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It is not clear to me how people can even think about peace and security while we see what is happening in Zimbabwe.
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The problem is that when freedom fighter become presidents they become as corrupt as the rulers that they fought against.
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Africa today is where Europe was 300 years ago. Even then, we are seeing reasonable peace and security in Europe ONLY in the last 50 years (and not in all of Europe).
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I guess Africa will have to wait 300 years.
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John Smith, South Africa 13 Mar 2002
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There are three trends at the beginning of the twenty-first century that must be taken into account by all serious politicians and/or academics: (a) globalization; (b) regionalization; and (c) integration. These rise from similar impulses but often lead to contradictory outcomes. Should the UK join the European Union, but carry forward the devolution processes in Scotland and Wales? Should the transatlantic special relationship UK-USA be privileged by both countries over and above the UE-NAFTA groupings?
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This logic applies necessarily to Africa. Initiatives like the SADC and ECOWAS are parts of the integration of the African States as is the project of the African Union; though at different levels. But, given the complexity of the modern world, and the challenges posed by the uncertainties regarding the appropriate policy-packages to be followed, these initiatives are worth pursuing. If they succeed, we will celebrate; if they fail, other alternatives will follow...
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Eduardo Sitoe, Essex, UK 12 Mar 2002 12 Mar 2002
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The idea of an African Union is too many steps ahead of what the main issue plaguing Africa is. Until the borders drawn by our white colonizers are erased and REAL borders containing people that would consider themselves a nation are drawn, African countries will continue to wage war against each other internally for power and domination.
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Somalia has split itself up into the northern Somaliland and southern Puntland and yet no one recognizes these countries. What is the sense in fighting for borders drawn by the same people that have brutalized the continent for years.
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Yes, the normal folk of Africa don't care about all this. . . they don’t feel that they matter or have any control over something as basic as their own borders.
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Folahan, Texas 11 Mar 2002
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First and foremost, allow me this opportunity to concur with the majority of my people and true friends of Afrika who whole-heartedly believe in a United Afrikan State.
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I just can't say more in support of this noble visionary idea, which has been shelved together with Afrika's dreams for so long. However, I believe that in formulating the AU rules and ideologies we should avoid repeating the mistakes African leaders have made in the past. The continent's ruling elites have always kept the "world power-houses' “ interests in the forefront of their thinking thus reflecting it in their policies. This has led to a conflict of interest between their fellow citizen's needs and wants and those of the neo-colonialists.
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As a result, some leaders have ended up confused or made grave mistakes when dealing with their own people. By the time this leaders have realized this it has often been too late to reverse the situation. The result has been the creation of "rulers" from those who came in promising "leadership."
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This lot or group uses the state treasury as their personal account. They have fattened their personal bank accounts abroad at the expense of the people and entire continent. Unfortunately, when these guys pass on suddenly it’s the people and companies that they bank with that derive the benefits. Some notable examples are Gen. Abacha, Mobutu and Bokasa.
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In short, let the people take the driver's seat in the AU since they're the ones to bear the brunt in case of failure.
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J. Mukaga Odewa, Edmonton Albeta,Canada 11 Mar 2002
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I totally agree with the united Africa idea, but I don't know if every African agrees with it. If Africa has to be united, every African should have a say about it. Nobody wants those big-bellied politicians to go and make decision about the future of the continent that they only care about because of what it gives them and their corrupt friends. Africans, regular folks here have to decide if they want to have a united Africa or if they want to keep it the way it is. As far as peace goes, as long as you have those that are not Africans that want to steal from Africa, there will always be bloodshed.
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Peter Peyechu, Raleigh, NC. USA 11 Mar 2002
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After having read, with interest, the comments posted here by my African colleagues, I would like to point out that almost all of the commentators are from outside of Africa. This is one of the main factors contributing to the lack of peace and security in the mother continent. All of our brains are abroad.
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Only selfish, ruthless, uneducated groups who could not open their eyes to compare what they are doing to people to how the world, in general, is committed to improving life were left behind.
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Africa will have peace and tranquility only if its Diaspora returns with commitment and involves the people to get rid of tribalism, nepotism, ignorance and irresponsibility.
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Please keep in mind that Africa needs deeds rather than debates.
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Thanks.
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Ahmed Marey, Mogadishu, Somalia 11 Mar 2002
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'African Union' - this is the only way to rid ourselves of civil strife and poverty. We, in Africa, need to speak with one voice, combine our GDPs, markets, militaries, human resources, natural resources and we shall be home free. Every African should support the proposed Union of African States.
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Oswald K. Mungule, Lusaka, Zambia 10 Mar 2002
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The idea of a United African Nations is possible. The implementation of this idea is another cup of tea. I’m only twenty-six years old. I have read and heard and learned a lot about our history. Nothing good and valuable is to be gained from it as it is filled with horror and violence. People have given their opinions and views based on what they know and have seen in their lives. I think, as a young man and one of tomorrow’s leaders, that we should try to avoid past mistakes for the benefit of our children.
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Our fathers have done their best to make Africa a good place for us but still we long for other places in the USA and in Europe. This is because they have done things wrong. When traveling abroad, young people are looking for an education, a good living standard, and a good job. If we want to make an Africa Union, let us first offer our people good educational structures so that they won’t have to go away and find it difficult to come back and live in these villages that we call towns. Then let us offer them security. Some young people, very young are taught how to kill, and how to depend on a weapon. Five years later, the very people who taught them violence, will be loudly shouting that there is insecurity. This is unfair both for those poor boys and girls who have deviated from their normal life and for all of the people that they will assault.
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Moreover, let us wake our youths up. Realistically, politics is a dangerous game for young people to become interested in. I don’t think that it is so different from when our fathers started years ago. For someone like me, who has never seen another president since I started noticing (I’m Togolese), it can be difficult, even hazardous to go into politics if I want peace of mind for my family and myself.
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An Africa Union is possible, but let us not look at what others are doing, for we do not have the same conditions. The main basis of this Union is understanding. We have to understand that we are the last, the tail, and the weakest today. We have to understand that all that we have is violence, dictatorial governments and betrayal. We need to acknowledge to ourselves that all we are doing is bad for the benefit of our children, for the benefit of a better Africa, and for our own benefit.
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Eric Bonin, Accra 10 Mar 2002
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I read all that is written on this page and I agree with some and I don't with others.
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A lot of people blame former colonizers, but I don't. I blame our governments. Most of the countries of Africa have had at least half a century of freedom, but did we prosper? Did we become industrialized? Did we achieve democracy?
