4 June 2008
Cape Town — Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga launched a slashing attack on Africa's leaders at the World Economic Forum for Africa on Wednesday.
The circumstances which generated Kenya's recent post-election crisis – in which 1,500 people died and 350,000 were displaced – were not unique to Kenya, he told the opening plenary session of the forum.
"It is a continental problem and it is a problem of bad governance that Africa has witnessed since independence," he said. To applause, he added: "The mediocrity with which Africa has been ruled is what is responsible for African underdevelopment."
To more applause, he also attacked Zimbabwe's government: "Still today, it is unfortunate that in an African country elections can be held and no results are announced for more than one month, and African leaders are silent about it. It would not happen in Europe."
Odinga appeared on the panel with Presidents John Kufuor of Ghana, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi.
"Africa, the richest continent in the world in terms of resources, is unfortunately also the poorest," Odinga told the forum. "We keep on blaming colonialism all the time. But Africa was not the only continent that was colonized. So was Asia."
At independence, the economies of Kenya and Ghana were equivalent to that of South Korea when measured by indicators such as gross domestic product and per capita income. Now Korea's economy is many times bigger.
Odinga told the forum that the post-election crisis and ensuing violence in Kenya had shown "the soft underbelly of our society… For over 40 years of our independence we lived the lie that we were a united country. But deep down there were ethnic tensions running very deep, and society was very fragile and fragmented."
Mutharika took up Odinga's theme, identifying power-sharing as one of Africa's challenges.
"Africans have not learned to share power," he said. "When you get it, it's yours. I suppose this stems from the principle 'winner takes all.'
"In a democratic process there will be winners and losers but the end result is how do you share the proceeds of that power? I'm not only talking about political power [but about] economic power, social power, religious power, information power … When you get it, do you simply keep it in your pocket as yours, or do you share?"
Mbeki, however, warned against making generalized statements about a huge continent. Progress was being made in many fields, he said. "This animal called Africa… is in different bits and pieces… We can't treat it as an aggregated whole."
Kufuor used the forum to make a strong pitch for private sector investment. Adopting Odinga's comparison, he said South Korea's economy was "light years ahead" of Ghana. "Why? Because somehow our leadership allowed itself to be tricked into ideologies that we didn't understand. We wouldn't allow the private sector to grow."
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we have some retards from the comments here.How did Raila bungle it or are you just stupid,Kibaki stole the votes then used the army to quell the violence he himself caused.All you out there think !!! know your facts before you write nonsense.Raila is stating facts see Asian countries and where they are right now all african leaders know is to be corrupt,steal and some are stupid because instead of building road they steal the money and buy expensive cars then you ask yourself where will they drive the car?Tabo Mbeki is a man who lacks brains see how south africa is right now crime rate is the highest in the world 20,000 a year,and 54 daily,lets not even go to rapes which break the 100,000 mark.There is the day long blackouts ,don't forget the AIDS pandemic then he says HIV doesn't cause AIDS,Then almost forgot the joblessness which makes the locals think Foreigners are taking the jobs yet they are coming in with their own money to invest thereand what do they get for this death then Mbeki tells Raila not most Leaders are like this my goodness how stupid can one get.Mbeki and Mugabe are the same don't forget Mwai Kibaki of kenya also just the same.....The worst thinhg in Africa is the Leadership plain and Simple,if you don't agree to this your a Simpleton.
Kenyan Prime Minister has made a very truthful statement about African leaders. When they run presidential campaigns, all kinds, kinds, forms, shapes of promises are made to the people. When the presidency is offered to these leaders, they sooner or later forget about the masses.
It is clearly evident that the situation in Africa is unbearable and deplorable not to mention it is very humiliating, disgraceful, and brings about public ridicule on Africans in general.
Africa is encountering lot of problems ranging from poor communication, health care delivery system, lack of safe drinking, electricity, communications, and other basic social services, but rather spend large sums of money on concubines and useless and worthless undertakings. Those of us in the diaspora can hardly make phone calls back home with ease. If you intend to call, you either spend more money on phone calls because instead of phone calls or faxes being connected directly, you take the whole day attempting to call over and over. But they rather drive plush cars and ride executive jets while the citizenry die in abject poverty. Where is PANA? When will Africa has own satellite so direct communications will flow among African countries with ease?
