What Africa, and Rwanda, will gain from AFRICOM

Editor, I think that despite what some quarters, especially those who see neo-colonialism in every situation, Africom isn’t the devil incarnate where Africa is concerned. The US wants something Rwanda can give and Rwanda wants something US has. It’s a win-win situation. The US wants a foothold in Africa and Africa, and African countries like Rwanda get a chance to professionalize their militaries with the help of the world’s only super power. We could go on and on about neo-colonialism and how the West wants to lord it over us but we have to realise that we live in a world where its ‘dog eat dog’. So, instead of pretending that we aren’t part of the global to and fro, we must realise our own interests and stick to them religiously. And AFRICOM, I believe, can be used to our advantage. Africa is the richest continent in terms of resources and the West needs these resources to survive. The West has the monies, which we Africans need. After all, a diamond is useless unless it can be converted into hard cash. Today it’s a matter of state interests. The West has interests and we have interest too; it’s a symbiotic relationship and not a parasitic one. It’s a matter of survival for the fittest. That’s the world we live in todayHere in Rwanda, AFRICOM, and its various programmes, is supporting the Rwanda Defence Forces by teaching them new skills. It’s in our interests, as a nation, that our armed forces become more professional. More especially with some of the regional security challenges that our nation is facing. Remember that genocidal forces are still lurking in the DRC, hoping to ‘finish the job’. So AFRICOM makes sense to me. glo.irrie@gmail.com

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What Africa, and Rwanda, will gain from AFRICOM