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Except for a few, the answer is no. It's because our Heads of State have had a different agenda than what was required of them. They could've implemented reforms to stabilize their economies and securities, but no, they were obsessed with their own personal fortunes.
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A could example of that kind of governance is my mother country and current home, Somalia.
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But now our leaders are taking a different route. Take my interim president for example. He doesn't have a fancy house or money. He lives in a war-torn capital in a war-torn country, but that doesn't stop him from trying to better the shattered Somalia and it's citizens. I think we should take president Abdiqasim as an example of what we want in a leader in today's Africa.
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Mohamed Salad, Mogadishu, Somalia 9 Mar 2002
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The core factor causing Africa’s insecurity and lack of peace is the leadership crisis. Most African leaders, past and present, have not had the necessary qualities to lead Africa. These leaders have been behaving to be above the law. They have had no respect for democratic norms. Unless Africa restructures and gets rid of these leaders, the continent has no hope for peace and security for the near future or the long term.
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Ismaiil Issa, Switzerland 7 Mar 2002
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Africa's misery was foreseen by the founding of the OAU in 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. To leave the borders as the colonial powers drew them was suggested and insisted upon by Emperor Haile Selasie, who was seen by African leaders as a black hero, almost as a messiah.
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Until the state borders in Africa are removed, I'm not sure that Africa will get stability.
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Hassan Ali Hashi, Germany
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As I sit here and read I am appalled, I am hurt and I am crying. The first and foremost thing that should be done in Africa is to stop the abuse of human rights! Especially of children & women. I can think of no other time in the history of mankind where a people have dehumanized and destroyed so many of its children... It is a shame on Africa ....it is a shame on africans...it is a shame...please for those of you who can - do something...and save these children...from the senseless rapings and murders and severe criminal use of children!...
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I am ashamed to see such things written about a land and a people I claim as my ancestral heritage. How can you even live in such a place that has so little concern for its women and children? Could it possibly be true that Africa and Africans are a barbaric breed of people? You have created a living hell for the women and children ... you can't feed them...you can't house them....you can't protect them....no basic fundamental rights!!
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Even thru the diaspora of slavery we Africans in america do not exhibit such blatant social behaviour with the rape and murder and torture of our precious children in such devasting numbers, and the women who have given birth to them! In many countries in Africa, it is the norm! Uganda, Nigeria, Congo, Sudan...even the most vicious collection of animals cannot do such things to its offsprings.
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This is a wake up call to all of Africa and its barbaric methods of resolving conflicts. You call this culture? You call yourselves upholders of traditional morals and sacred knowledge? I think not!!When all we see in the news are men defiling babies not even a year old and women in thier beaten down souls throwing them down latrines?Stop it now!!!
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An African-American , Texas, USA
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Africa, Where and When
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During my teen years from the segregated Southern USA State of North Carolina I listened to the resounding Africa-based agitation for freedom from colonial domination. Names like Kenyatta, Banda, Kaunda, Tshombe, Nkrumah, Balewa, Houphoett-Boiny and Lamumba wafted across the Atlantic to my black ears here in America. Beuchaunaland, Upper Volta, Nyasaland, Swaziland and "Belgian" Congo were depicted on maps in our Geography textbooks; often with "England", "Portugal", "France", "Spain" inserted for signification of who the colonial controllers were of much of Africa.
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In Black Africa only two independent nations existed: Ethiopia with His Excellency Haille Selassie and Liberia with the redoubtable V. S. Tubman.
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But the cry for liberation grew more thunderous, so that between the second and third decade of my life, some thirty nations gained a measure of liberation from London, Paris, Lisbon and Madrid. Former "terrorists", became "Fathers" of the various countries. These august souls faced the future with visionary audacity but a future which of necessity could but be shaped by the decades of pillage, plunder, killings, cultural disruption, forced assimilation, war, betrayal, theft and virtually every other instrument of colonial exploitation known to the planet earth. Watching from afar,as stunningly unsettling incidents were reported, I have murmured to myself, "Nation-building Ain't Easy!
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Now, some 40-plus years later, with a concern of many generations of my own ancestral origin, the issues argue for cogent examination and blunt - if painful - remediation. To fail in this venture is to court unending chaos and "solutions" which would more likely foster "dissolution" of the State, thus pressaging more decades of bedlam.
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An honest assessment leads me to conclude that many, if not most, of the successors to the original "Independence Pioneers" have not had the same motivation toward the uplift of their peoples. Even while conceding that many of these nation-states were left with virtually none of the tools of dominion used by their former colonialist masters, one must still question how the resources available were used.
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History tells us that too often, a tiny leadership cadre paid little heed to the nascent nation's needs. Often, these successors replaced former colonialist tyrants and themselves became home-grown despots whose avarice inured mostly to their own kith and keen rather than benefit the general population: they built and luxuriated in sumptuous homes, amassed personal fortunes and often exterminated any opposition - rather than building hospitals, schools, roads, power-producing infrastructure and encouraging the thousands of citizens to educate themselves, to pool capital and, slowly, take control of the national commercial, financial, legal, manufacturing and private sectors activities which any modern society must have to sustain itself, much less to grow and prosper and raise standard of living.
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For example, in virtually all of the natural resource sectors - whether timber, copper, diamonds, oil, precious metals and so on -natives had been in menial positions and doing mostly manual work rather than "in the office" at established mines and mills.
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Therefore, instead of insisting on the search for, selection, training and rapid integration of the best and brightest native minds into the established industries, too many governments seemed to think that political power, tenously and recently grasped, would assure them of stable continuity. Not so. Witness the flight of many former white citizens from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) when the Ian Fleming Government finally caved to the aspirations of the much larger Black population. And, they took their managerial skills with them in many cases. How much did the lack of sufficient available, trained Black citizens who had experience in managing large-scale enterprises hurt the internal growth of that nation? And, today who are the major bankers, insurers, utility and communication providers? Health scheme providers? Has Zimbabwe recovered even today?
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The colonial masters also carved up the sub-Sahara continent to suit their own needs. The result was that many native groups found themselves, post-independence, within geographic boundaries now called a country that defied traditional historical and cultural affiliations.
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Ethnicities, languages, governance mechanisms, religions and other characteristics which had once identified specific groups had to be blended. In nation after nation, the clashes of these polyglot identities caused thousands of people to die thus further disabling the national government's ability to nation-build as these festering, sporadic and often spontaneously iniated incidents caused a diversion of already scarce resources.
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In some instances and countries, the costly, depleting and often deadly confrontations lasted a few days; in other nations they persisted for many decades.
