The Old Contemptible

Chris Smith

26 May 2011

opinion

SO it’s Africa Day, the OAU, formed 48 years ago and now colonialism is eliminated from our continent and we are all free, we changed the organisation to the AU.

This pleased Colonel Gaddafi whose ambitions seem to be aimed at being a sort of king of Africa and he ploughed bucket loads of money into this reborn organisation! The acronym change from OAU to AU significantly took out the “O” for organisation.

This organisation (without the “O”), originally just over 30 strong has grown to over 50 states and remains based in Addis. It’s aims, now the colonials have left remain economic and political integration, cultural protection, peace and stability and the protection of human rights.

As a sub-group of the United Nations it naturally has assumed, in general, their ethos, methodologies and the generation of tons of MOUs, Protocols, Principles and Resolutions; all recalling some previous event, being mindful of something and resolving to take some form of action. All such stuff passing though panels of experts, seconded consultants, gatherings of appropriate ministers to dot the “i’s” and cross the “t’s” in readiness for the gathering of the “Heads of State” to rubber stamp a final resolution full of fine sounding rhetoric and multiple exceptions.

Naturally nothing will be legally binding and the resources to carry out the actions will be subject to a donor conference as they don’t have any money. And the intellectual gannets, the consultants, ex discredited politicians and the like, anticipating a feeding frenzy will start to lobby their mates. Round and round goes the bloody great wheel, in and out goes the etc! And nothing happens either at the AU level or its regional offshoots.

Meanwhile back at the fairy dust factories today will be a day of celebration with diplomats, politicians, administrators, tenderpreneurs and crime bosses will be nibbling at their canapés, sipping their martinis, relaxing in their limousines and chasing the maids away in their US$5000 (and more) hotel suites; most will be networking to see how to progress their self improvement plans.

Multiple speeches will eulogise upon the successes in progressing their democracies, preventing wars, uplifting their people’s, successfully raising new loans, selling off the peoples land, building more unnecessary and unsustainable dams with their associated signing commissions and the successes of their anti-corruption efforts! And the acolytes and sycophants will circulate, the Tom, Dick and Marys will be on their knees sucking on the golden calf.

So how is it that such a rich and potentially productive continent seems, after 48 years, to be poorer, sicker and have multiple conflicts where women and children are raped and killed with apparent impunity. Where despite near monopolies in various minerals, abundant land and fossil fuels we still have to depend upon foreign expertise to exploit them. Let’s look at some recent incidents.

The AU holds a conference in Mauritania on Libya, Jacob Zuma trips off to Tripoli, leaves and announces all is well and . ; meanwhile one of his citizens, a journalist (Hammerl) goes missing in Libya and SA diplomats are informed that he is alive and well by “the top”. All lies at the “ruling” level.

Let’s look at Ivory Coast where 3 000 citizens have lost their lives through political conflict. This could have been avoided if the AU had taken immediate action; the electoral facts were clear except to the judge who gave two different and opposing rulings. Why the delay when all is going so well!

Closer to home and SADC, an organisation that seems to have lost its way although still remembers how to waste money on itself, now hides behind the legal frameworks of legal protocols on corruption while essentially closing down its legal tribunal system because they don’t like its decisions! No doubt its rebirth will only allow governments the right of access to its Court! Let’s wait and see.

48 years of what? The establishment of a closed shop elite driven by the “political pay pal”, a web of lies and deception and mushrooming, fat institutions that are totally toothless.

I am glad that, to some extent our own little Namibia is aware of these problems and, as it is frequently said, we will take action! Where is this action? Or will the AU and its regional bodies continue to fail its peoples? After all we are the Land of the Brave.

Hope you had a happy Africa Day.

AllAfrica – All the Time