing rods were probably hastily and carelessly put away, and, as a result, the alligators in the body of water where we have been fishing from are mercilessly and brutally attac-king us. As fishermen, we just trusted in getting a good catch, in what we thought were safe waters.
These events also show that the fisherman was eit-her ignorant of the environment in which he was fishing, or if he did, he was not at all worried about his security.
Environmental scanning was not part of ensuring a sustainable future. All that the fisherman wanted was the fish to go and feed his family, for that day. The future would take care of itself!
But failure to understand one's environment can lead to serious trouble since danger can strike any time. This was the caution that a commuter omnibus driver, waiting for one last passenger while loading at illegal loading zones, popularly known as Pamushika-mushika or Pahasha was given by one passenger on Monday: "It's better to leave now, because ‘unobatwa negarwe wapeta zvirauro,' and lose all the money you have made. You can always get the last passenger on the way."
But knowing kombi drivers, they enjoy a good fight with law enforcement agents, while at the same time losing business to oth-er competitors. The statement has made an indelible mark. This is where Africa is right now - at the crossroads, because of its laissez faire attitude to geo-political issues.
We fought! We struggled since slavery days, but we have not learnt the painful lessons of those struggles. We have not yet arrived at a point where we can look former colonisers, eyeball-to-ball, and tell them, mat-ter-of-factly that Africa is for Africans.
The few that have done that have paid dearly. It makes it worse when some among us do not have the gumption to stand their ground and understand this principle - Africa is for Africans. There is also a certain amount of naivety in the way some of us appr-oach regional and inter-national politics.
It is a VERY frightening feeling, and one which makes this writer wonder why Africa continues to be stalled in the same position, waiting for the Anglo-Saxon world to make it move, and when told to jump, asking, "How high, master?"
And, this is happening fifty years after most countries got their independence! Zimbabwe also celebrates its 31st Independence anniversary on April 18, and it is shocking that a nation that now has the highest literacy rate on the continent is still looking for benefactors from Europe, the Americas and the East to get it out of the quagmire of economic hardships. We interrogate it, better in most cases, using their funds and their agendas.
The political landscape, which was one of Africa's success stories has once gain been soiled, giving the former colonial master an opportunity to interfere.
So, what is with the African story? Who are the major protagonists, and why? Is this something Africa can extricate itself from without being adve-rsely affected as the MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN, writing is already on the wall?
As Africans, do we know ourselves; believe in ourselves; respect ourselves; and, understand the environment in which we ope-rate and can proudly stand on our own? Aren't we facing the danger that befalls the fisherman I talked of in the metaphor?
North Africa, West Africa and Southern Afri-can: there is a common thr-ead that runs across them. In fact, it is like there are nodes everywhere, which make the linkages very easy, but nodes that we did not create ourselves.
Because we are Africans, or it is because we have failed to read our environment, and when we think that we have arrived, we suddenly are under attack!
When Africa thought that the Anglo-Saxon world could go hang, since we could now business with other regions, the West hit back in a dramatic fashion.
If it were the Cold War era, it would have been easy to see whom we could be aligned to, but as it were, those regions' position has not been as dramatically clear as expected.
Looking at this scenario reminded me of George W Bush and his "axis of evil" statement referring to Iran, North Korea and Iraq, although Zimbabwe was always included one way or the other.
Now we see these same nations that labelled others the "axis of evil", being exactly that on the African continent. If they are promoting rebels, and if their intelligence operatives are operating willy-nilly on the continent, working out illegal regime changes, what are they - ie the US, Britain and the EU?
So, what really is happening to Africa as it grapples with the realities it is facing in the midst of what now looks like an onslaught to recolonise the continent, under the guise of setting up democratic systems that align themselves with the so-called international community?