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The sense of tribe, village or tongue has not been subdued to the larger interest of "national" citizenry. This is, to me, one of the Continent's major tasks today. In fact, as one views pertinent data regarding many nations within Africa today, one is almost inexorably drawn to horrific despair. Here are just a few of the additional areas that pertain to this author's anxiety:
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Some of the "nations" are too small to be viable. With populations less than many of the USA's smaller states, it will be virtually impossible for sufficient development to occur in such micro-nations as to give them any voice in twenty-first century world affairs. The size of such nations, the scarcity of internal resources, the natural climatic and topological conditions, the abundant poverty and the scarce cadre of cosmopolitan, educated citizens argue powerfully that most economic and military activities are proscribed. Even self-defense is not an option with some of these nations. Link such additional debilities as various diseases, overwhelming debt, phlegmatic, unstable and inefficient governments, rickety justice systems and endemic corruption to the list and one dares mention this unmentionable: They ought to merge.
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Africa's "brain drain" is another horror. Here in the USA a large number of persons from virtually every sub-Sahran nation who came as students to the universities here apparently came to stay. So, from here, it appears that many underdeveloped nations have exported many of the brightest and best scholars, engineers, financial experts, legal talent and others professionals. It is presumed that the expectation once was, that upon obtaining their educations, these gifted sons and daughters of Africa would return home to accelerate the home country's development. My conversations with many or these expatriates tell me that conditions at home mitigate strongly against their return home, except for a brief visit. Sentiment is: Strangers now at home. What's to be done about this?
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Admittedly my view is to some degree shaped by the 300-plus years of my own race's struggle here in America. Following slavery's abolition in 1863, my ancestors were told, in effect, "You are now free; now make it on your own".
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Then, for the next 150 years, using one marginalizing strategy after another, the task was made difficult and at times almost impossible by the system. The Federal government was often on the side of our enemies, with the passage of laws restricting our right to vote, own property, travel freely, be taught to read and write, aspire to certain professions and so on. The most revered Black Americans are those who agitated for freedom, the right to enjoy the same bounty that others assumed here and for a justice system that gave us no greater, but no less, benefit from that system. Although progress has been made, much more remains to be accomplished.
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Globalization - that economic paradigm of the world's most sophisticated nations - is the most succinct description of why I believe that Africa must urgently get over some of the barriers that have been touched upon here.
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Countries with thirty per cent literacy rates, per capita incomes under $500, 60% unemployment, 90% agricultural, subsistence farming economies, corrupt governments, constant ethnic strife and lack of religious tolerance, state-controlled, bloated and inefficient industries and government-owned and controlled communications systems, stifling debt burdens, undeveloped and unobserved justice systems will continue to heel to the overlords, the developed nations.
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The developed nations possess and control every single key to the modern world. They have systematized capital formation, have rationalized capital distribution where $billions move almost seamlessly around the globe each day, have developed deep and wide legal multinational structures for the furtherance of their economic designs such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Labor Organization, World Trade Organization and others. Then there are the multinational corporate structures, virtually Supragovernments in their own right, not constrained by natianalistic sentiments or concerns; they've continued to pour more resources into research and development of everything from farming, fishing, military weapons to miracle drugs. And, in every developed nation, the government and the private sector have a shared partnership in the quest for stability, predictability and solving mutual problems. To that extent, the "haves" tend to have more and the "have-nots" continue to careen toward dissonance, discord and, could it be, disaster?
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Joseph Harrington CLU
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African Union is a great idea that will only be effective and efficient when we have leaders with the interest of the continent at heart.
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This is a great opportunity for Africans to unite and see each other as one and find ways of resolving our differences instead of killing each other.
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We must come together to utilise our resources efficiently for the benefit of all.
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Ade, London
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Africa can achieve unity economically, politically and otherwise. However, we must recognise that opposition is inevitable from within and outside Africa. We were one large family before the Europeans came and disrupted that union with slavery and imperialism. As easy as it took the European to make those boundaries, we should make it easier to erase them and forge into the future as one state.
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First, we need to organise a powerful peace keeping force to control and intervene in some of the continent's most senseless wars. Then, we must set goals and deadlines for our different goals to be met. We must get rid of some of those neo-imperialist leaders who get most of their policies from Europe. Finally, we must open our eyes and look around the world. If we see where we are and where the rest of the world is, then I think that would be a wake up call for the skeptics.
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Kangsen Feka Wakai, Houston, Tx, USA.
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The idea of the African Union is a good one. However, it will be difficult to implement when the continent is facing so many conflicts fuelled, supported and financed by some of our african leaders. All these conflicts should be resolved before we can have a true African Union.
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Our leadership in Africa needs to make sincere commitments to the African people. There is need for them to invlove the people in the debate about the proposed Union, sensitize them and let them feel part of the process.
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Tiangay Khan, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Yes, Africa can and will achieve peace and tranquility. The words of Tommy Lasorda hold true: “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” The genesis of Africa’s instability stems from the remnants of colonialism, imperialism, ignorance, irresponsible and insensitive governments as well as poverty, among other factors.
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First and foremost, Africa will have to establish a Federal level type of security machinery, an African Defense Force (ADF). With the removal of the clause of "non-interference", the ADF will counter any attempted coup d’etat'. The vicious cycle of civil wars and displacement will be countered through the African Union’s security initiatives.
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Secondly, the presence of foreign military in most African states have done more damage than can be mentioned. Their removal will guarantee the sovereignty of the continent and free it from the manacles of external domination and interference.
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With economic integration, Africa MUST learn to be self-reliant. Peace in the absence of economic stability is fruitless. I completely disagree with President Thabo Mbeki and his associates' plan of NEPAD. The idea that achieving Africa's stability and growth means to go around begging for financial aid is a disgrace. How many generations will it take to realize that so-called aid is primarily designed to control and manipulate the receiver? Any external financial promises will aim at controlling and derailing Africa’s progress. We must initiate and support our own programs. One cannot be a beggar and free and independent at the same time. Those of us who are still living abroad are ready to come home and build our continent under federal laws.
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With our dauntless support for the AU, Africa is on the path to peace and finally to becoming the United African States (UAS). This is the day we long for, when Africa will shine under the banner of the UAS.
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Jomo Kenyatta, Marietta, Georgia, USA
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I find the comments posted most interesting. In some cases I agree, in others I agree to disagree! I daresay, policy-makers both within and outside Africa would do well to depend less on secret/intelligence service reports and read a wee bit of this stuff!
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Africa's woes tend to be blamed on two broad sets of factors - internal and external. I often think of the former as 'internal cancers', covering things like governance, human development i.e. education, health etc. The internationalists blame 'outside cancers' like neo-colonialism, political interference, economic disenfranchisement and exploitation etc., etc.