We complain about imperialist and colonialist powers in the past, but in the present we are doing worst things than the colonial powers did to our past generations.
Look at the situation in Darfur, Zimbabwe and quite recently in Kenya and other places in Africa. The African leaders sit supinely taking no action against Robert Mugabe who is killing his own people death. Is he the only person who has experience to govern the country after 28 years?
I believe these African leaders are in the same club and no one is brave enough to tell him to step down for the sake of Zimbabwean people. Robert Mugabe was invited to a meeting instead of him being ostracized. Is that fair? What a careless and reckless attitude towards the people of Africa? When Charles Taylor refused to step down, it was George Bush who echoed and re-emphazised to him that it was time for him to go. African leaders are only concerned about me, myself, meself, and I. Even if they see their fellow leader committing the worse crime to humanity, they lavish praises on him - because of the notion that "when you live in glass house- do not throw stone".
African leaders should awake from their sleep and slumber and be on the move. Sometimes, you read in news that an African country just signed $1,000,000 grant for a certain kind of project and this makes a news headlines for about a month. But sooner or later, you hear or read about a scandal involving an African leader embezzling $10,000,000 or more. Do you notice the difference? A whole country will sign a contract for one million dollar but one single leader steals ten million dollars or more.
I conclude that African leaders are the worst enemies to their own subjects. Let them put the interest of their people first and foremost and stop to encourage tyranny.
I guess many African leaders together with their sycophants will find PM Odinga very annoying. This is one man who has shown the true meaning of selflessness. Had Africa been ruled by the type of pragmatism shown by Odinga, we would be light years ahead of where we are now.
It is very annoying to listen to self seekers defend their man for selfish reasons. "Ni wakati wetu wa kukula" and such nonesense will drag our continent backwards in a big way.
Presidents like Mbeki and Mutharika can decide to tell Mugabe the truth if they want and propose an arrangement for his safety elsewhere in the world for the sake of the Millions of Zimbabwe people whose currency is devalued to the billionth (actually more) of a dollar. They can use reasonable force too. President Mbeki knows very well that it took his country too long to conquer apartheid because African leadership was doing almost nothing except to host the refugees. An extra day of Mugabe power is an abuse of millions of African lives.
History means nothing if a stupid land takeover means hunger for millions of people.
I have one reservation though. Every African leader talks sense during the first few months in power until they start eating. Please PM Odinga...DO NOT let us down. Personal property and self glory will not be remembered by anyone other that wife and children if they will be alive after you. Your actions to turn Kenya into a South Korea will forever be remembered.
Raila:
Remember Kenya's elections 2007? The people geve you the overwhelming manadate for you to lead them to prosperity. You bungled it.
Have you learnt anything from Zimbabwe on how elections can be managed, and any disputes resolves? NO. Have you learnt anything from Zimbabwe regarding the rights of the natives to their ancestral lands? NO. You are parading around as if you can teach Cde Mugabe anything. DO your listeners really take you seriously? Let us suppose that you know how to guide Kenyans to economic prosperity. What are your credentials, Raila?
And you are blaming Africa's leaders. Lumumba, Mugabe, Barre, Selassie, Gaddafi, Nkrumah., AMin, Nasser etc stood valiantly against foreigner who would plunder the Motherland and exploit the Africans. Raila, you couldn't stand valiantly against tribal-chief Kibaki and his terrorist Mungiki goons who plunder Kenya and decimate non-GEMA natives.
But this year did not start well for you. You made many macho pronouncements that meant nothing. After a while you capitulated - a the victor settling for seconds. You snatched defeat from the jaws of victory wher the natives had thrust you, Raila. Raila, you are even being propped in that PM position you have in Kenya by the foreign plunderers of Kenya: They gave several billions to create the mostly ceremonial and worthless seat that you occupy. [Raila, was the PM position in the constitution of Kenya 6 months ago?]
Now you talk too much - for a toothless mutt.
Or are you talking on the foreigners' behalf?