I reiterate: do we know who we are, where we are coming from and where we are going? I will also not pretend that I know what hit Africa, but the sooner we gang up and talk abut this as Africans, the better. For the children's sake! Here is why I ask. On March 17 when I wrote the piece "Media madness on Libya", someone whose identity I cannot disclose, e-mailed me on March 18: "I read your article and typical of all you Zanunoids; you are refusing one reality. You have been fed so much of this anti-Western rhetoric that you no longer accept or see reality. In short, the guilty are very afraid.
"The uprisings in North Africa were never instigated by the West; they were started by citizens who are fed up with dictatorship and corruption. If the West wanted oil in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya; why wait for uprisings? What if the uprisings had not taken place?
"As the late Zvobgo put it, ‘Dictators hide behind the finger of sovereignty and blame of the West.' The Arab world has given its support on resolution 1973 on Libya and do you think that therefore they have agreed to have their oil looted? No; it's because they knew the dictatorship of their friend in Libya. The AU (including South Africa) has now recognised Ouattara as winner of elections in Ivory Coast. What do you say? For your information, UN resolution 1973 on Libya is being debated to extend to any nation that kills and suppresses the aspirations of its people. BE VERY AFRAID."
Dear reader, welcome to scribes' covert and overt occupational hazards, but, we get used to the backlash - a backlash coming from people who want zero tolerance on issues they don't even understand. What it boils down to for such people is "free speech for me, not for thee", for while they seek to gag journalists from expressing themselves, they feel threatened, and all they can do is resort to attacks.
Nato had not yet struck Libya, and when they did that weekend, the brother wrote me on Monday afternoon (March 21) with a new subject heading, ‘You are right, it's oil'.
Caesar Zvayi would have said the brother had a Damascan experience. He wrote: "Tendai - On second thoughts, I agree with you on the Western intentions in Libya. Listening to David Cameron's speech at the weekend, I saw all the hypocrisy painted all over his face."
He said, ‘We want to protect the people of Libya'. Really? I thought of the 1994 massacres in Rwanda; the wars in DRC against women and children. Surely if these guys love us Africans so much; where were/are they when these atrocities were/are being committed. I saw the word OIL on Cameron and Obama's faces." The reader's about turn made me understand Africa's tragedy: seeing, but not believing; hearing, but not understanding. It is a tragedy that is beyond measure; where someone said, we need divine intervention to wake up from our deep slumber.
Why would Africa's three representatives to the UN Security Council also vote with Africa's "enemies" on resolutions about the Libyan uprising, thereby endorsing their foreign policy template on the continent?
Five-decades ago, this diplomatic gaffe would have been understandable, but after the wars that we have witnessed, not only in Africa, but elsewhere at the instigation of these Western nations, why was this done? Why does Africa believe that dependency and not equal partnerships has posterity?
As Professor Jonathan Moyo wrote in this week's Sunday Mail, it was unbelievable that an AU fact-finding mission has to be given the nod to enter Libya - an African state - by Nato forces, so that they undo the damage they caused at the UN. That is unforgivable!
This generation has also stood on high moral ground and accused our ancestors for being bought off with small things like sugar and/or whisky, but when the gains of Africa's liberation are facing real danger of being reversed by men and women with "superior" Western book education, whom shall we blame?
None but ourselves - for always wanting to play second-fiddle, and acting poverty stricken both physically and materially on a continent that will soon have its billionth citizen, and that is the richest in terms of natural resources.
Watch the different TV satellite channels; read the stories and comments on some Internet websites; follow discussions on social networks and blogs, and you feel that deep-seated anger that Libya is stalling the next phase of the imperialistic agenda, whose next port of call after North Africa and Cote d'Ivoire should "automatically" be Zimbabwe. It's a desperation that we witnessed at the Livingstone Sadc Troika Summit last month. Now, the poisoned atmosphere engulfs us as the region awaits the May 20 Sadc Extraordinary Summit.
Why Zimbabwe seems a likely candidate for these uprisings, which can happen in any part of the world, rich or poor was summed up by a colleague last Friday when she asked me to check out Flora Flaunders - International Action Centre, New York and she said, "She's got some story on Libya and Western bullies. Quite interesting!"