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My strong view is that it is a mix of these factors, rather than any one on its own, that makes our continent so sick. To address one, without a healthy appreciation of the other would be to give paracetamol to a patient suffering from measles, cholera and malaria - and hope she gets better.
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You cannot discuss the civil war in Liberia without addressing the climate during Samuel Doe's government. Such a discussion would then need understanding of the role played by Qadaffi of Libya, Houphouet Boigny of Ivory Coast and definitely that of Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso!
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What about the self-styled leaders of West Africa and Ecowas - Nigeria? Was Doe not abducted (to be later mutilated) from the premises of Nigerian-led peacekeepers?
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Such considerations take us away from internal Liberian politics to regional and then continental African politics in general. On the international front one might ask: what role did the Israelis play in this conflict? Did the Isreali's not believe that the Lebanese/Syrian diamond merchants who trade in West Africa form a potent source of income for Hizbullah?
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The problem repeats itself all over - in the DRC/Zaire you need to view the Patrice Lumumba, Mobutu and Belgium saga before you discuss neighbouring African rapists.
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When Zimbabwe disintegrates, as it seems likely to do soon, academics may perform a similar post-mortem to identify domestic and foreign contributors as they did for Somalia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Burundi.....the list goes on!
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Let's take slavery which we Africans sometimes use to justify our backwardness. Which foreign power could have forcibly taken so many millions of strong men and women away? Were they not sold by African chiefs?
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My argument is that the first equation in the solution to Africa's problems has to be an African one and it has to be honest. We cannot start from the answer and hope to arrive at the question!
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Yes, the West denies us access to their markets; they tie aid funding to conditions that benefit them eventually; they ruin our economies with ill thought-out Structural adjustment programs; used us as pawns in the devastating ideological battle that was the cold war. Yes we see how they sweep away patent rights for medical remedies for anthrax and other potential diseases resulting from terrorist attacks - while refusing us the same for AIDS. These and many more sins we can heap on their doorstep for generations to come!
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BUT what about the leaders that we allow to rule us? Who diverts IMF loans into private bank accounts? Who uses commonality of tribe and not commonality of ideology/vision as a basis for political grouping? Who denies us self-determination? If you haven't guessed yet, then one final question: Who are we trusting to inseminate and fertilise the idea of an African Union, the embryo of a United States of Africa?
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At the end of the day, our grandfathers who toil on the subsistence farms under the African heat do not care about international capital markets or free holidays for politicians disgused as conferences. What they DO care about is being able to work their farms in peace and get a fair reward for their labour.
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Until African leaders can honestly guarantee this to their citizens, I fear the African Union is another merry-go-round gravy train! After all, what is your moral basis for telling a policeman who cannot feed his family on his wages that he cannot take bribes? Should he become an armed robber instead?
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If the vast majority of these leaders cannot guarantee self determination and equality in their fiefdoms, why should we trust them with the entire continent?
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September 11th has aroused the West. Debt relief, new African partnerships etc. are now being vigorously pursued - not because of a sudden realisation that Africa is more important than a place for diamond engagement rings, safaris on the Serengeti and a piss in the Nile! No, the West is finally coming to see that a grossly inequitable world order will bear fruits more bitter than masses of political and economic refugees spurred on by hunger and fear OR misguided freedom fighters spurred on by fanatics. The baker does not bake us bread because he is benevolent, but out of regard for his self-interest!
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What we Africans and those we choose to lead us have to realise is that these are our last days. They are begining to listen! This is our last chance to throw away the begging bowls, together with the spoons of corruption we empty them with, at feasts of vulgar avarice. The Israelis have done it in less than 100 years. Japan and more recently, other East Asian nations have done it. Former Soviet countries in the Eastern Bloc are well on their way to doing it. Yet we continue to blame, grumble, curse and stare at our navels.
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Let us not ask : how are we to stop the wars, rather how are we to prevent them! For as long as the causes of conflict remain, the necessity to pursue it will only too happily be exploited by so-called liberators, peace-keepers, arbitrators and the lot.
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It would be grossly arrogant for me to claim I know how to solve Africa's problems. In fact a brief survey of the biggest trouble causers in Africa would reveal that a more than proportionate number of them were educated in the West (apologies to my fellow African foreign students)!
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But I would insist that we make ourselves, above all, aware of our condition and the causes of it. This is our best chance of being able to question properly and provide the checks and balances so badly needed by those who bring us solutions.
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I am personally fed-up of trying to explain (with shame and exasperation) to my Western friends when they ask me, 'what is the problem with Africa?' A naive question you might say, but it is a simple one, never-the-less!!!
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Coming from Sierra Leone, I can wax lyrical about its beaches, fruits etc. but I cannot afford their life insurance premiums were they to want to come and visit me there on holiday!!!
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If the African Union is to prescribe a remedy for this African patient of ours, we must be careful not to make the wrong diagnosis. Post-independence leaders flirted with the idea of a united Africa, but chose one-party states instead. Why? Because, they said, we are too many and too diverse to live together as one in democratic and economic harmony!
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Such excuses must never again be made in the history of our continent!
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Omaru Badara Sisay (o_badara@yahoo.com), Scotland, UK 4 Mar 2002
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The biggest issue facing the architects of the African Union is a comprehensive plan to rid the continent's people of the widespread human rights abuses. The one indispensable resource that the union has to work with is, without any argument, the people.
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We can talk at the higher level all we want about pooling and leveraging our natural resources in trade talks, in order to attain a fair shake in the global marketplace, we can pound on the need to strengthen regional trade among member nations, and we can come up with fine text and colorful graphs for various economic modules. All this will only turn out as 'paper talk', if the resources are not in place. Right now these needed resources are not in place.
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We cannot achieve the above in a vacuum. The people must be free to attain these aspirations, and make the union viable. What good is the union when the people are not free? The African Union must find a way to pierce the "veil of sovereignty". It must touch its constituency. We have to become our brothers' keepers.
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Patrick Sneh Davis, Sugar Land, TX 4 Mar 2002
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The move to an African Union will be positive for regional security if our leaders strive to create comprehensive strategic policies that will standardize the way national governments predict and respond to conflict.
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Eddie Mandhry, Kenya 3 Mar 2002
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I would like to stress the importance of trade and economic cooperation in reducing conflict in Africa. One state is less likely to wage war upon another if its economic interests depend on the stability of that state.
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John Petro, Orlando, Florida, USA 2 Mar 2002
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All that is happening in Africa is the legacy of western imperialism, and the result of neo-colonialism that still asphaxiates our infant economies and democracies.
