It is always easier to find some one to blame when things go wrong. At least it lets us off the hook so we do not have to take the responsibility for what may have gone wrong. In Africa we have always blamed the colonialists for the problems we have heard over the years.
True the colonialists sucked the continent and gave little or nothing back. The took our natural resources for free including labor, unfairly divided up the continent into blocks (countries) with out regard to the cultural local backgrounds. When they had had their fill they dropped the continent like a hot potato and run.
With all this in mind we have had almost half of a century to prove that we can manage our affairs. And look what a mess we have done.
At least during the colonial era the infrastructure that they built was well maintained and functional. Corruption was almost unheard of. The schools and hospitals were well supplied. The British built the Uganda railway and the Ugandans run it into the ground. Ugandans finally decided to sell the Railway line to foreigners. If foreign investment is interested in the venture it means it’s a profitable one. Couldn’t Ugandans figure this out?
Take a look at the genocide in Rwanda 1994. The Belgians were blamed for pulling out right before the atrocities started but they did not commit these crimes! Instead it was the Hutu who went against the Tutsis with machetes slaughtering men, women and children like dogs. The UN should have moved quickly to protect the people! But protect them from whom? Their fellow countrymen, sons, brothers and husbands!
We cannot forget the crisis in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe who has earned himself a reputation of a world-renowned dictator just like Idi Amin. Mugabe started out as a promising statesman for his nation and the continent at large. Some where along the way things changed! He went from nationalizing private farms, rampant corruption to rigging elections. The list goes on and on. One thing I never seem to understand about African leaders they all turn out the same no matter where they came from or how promising they start out. They say that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ indeed take a look around the continent starting at home. Museveni has been in power for over 20 years, Kamuzu Banda of Malawi declared him self-life president, Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya, Sani Abacha of Nigeria, and Ahmed Bokassa of central Africa, Said Mohamed Barre of Somalia. The list goes on and on.
If only Africa had more Presidents like Nelson Mandela who had more sense to let go of power and relinquish it back to the people, may be we would see better days. But then, ‘if wishes were horses…’
That’s just the presidents. Every African is a responsible in someway for this pathetic situation on the continent. Take for instance those that give the bribes are as responsible as those that receive them. The indifference of many people on the continent is also a big fact that allows the perpetrators to go unchecked. There is no spirit of nationalism among Africans.
Some 1.5 million rapes occur in South Africa each year - one of the highest rates in the world, reports BBC News 10 June 2005.
Corruption in Africa is costing the continent nearly $150bn a year reports BBC News 09/18/ 2002.
The cost of conflict on African development was approximately $300bn between 1990 and 2005 Reported Oxfam International 10/11/2007.
Geneva - Sexual atrocities in Congo’s volatile province of South Kivu extend “far beyond rape” and include sexual slavery, forced incest and cannibalism, a U.N. human rights expert said Monday. Reported MSNBC.com 07/30/2007.
How dare we point a finger the white man when we are doing this to our children?
Why do we always look at the rest of the world to come and help us solve our internal problems?
Why is it the UN’s responsibility to send in peacekeepers to stop us from killing each other?
If it is indeed the White man,s fault, then how do we explain the steady decline of almost all countries in Africa from the time of independence up today?
By 1962 Ugandans enjoyed a per capita income of $160 (www.populstat.info/Africa/ugandag ) While their south Korean counterparts enjoyed a per capita income of $87. http://www.links.jstor.org/.
Rather shockingly by 2007 Ugandans now enjoy a per capita income of $1900 information provided by the CIA world fact book. The Korea times reported on November 4th, 07 ‘South Korea's per-capita gross national income (GNI) is projected to exceed $20,000’.
We always think that it is some one else’s duty to clean our house when we live in it.
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