And I did. What is amazing is that we have also decided to ignore voices telling the West to back off Africa. The US, a one-time British colony, is leading the reoccupation of Africa through a triangular axis of evil that is unparalleled since the days of slavery. Those voices could be meaningful if enough effort to reclaim Africa's position on the international arena is matched by an equally louder African voice. Instead, we see other bits of Africa so elated that the illegal regime changes template is a step in the right direction.
This triangular monster which can best be represented diagrammatically links the nodes (the regional blocs - Arab League in North Africa; Ecowas in West Africa and Sadc in Southern Africa).
Maybe Paul Craig Roberts' piece on Libya and the North African issue titled, "What does the world think now?" might reawaken Africa from its deep sleep and make them fight the axis of evil on the continent. Wrote Roberts: "The obscene wars of aggression, the obscene profits of the off-shoring corporations, and the obscene bailouts of the rich financial gangsters have left the American public with annual budget deficits of approximately US$1,5 trillion.
These deficits are being covered by printing money. Sooner or later, the printing presses will cause the US dollar to collapse and domestic inflation to explode.
Social security benefits will be wiped out by inflation rising more rapidly than the cost-of-living adjustments. If America survives, no one will be left but the mega-rich.
Unless there is a violent revolution." On the eve of the celebration of our 31st Independence anniversary, and before the much-awaited Sadc Extraordinary Summit, Zimbabweans and the peoples of this region expect that regional leaders restore the people's confidence in the regional body.
Fighting bitter liberation struggles where thousands were brutally killed, others maimed and displaced, was not a passport for some to reverse those gains.
tendai.manzvanzvike@zimpapers.co.zw
Labels: AFRICOM, NEOCOLONIALISM, PANAFRICANISM
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A thief cannot be a pan-Africanist
By The Post
Tue 31 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT
It is said that patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels. Those who abuse the people by stealing from them and looting what could better the lives of so many have no shame about claiming patriotism as a defence for their despicable acts. They have no principle to stand on and no moral high ground to justify their crimes. They try everything in the hope that the same people whose dignity they have abused will be fooled into believing their nonsense.
This is exactly what we are seeing in the behaviour of Frederick Chiluba. Today, Chiluba wants to pretend to be an avid and principled anti-imperialist and yet there is nothing about his actions when he was president and even after he has left which qualifies him to make such a claim. There is no way that somebody who steals from the poorest of his country can ever claim to be anti-imperialist, to be a pan-Africanist. This reminds us of what Samora Machel used to say about thieves. Somora was critical of Mozambicans who called thieves comrades. He used to ask: “How can you say comrade thief has stolen from me? How can a comrade steal from you? One who steals from you is not your comrade.”
The Zambian people, like most Africans – especially those from our southern African region – understand imperialism, colonialism and all these other evils that foreign domination and subjugation bring on the people. And as Nelson Mandela correctly puts it, “Imperialism has been weighed and found wanting.
Imperialism means the denial of political and economic rights and the perpetual subjugation of the people by a foreign power.”
The essence of imperialism is the denial of a people of what truly belongs to them. It does not matter who the perpetrator is. The essence remains the same. Denying people their political and economic rights is the essence of imperialism. When Chiluba and his league steal from our people, they divert resources from our people to their selfish ends.
In essence what Chiluba’s corruption has done to our people is to make them continue to be dependent on donor aid. And we know that dependence is different from independence. A people that is totally dependent on others cannot set themselves a political agenda and, as such, cannot develop in a democratic way. A country that is dependent on another cannot be said to be democratic. What Chiluba’s corruption has done is to reduce the independence of our people so that they can be manipulated by anyone in control of money. Chiluba himself did this when he was in power. He used money to manipulate many weak souls. And his friend Rupiah Banda has continued to do so today. Chiluba and Rupiah cannot be anti-imperialist forces.
Their very existence and survival depend on imperialist tendencies. They do not want our people to be free, to decide their own destinies and to hold their leaders to account. They want to be free to use public resources in any way, and if the donors, from whom they are accustomed to receiving money, raise any questions about accountability, they suddenly become enemies and imperialists.