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Oginga Odinga said it quite plainly in his book, Not Yet Uhuru, that the colonialists had made it sure that Uhuru (independence) was handed over to their protege, who went on operating as the comprador class under cover of new presidents, ministers, businessmen etc.
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While at independence the drive was to industrialize Africa, now the drive is to de-industrialize the continent and to invite foreign exploiters (under-cover investors) to exploit the cheap labour of Africans, and turn the whole of Africa into a supermarket of goods mass-produced in Asia, Europe and America (see Tony Blair's article- New African magazine- February, 2002; he says Africa, with its massive population of 700 million people is a huge market at the disposal of the EU.) Thus the up coming Marshall Plan for Africa is but another Berlin conference to further balkanise the region into economic spheres.
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Africa has to liberate its economy from the shackles of neo-colonialism, and foster its own investors, Africans, struggle to industrialize Africa, evolve their own cultural and political ideology, and to remember that the only major legacy of colonialism that still remains with Africa is that of not believing that we can develop without direct assistance from the West.
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Charles Mustapha Kayoka, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania 2 Mar 2002
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Africa is a continent that has been wrecked and torn apart by violent civil wars and interstate conflicts since mid 1960s. The 25 year old Angolan civil war, the rebel war in Sierra Leone, the Liberian conflict, the war in Southern Sudan are the painfully striking examples. The Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict and the Regional conflict in Congo-Kinshasa are yet more challenges thrown down by useless and wasteful inter-state conflicts.
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As a young African living in Sweden, I have witnessed how political stability, peace and security has contributed to the industrial and technological advancement of Europe. Germany and Japan are best examples.
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In order to resolve some of these conflicts, I think African countries should come up with a common defence to crash some of the violent-hopeless-useless-wasteful wars and groups such as Angola's Unita rebels because their leaders refused the positions of Vice presidency in their respective countries. Such groups should be given ultimatum to either give up and resort to politcal dialogue or face the whole continents military force, just as NATO implemented against Milosevic. What are they fighting for? why should they be allowed to continue? Dear brothers and sisters, they have drained the continent's resources for decades and increased its foreign debt.
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I encourage Africans in the diaspora to form one strong movement to free Africa from external interference by voicing their grievances through the media, peaceful protests and debates against foreign governments and multinationals that have been supporting and still support and incite conflicts in order to cheaply exploit the continent's mineral wealth. The African Union has to take off in order to stop these ugly, violent conflicts.
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Godfrey Onen Kerali, Stockholm,Sweden 2 Mar 2002
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Peace and security in Africa will only be attained when the leaders become honest. Forgive past debt, reduce trade barriers, and don't give Africa any new money, food or clothing. Let Africans hash out their own problems. Aid is only used to prop up corrupt leaders. Forgiving the debt burden would give Africa a much needed clean slate. As for the political will for peace and prosperity; Africans will get rid of it's corrupt leaders once the aid spigot is turned completely off.
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James Luciani, Edison , USA 1 Mar 2002
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The thing African leaders have not learnt and probably never will is that all political opposition is boosted by Europe for their own interest. Once the opposition is in power and realizes the harm done to his country by his angel protectors who brought him to power, and he finally wants to change things for the benefit of his own folk and land, another opposition is created and the story keeps on re-repeating itself.
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The enlightened leaders are then called by name like: dictator/terrorist/communist and the machinery of sanctions/insults goes on until new leadership comes to power.
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Today it is Zimbabwe, tomorrow S. Africa and after tomorrow Nigeria. Places like Sierra Leone are already colonized this time by a joint British/French force.
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The only person who understood the big-layers game in advance was/is President Nelson Mandela. When the British were trying so hard to put Dr Butelezi as opposition, Mandela chose Butelezi as his interior Minister.
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Now they are hoping to use Mandela to destabilize Mbeki.
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The only chance Africa has at the verge of re-colonization, is to believe in Africans themselves.
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Dina Weber, Switzerland 1 Mar 2002
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I have read with interest the comments posted here by my fellow Africans. I must say that everyone has made a lot of sense even though I disagree with some. The great news here is that at least we are all finally discussing what needs to be done and how we need to go about changing our beloved continent.
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My personal opinion is that Africa's current problems can be attributed to a combination of factors. It seems to me that everytime we discuss the causes we tend to mention only three and ignore the rest. The discussed ones are slavery, colonialism, and bad leadership. Of course, we can all agree that these three contributed immensely to Africa's current demise but those are not the only ones.
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The one thing that should be added to those three is every African being a part of the problem. From the corrupt police officer, bank employee, customs officer, soldier, local chief to the tribalist to the opportunist; everyone is a part of the problem.
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It is no secret that in many African countries, you are considered a fool if you work at the bank or are a government employee controlling money and not enriching yourself with it. Corruption has become a norm. Leaders cannot abuse power without the participation of the citizenry. In Africa unfortunately, for the most part, you find ordinary people participation in all forms of atrocities on behalf of the government. These are the ones who are supposed to stop such actions.
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Then there is the issue of illiteracy. Most illiterates in many African countries think the president is a king and should get away with anything. They sit back and watch their basic rights being abused and they don't even complain, one, for the fear of their lives and two, they don't even know their basic rights because they never had any.
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The list goes on.
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Africa cannot change without a major change in the general attitude of the population towards leadership. I think with combined solutions to the many problems, we will finally put this great continent on the road to recovery.
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Before I conclude though, I must say that the idea of African Union is one of the best ideas that I have ever heard. Without it the continent as a whole will not be able to implement all the above mentioned solutions uniformly so as to better the lives of everyone together. We will have skeptics and pessimists as in every situation of this kind but that should not discourage us. Yes we have failed attempts at such efforts before due to lack of commitment but the ends justify the means. "Success is 99 percent failure" (Soichiro Honda - founder, Honda Motor Corporation).
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Banka, Atlanta, GA 22 Feb 2002
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These are a few thoughts on Africa before we can engage on any constructive debates. Africa needs to change its worldview and attitude about its painful past.
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AFRICA MUST MOVE ON
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On October 4th 1994, the former economic development minister in Tanzania, A.R.M Babu, published an article in the New Vision entitled: CRISIS WILL UNITE AFRICA.
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In his article, Mr Babu argues that the bloody crises that were occurring in Africa, were the result of the failure, by the African leaders after independence, to undo the pseudo-nation-states that colonial rulers had left behind. In other words, he argues that African leaders, those who took over from the colonialists, kept colonialism intact, in the absence of the colonialists.
