My article of last week hit more than a few sore spots, judging by my email. The majority of those who wrote to take issue with me were africans living in the UK and many felt I was being unfair both to africa as well as Bob Geldof for pooh-poohing his "Live 8" idea.
Truth is no one denied that africa had the problems I wrote about, albeit many of my correspondents felt I was unqualified to comment on them, as I had never lived in africa. That’s a valid point, I suppose, but then one doesn’t have to be a cancer survivor to know that cancer is bad. In the same vein, it isn’t necessary for me to have experienced the poverty of the african peoples first-hand to know that they are suffering.
a number of protesting e-mails challenged my lumping Julius Nyerere in with the other
"african monsters". I suppose it’s all in how one would characterize a "monster". In my book, a dictator is a dictator regardless of whether he is a fascist or a socialist. It seems that some of my correspondents would not agree with that proposition. But the facts are indisputable: Nyerere imposed a one-party, socialist rule, defied those who urged democracy on Tanzania and persecuted people of asian descent, despite their overall positive contribution to the Tanzanian economy. Nyerere’s ujamaa vijijini, or villagization program, was an abject failure and his alignment with Communist China Plant him firmly into the pantheon of african dictators.
I was surprised by the vehemence with which most of the writers condemned white people for africa’s current plight. For the life of me I fail to see how whites are responsible for the starvation currently plaguing Zimbabwe, unless we want to blame the confiscation and demolition of large white-owned farms on the white people who had their farms confiscated by Robert Mugabe and his thugs. a large number of africa’s national governments are basically home grown kleptocracies. and yes, I think it is highly likely that there are western companies who pander to those kleptocracies in pursuing their own self-interests.
Last month anvil Mining, an australian mining concern is alleged to have assisted soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the ruthless suppression, rape and murder of villagers in the remote fishing town of Kilwa, who had begun a small-scale rebellion. If indeed this is true, then there’s a good chance that the principals of anvil Mining will find themselves in a heap of legal trouble with the government of australia, unlike the troops of the DRC who allegedly perpetrated this massacre.
assuming this is true, the incident only supports my contention that africa needs to clean up its act if it is ever to lift itself out of the abject poverty with which it is currently plagued. The western companies that perpetuate africa’s suffering through corruption and bribery should be rooted out and dealt with in the only way that business understands it has done wrong- through massive boycotts of its products. If the cash stops flowing to the dictators, then the dictators will soon disappear.
Geldof’s demand that the leaders of the G-8 bale up wads of cash and throw it at africa is ill conceived, patronizing and unrealistic. Suppose the G-8 really did meet Geldof’s demands and send, say $500 billion in aid to africa. How long would that money last and how much of it would find its way into numbered Swiss bank accounts? If Geldof really wants to help africa, a good place to start might be in teaching basic civics to those who govern its various countries.