When Chiluba talks about pan-Africanism, he is not talking about having a high regard for Africa’s peoples and their rights. What Chiluba is saying is that African despots must be above accountability. Those like him that have stolen from their countries must be free to keep their loot while the majority of the people live in abject poverty. And anyone asking questions is going against the ‘freedoms of these pan-Africanists’. This is nonsense. Chiluba as president was determined to ensure that our economy was as dependent as possible on the people that he is today calling imperialists. Any efforts that had been made by his predecessor to make this country self-sufficient in basic necessities were derided as commandist and anti-free market. To this day, this same Chiluba worships Coca-Cola and apples. To him, bringing groceries to sell these items in our country was a great achievement of his presidency. He derides Kenneth Kaunda, a true pan-Africanist who refused to import apples from South Africa in aid of the apartheid regime. The first thing Chiluba, who today claims to be a pan-Africanist, did was to jump into bed with the apartheid regime in South Africa. What can be more shameful than that for a pan-Africanist? Chiluba was comfortable wining and dining with the monstrous apartheid regime that had subjugated our brothers and sisters in South Africa for generations. Today, this thief wants to lecture about pan-Africanism, what pan-Africanism?
Who doesn’t know what Chiluba’s regime was doing in Angola with the imperialist-supported Jonas Savimbi to destabilise that country? And who doesn’t know what he was doing in Zaire? This so-called anti-imperialist ran a regime whose taste for money had no boundaries. Chiluba can’t hide it; he is nothing but a pro-imperialist fellow who is now in trouble because of changed circumstances.
Chiluba is not a pan-Africanist. Chiluba is not even a patriot because for him, everything in his country is for sale. Chiluba doesn’t have the conscience required for one to be a pan-Africanist, a patriot because a pan-Africanist, a patriot isn’t for sale. For Chiluba, money is everything and his country is where he makes the most money. But there is something more troubling about Chiluba which he seems to share in equal measure with Rupiah – it is the lack of the sense of feeling public shame when things go wrong. There is no doctrine – pan-Africanism or otherwise, no principle or proclaimed revolutionary position that can justify the stealing of public funds from one’s poor country.
No stealing of public funds can be committed in the name of pan-Africanism or anti-imperialism. There is no true pan-Africanist, there is no true patriot who can do what Chiluba did. True pan-Africanists don’t steal. And even if by some misfortune a pan-Africanist stole, we do not expect the kind of shamelessness that Chiluba exhibits. This man has shown no remorse for plundering our national resources and running a kleptocracy. Many of the people that served with him were thieves just like him. True pan-Africanists don’t steal from their people or indeed from anyone. Look at our true pan-Africanist – comrade KK – and try to find anything he stole. Not even a book that Chiluba alleged this true patriot had stolen from State House was found to have been stolen by him. Chiluba brought Scotland Yard from the United Kingdom to come and investigate thefts of public funds by KK, and they found nothing. KK never cried that Chiluba had brought imperialists to investigate him. It was okay for Chiluba to bring Scotland Yard because they were not imperialists. But today, a judgment obtained by the Zambian government in a matter they had taken to that country’s courts is being dismissed as an imperialist judgment. Chiluba is also talking about imperialists’ agents.
But he is forgetting that the one who took that matter to the London High Court, George Kunda, is today Rupiah’s Vice-President and justice minister. Is George an imperialist agent? Anyway, Chiluba and Rupiah should know that calling donors and anybody who seeks justice for our people, names, will not take away anything from their disgraceful abuse of power and outright theft of public funds. Chiluba will not be allowed to abuse the concepts of pan-Africanism and anti-imperialism to deny our people the right to get back that which he has stolen from them through the use of all available local and international avenues. Chiluba is simply a thief, and not a pan-Africanist – a thief cannot be a pan-Africanist, an anti-imperialist.
Labels: DONORS, FREDERICK CHILUBA, PANAFRICANISM
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