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There seems to be both moral and ethical implications to such an argument, and if it is proven to be correct, it must raise multiple questions for the present day African thinkers and their leaders. Suspiciously though, there seems to be a tendency to try and explain any present failures as emanating from the colonial era rather then finding meanings in both the continuous colonial legacy and the present challenges that the young states of Africa are facing in the ever changing international system.
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It is, however, undoubtedly common among humans that they, after any impact making occurrence such as colonialism, or world wars, will tend to use it as a point of reference to either present failures or successes. One example of this is the argument by some well renowned thinkers that the end of the Cold War has given way to the rise of terrorism. This implies that, if the Cold War were still here, we would not experience the internationalization of terrorism to the extent that we know it today.
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The question that arises here is whether the reference to past events, in order to explain the present is but an excuse by human beings that are faced with the inability to explain that, which is beyond their understanding. Or is there really some reason to believe that such events such as colonialism are the source of all our failures?
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It is undoubtedly true that we cannot lay the entire burden of Africa’s bloody conflicts on the colonialists and colonization alone. Nonetheless, there is sufficient evidence to believe that colonization, and mainly the colonial legacy, as left behind and inherited, has a part to play in explaining some of today’s African conflicts.
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Arguably, independence was preferred to colonization because African leaders and their peoples wanted to restore their human dignity and do away with the pain and the suffering that the colonial system was inflicting onto them. How on earth could it then be possible that these independence fighters could have decided to keep intact, that, which they were fighting against?
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Following this line of inquiry, there seems to be but two ways to come to terms with this apparent contradiction. On the one hand, it is less likely that the leaders might not have seen anything wrong with the colonial system as such. From this line of thinking their revolt against colonization could be explained in terms of fighting to cease the power of self-determination.
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On the other hand, one might argue that the African leaders after independence knew that the colonial system was not good but that it had established structures necessary, in some states, for a viable future.
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In this way, the attempt to keep these structures resulted in keeping the whole thing intact and made it difficult for them to separate the colonial way of life from the colonial structures that might have been in need. In other words, they failed to beat the system and decided to join it.
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Suppose that the second assertion was right, on which terms would the leaders of the newly independent Africa have been unable to change the colonial way of life and give new life to structures that were left behind? One important piece of evidence here might be the presence of many companies still at the mercy of the colonial tendencies (owned by Europeans) either directly or indirectly through the use of proxies.
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If this were the case, it must have been difficult for the leaders to change and let alone to nationalize these companies because they did not possess the tools of economic and to some extent political development at their disposal. For those who attempted to nationalize such companies, the outcome was even worse. Such was the case of the Zairianisation in the former Republic of Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo.
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The temptation was therefore, to continue with the old system because it had the expertise and the motherland was always happy to send in a few experts to help and at the same time safeguard her interests.
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Another phenomenon to refer to is the ability of the motherland to lay foundations that were to enable her have a grip on trust territories even in her absence. Thus one would only have to note the creation of the Yaoundé lines of association and the Lomé structures thereafter.
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Having said this, it is almost 42 years since the first African State became independent. This span of time should surely have produced some outstanding African talented thinkers and writers who, equipped with the necessary tools of change, could have helped their leaders to undertake programmes of transformation in the continent.
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Institutions and structures could have been put in place to allow a transformation to flow and root itself in the continent, to enable Africans to carve out the new African identity for a better future. Regrettably, four or so decades have passed by and Africa is still in turmoil. Kwame Nkrumah’s call for a united Africa has remained a dream still to be realized and thank God, he has not lived to see how his call was not just absurd but also impracticable.
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We will not shut our mouths unless engulfed by mother earth. This call is still resounding today and it is the condition sine qua non for any stability in Africa and the element par excellence towards a stable development in the continent. There is no need to rethink Africa geographically today. It is appropriate that regional groupings be formed outside the geographical boundaries and should sustain some level of stability and loads of co-operation amongst African regions.
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The way forward is the revitalization of African Pride, the pride that is based on communitarian aspects of life, protection of the people, their life and property, and their rights. There is need for any African leader to develop a feel for the people as a whole rather than clinging to tribal and individualistic tendencies.
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Bolombe L. Joseph, London
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It is true that without peace, Africa will always be behind in terms of economic and social development. If African countries could commit themselves to trying to find lasting solutions for all of the conflits, whether peacefully or by force,there is no doubt that such efforts could reduce suffering for the African people. Criticism and empty words will never help Africa. Only strong actions against corrupt, irresponsible and useless leaders will get Africa out of misery.
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Muhajj N., Leiden,Holland 1 Mar 2002
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I don't believe unity can be won without a war driven by the ideology of African unity. Please prove me wrong.
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Mark Mahore, London UK 1 Mar 2002
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We are singing and dreaming about peace and love in Africa when we hate our continent. Since the last century, many of our brothers dreamt the same thing we are dreaming now, but when they got power, they only brought suffering, war, and every bad thing imaginable amongst their people. Many of us collaborated to kill our brothers and to damage our motherland. We hate ourselves, so peace cannot live amongst us. Doing things is not as difficult as we imagine.
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Karim Alassane, Milan - Italy 1 Mar 2002
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The crux of the matter is a simple, yet complicated phenomena.
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I need to know how many African Heads of States have "voluntarily" retired from their jobs- (ie said- "Enough is enough, I have done what I can for my people- it is time someone else stepped in to take over and do a better job"). In other words, we have no continuity in Africa and because of this cancer that is gnawing at the very fabric of African society, we will at all times stumble along the path towards national development and almost certainly fail to integrate, both sub-regionally as well as on a continental level.
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The problems of Africa cannot be blamed on the West. After all, they have no obligation to aid us in our development. It is not, and should not be in their interest for meaningful development to take place in Africa.
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It is therefore necessary, at this point, for Africans to use the ADFIII forum as a channel to communicate and, first and foremost, to accept our shortcomings, understand that we are responsible for them, and be ready to insist on strong leadership in Africa.
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We need to insist on a zero tolerance policy on dictatorship and insist on term limits for nations. We should nurture dialogue and continuity with the aim of promoting good governance as envisioned by Africans for Africa.
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This is important because the West has managed to drum into the heads of "local- development partners” this concept of "Good governance." But for whom? By whom?
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If we (Africans) are to fully accept this doctrine of a good governance policy implemented by the US, EU, etc., then we are only kidding ourselves, because what is the point of accepting what Blaire, or Bush, or Chirac says when they, in fact, have not the foggiest idea of how we function as a people. Even if they did, that policy they want to ram down our throats is the same one that they do not have to be governed by, nor use to govern their own people!
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In short- Africans need to be firm with leadership and realize that it is because of bad leadership (not governance) that Africa is where it is today!
