Africa might never change

In Africa, every now and then a selfish and murderous despot comes to power amidst a hero’s welcome by the citizens. They then stage elections which they win by a landslide. Soon after, we begin to realize how not good enough a leader he (they are usually hes) is, and wait to oust him in the forth coming elections. When we do, he rigs the elections and retains his seat. We the citizens of Africa, have a habit of keeping someone we love or afraid of in power for so long, with some ruling for over twenty years. The opposition we are supposed to rely on, as the voice of the marginalized, is also a puppet shadow doing whatever the West tells them to do, in the hope that they will be supported both financially and through media politics. They are the type with harboured feelings against the ruling party, and want to revenge fully when they get into power. They are not necessarily yearning for the development of Africa. The position that the civilian is left in is very pathetic and vulnerable, giving us no hope of real independence and democracy. More to that, we have so much foreign interference in matters that we can handle on our own. Well, rich nations give us tremendous amounts of aid each year and for that, we are grateful. But why hide under the mask of good will, and yet give us terms for the aid? Whichever African leader decides to use the aid for anything else apart from what the West wants, even if it’s meant for the development of the country, is labelled a tyrant. Let’s not forget that African political liberators were once labelled as terrorists by the Americans and Britons. Take for example Mandela who has been but until recently on the U.S most wanted list of terrorists. For what? Not much other than his stringent advocacy against apartheid and racism in South Africa. Look at the Rwandan genocide, look at Darfur or Somalia! It’s sad the way the west sometimes looks at Africa. They called the Rwandan genocide an African case. African eating African, so they assume they had nothing to lose. However, if Rwanda had a vast wealth of oil mines, perhaps the genocide wouldn’t have been advocated for and ignored by the French. In my opinion, what Africa needs first is an economic revolution. I know this is going to sound radical, but isn’t radicalism the whole essence of a revolution? We must break free from the economies of the West. Not in the sense of becoming an island or completely not trading with them, but we must necessitate the importance of setting our own trade terms no matter the consequences they inflict on us. Bad consequences are just for a short time, but in the long run, we would start realizing the developmental side of true market freedom where we don’t see our traditional material goods and services on the market dwindling with every decline of the dollar. We also need to have real democracy. We need clean auditors who inquire about each penny released to public ministries! We need a United Africa for a stronger single African currency. I have heard of no leader who wants to give up some of his power for the sake of African unity, but for us to develop, they should learn that it is completely fundamental that we unite. And it’s the leaders that must pave the way for the revolution. Unfortunately however, a revolution is hard to come by in this age and era. We are already in too deep with the donors; the world market which is too unfair on African produce is also already a necessary evil. This analysis gives me such a sad impression that Africa will stay in this pathetic and laughable state till kingdom come. mugishaivan@yahoo.com