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Jeggan Grey Johnson, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 1 Mar 2002
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Being an African, I wish to remind our Head of States that technology is vital to poverty eradication on our continent.
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I believe that with good governance and with technology as vital tool, our continent will attain reasonable prosperity. This is what I would like my leaders to believe.
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Marko D. Simfukwe, Singapore 28 Feb 2002
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Yes, Africa will attain peace and security if the leaders grow some more. You see, everything rises or falls to the level of leadership.
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Ssaku, USA 28 Feb 2002
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It is surprising that Muammar Gadaffi, who is responsible for instigating and sponsoring so-called liberation wars in Africa, should now stand up and say that the continent should unify.
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For one, he needs to apologize and even pay reparations for the lives that he has indirectly destroyed in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and who knows where else.
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In the case of Sierra Leone, in 1985, he influenced the megalomaniac students who dreamed of overthrowing a govt. These students later went to Mataba in Libya and formed the murderous R.U.F. in Sierra Leone.
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Africa has much potential for growth with our minerals, fertile soil, an expanding intelligentsia, and awareness that only we the people can develop our continent.
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In the first place, we need to insure democracy, free speech and even legislation similar to the first amendment in the USA. If the African media is freed from the shackles of censorship and allowed to be the real Fourth Estate, then we may be closer to making headway towards African development.
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Alpha Lebbie, Memphis, TN, U.S.A. 28 Feb 2002
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First food, second peace, third democracy and then African Union.
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When normal people have access to their basic needs they will be able to care and support politics. If you want a strong African Union that will last in time, you need the agreement of the people and not only of the elite, the goverment that has bread at its table every day.
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Andrea Moraga, Chile 28 Feb 2002
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Enough harsh rhetoric directed at elements that have, in one way or another, in the past or present contributed significantly towards the continent's myriad of crises. Finger-pointing and directing blame does not solve any problems.
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We Africans can restart rebuilding from the grassroots - community development, where each individual citizen's human rights are recognized as an important piece of a big puzzle; the right to education, health, and other basic necessities - all of which contribute to the wellness of a society.
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Speaking from the perspective a young African female, African women need empowerment - being able to make crucial life decisions about themselves, their children and communities. Men have to support them or this formula will not work.
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Hypothetically, if every African village is involved in a grassroots project to promote the well being of its members, every other piece of the puzzle will fall in place ie democracy, economic growth, peace and stability, and relative social harmony.
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Remember the grassroots level is where great leaders emerge because they know that it takes hardworking, well-integrated, cooperative and educated villages to support one another in a nation and therefore a continent.
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Please don't use the OAU or other multinational institutions as the last building block, because they're simply the last piece of bigger puzzle. Remember, education is fundamental when bridging ethnic and national gaps. So long as whole villages remain illiterate, problems of ignorance, disease and conflict will continue to exist.
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Tina Tieya, Toronto, Ontario 28 Feb 2002
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African Unity, at this stage, is an ideal that is still far away.
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I believe that the key precondition that has to be met is to (re)create political identities. Ideally, those must evolve from within and should not be imposed from the outside. The history of Africa, however, has been one where identities were coerced and enforced from the outside (colonialism).
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African countries are having an identity crisis and that is why radical, nationalist, ethnic and religious extremism can get a foothold. Unity in Africa can only happen when we can answer what it means to be Mozambican, Angolan, South African, Senegalese, Ugandan etc.
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Samora, Mozambique 28 Feb 2002
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As the old saying goes 'self knowledge is the beginning of wisdom', I believe we Africans have somehow forgotten ourselves. A lot has been said about the culprits of African demise from colonial legacy, neo-colonialism, international monopoly to, quite recently, globalization. Internally, we blame tribalism/narrow nationalism, civil war, cross border conflicts, corrupt overlords and poor governance. Perhaps it is the combination of all these factors and even more that has left Africa socially, economically and politically stagnant.
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There seems to be no end to the civil wars in many African countries, which the fighters justify by claiming that they are fighting for liberation, justice and equality. Moreover, conflict between neighboring countries remains as rampant as it was decades ago irrespective of the nations' commitment to respect colonial boundaries.
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I have not come across any evidence to suggest that conflict could bring deliverance; rather, it begets poverty, both economic and social. There is no way that Africa can catch up or even join with the affluent worlds' pace of development until we can identify and shed at least some of these shackles of underdevelopment. We can only succeed if we are determined to keep ourselves ready for the challenges that will continue to face us in our quest for development.
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The question remains as to when will we have genuine governments that will facilitate the effort for sustainable development without being threatened by the challenges of development.
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It is frustrating, even very annoying, when one realizes that no matter what the age group or generation government officials in Africa belong to, they tend to be very scared of the same people that put them to power. It does not take them long to resort to a dictatorial and prescriptive administrative systems. That is the kind of governance cycle that we have and are living with.
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Given such an unattractive background, any Pan African cooperation and/or unity will not be as effective an organization as it ought to be as long as the individual nations do not clean their own backyards of the few factors that I have mentioned. Only then can we aspire to look forward to an effective African Union/organization.
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If we continue to be addicted to the blame culture, then we will decelerate even more in to the poverty quagmire. If we have confidence and belief in ourselves and we care for Africa and our poverty-stricken societies, then let us set our priorities straight.
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Debebe Dessalegne, London 28 Feb 2002
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In places where war is the order of the day, people starve, are displaced, massacred, unfed, and suffer to the extreme, but the diamonds continue to be dug out of the ground and the oil continues to flow. Only 2 or 3 of the many conflicts in Africa are truly (that is, only) ethnic in nature. Yes differences exist but they are exploited in order to get the resources.
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We need to be reminded of were all the oil and minerals go, which happens to be the same place from which all the guns and ammunition come. The AU must ensure that all exploiters of minerals can only do so if there is peace and that the main beneficiaries are the indigenous peoples of the land.
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So yes, I'm all for the decentralization of power. I'm not sure how this will happen but a strong African Defense Force and widespread teaching of these principals would be a good idea.
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Poverty will always lead to war and so we must combat it as though we were at war with it. We must be militant (not violent) in our opposition to illegitimate IMF and World Bank debt and their punitive, dictatorial policies that perpetuate the suffering of our peoples.
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Gama Bandawe, Malawi 28 Feb 2002
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Documented evidence shows that conflict is one of the major factors holding back Africa's socio-economic development.
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The investment rate of return in Africa is about 30 per cent compared to European's 10-15 per cent. However, because of war and security uncertainties, the rate of return in Africa falls to below 8 per cent.
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Africa Trade Insurance is a new initiative that aims at rectifying this situation. It is not the panacea but it is an important step that requires the total participation of all African countries.
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Another option for Africa is to use private military/security companies to restore security confidence in their countries.
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Stephen Mbogo, Nairobi, Kenya 28 Feb 2002
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I believe that when it comes to ending conflicts and achieving peace, we Africans need a few pointers in governing.
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Africa has a long history with dictators (Siad Barre, Idi Amin,etc.) and that needs to stop. We need to encourage democracy so Africans can join the industrialized world.
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Another thing we (as Africans) need to do to have peace and tranquility, is to stop getting into our neighbors’ politics!
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Two neighbors that amaze me are Ethiopia and Somalia. Somalia is a country with no central government and Ethiopia is considered the world's poorest country, yet Ethiopia spends millions destabilizing Somalia, by supporting its warlords. That’s sad to see, yet it's reality. Africans need to respect each other’s sovereignty and do whatever they can to help themselves and their neighbors.
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Amin Ahmed, Seattle,WA,USA 27 Feb 2002
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The African Union is being instituted at the wrong time for Africa.
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If we are trying to build a similar model to the EU let us make some critical comparisons. Firstly the EU currently comprises 15 states (much smaller than Africa). All these countries have very well developed and integrated economies. These countries are not buckling under unserviceable debt. These countries are not embroiled in war. These countries have the resources to commit to integration.
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Africa simply does not have these conditions. The idea of an African Union is not realistic at this stage.
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Let us first focus our efforts on regional integration with organizations like SADC and COMESA. When these are effectively functioning organizations at a regional level, perhaps then we can talk about an African Union. Why run before we can walk?
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In addition to this many countries need to solve the current structural problems that they face. We must address the underlying causes of poverty and conflict in Africa before we can make further progress. It is very easy to blame colonialism. Debating the pros and con's of colonialism won’t solve Africa's problems. I personally feel we should confront our concerns and deal with them, regardless of what happened in the past.
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Marcus ter Haar (Botswana), UK 27 Feb 2002
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The demise of Africa is in the hands of the so-called intellectuals who propagate Western philosophies whilst rejecting the realities of Africa. Unity can be achieved regardless of the critics’ viewpoints. Give unity a chance - if we fail at least we will have the luxury of knowing that we tried. Africa has been plundered because no one is watching the store.
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The point is that any intelligent individual who believes in the vibrancy of Africa will endorse this Union without any reservation. As long as we are divided, we will be spreading our arms for aid.
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Checheche Namahonga, Chicago, U.S.A. 27 Feb 2002
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The African Union is the key to our future. The point we should not forget is that we clearly do not need the IMF, World Bank or any foreign financial institutions to tell us how to run our affairs. If anything they need us more than we need them.
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What we don't need is a stream of bad leaders either.
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We Africans keep forgetting that no other continent has the resources that we have.
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Decentralization of political and economic power is what we need, but at the same time we should have common goals in areas like security, education, health etc.
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If we decentralize along ethnic lines, things like tribalism, corruption, and theft will not go away but will, at least be reduced to a localized level and, in-effect, be controllable.
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Tribalism should be used to our advantage not vice-versa.
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It is our duty to ensure that politics should not, in any way, affect our economies at all. Politics should live independently of everything else.
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It’s no good to anybody, especially the suffering people, to think up a good idea if you are not willing to implement it. Knowing something and not doing it is the same as not knowing at all.
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Lastly, we should not just debate about it, but we should be seen to do something about it. Some of us have already started doing something about it. So should you!
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LK, NGO coordinator, UK 27 Feb 2002
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I am sick and tired of the word peace. I really think that without justice there will be no peace.
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African people are brainwashed, so much so that they want to live like Westerners. African culture is forgotten, African people are materialized from the influence of a white world. We are killing our fellow black man because of money, because of material goods.
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Our leaders are following their own interest. They are greedy, taking the African wealth to the Western world and leaving nothing behind. Which African leader has a personal account back in Africa? Which African leader has a mansion in Africa? All that they think of, is that whenever they retire they want to move to Europe, taking African wealth with them and leaving behind the humble, clean-headed African women and children to suffer.
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Instead of saving the nation, instead of trying to develop the nation, instead of helping our humble fellow black people, women, the elderly, children; they just want to help themselves and a small portion of people around them.
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I think that it is the right time for all African leaders to sit back and turn around and think of the people and the nation. They should try to really serve the nation without discriminating against the outsider, without furthering their own interests.
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Abu, Banjul the Gambia 27 Feb 2002
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The nub of all these debates is the continuing inadequacy of Africa's post-colonial sovereignties. These are manifestly unsustainable.
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Political integration follows economic integration and thus cements hard-won stability along the way.
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The answer is to reject the preamble to the OAU charter, which discourages the redrawing of 'national' boundaries and to manage a peaceful reversion to more ethnically homogeneous polities.
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In essence, tribalism is nationalism and only people who feel they belong together can evolve effective and convincing political mechanisms that reflect World Bank-sponsored virtues like probity, accountability and transparency.
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Start now and it'll take some two to three generations to take root. Leave it to the usual suspects and we'll still be here talking to ourselves in the year 3002.
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Only 'real Africans' (Bakongo, Mandingo, Ga, Dagomba, Ijaw etc) can set the pan-Africanist agenda for the 21st century
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Barry Morgan, Accra, Ghana 27 Feb 2002
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I agree with most of Kayode's arguments, although I fail to see how war can be good even in the circumstances he described. I am ignorant on a few of the points, so forgive me if some of my comments appear overly simplistic or even naive.
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This is the first I have heard of the African Union and I think it is fundamentally a good idea, however if it is to serve merely as the OAU under a different name then it will be a waste of resources and effort.
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A union of African states like the European Union model would have definite merits. Conflict management is but one. Economic empowerment is an obvious goal, and one, if approached with the necessary political will, which could be a distinct possibility.
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I agree that it would be a mistake to transplant wholesale Western style democracy into the African situation, although it would be foolish not to assimilate the parts that actually work.
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I would go so far as to say that the anti-terrorist focus at the moment is alarming. It's not surprising that Africa is the first region to suffer from a change in focus. It was actually predictable, but a strong union working together for Africa's best interest could actually render a situation such as this irrelevant.
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Nnanna Uwakwe, London 27 Feb 2002
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The idea behind an African Union may be good, however, at this time it is not in the best interest of the African people. I have had the privilege of living in six African countries, and the discrimination and the hatred was too vivid. Before we can form a union, we need to build our economies. We need stability in individual countries. We don’t need another OAU.
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Atto Commey, U.S.A 27 Feb 2002
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