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A letter to the West – Sending the right messages and signals to our African leaders
...Sounds on da ground and seens on the see-ins
I was at the recent Harvard African Business Conference. Why did I go? I went just because it was an African business conference and I had been attending as long as I knew it existed. I went because credit is crunching and it would be nice to pay some more attention to what I could do back home and it became absolutely necessary. I went to network and identify partners for various undertakings in the future. I went to identify the leaders of the future as well. As you know, most of our African presidents are not the best people to write home about, especially with Barack Obama front and center in leadership chatter. A-Plus chastised a whole lot of African presidents in his 'A Letter to the West' song, likening their reigns to horror movies. One president who is turning his own horror movie story into a feel-good one is Rwanda’s Paul Kagame. In fact, this last weekend has made me a huge fan of his. People, Obama is not ours but we may have one ourselves, and he’s called Paul Kagame.
Kwame Asare Obeng, aka A-Plus, has always been someone to speak his mind. His ‘Letter to Parliament’ track drew ire from political circles and he faced a few death threats. He’s cut his teeth as a Ghanaian political rapper and when his ‘Letter to the West’ track surfaced, he had decided to take on African politicians, presidents, etc as well. He wants to be in Africa (you can’t say that for many Africans in Africa these days) but he wants life to be easy as A-B-C-D. He believes African leaders deserve most of the blame, accusing them of greed. For once, Ghanaian leaders can breathe a sigh of relief since he doesn’t criticize them. He’s not received any threats for this song and here’s my hypothesis, his song is stuck receiving airplay in Ghana and is probably not going to get the needed audience in other African countries until it gets in the MTV Africa or Channel O rotation. It’s obscure in Ghana anyway, so it is a far cry from being played next to a Nameless, D’Banj, Dama do Bling or Lira song.
He starts the song telling Larry King (USA), David Beckham (UK), Yao Ming (China), Jeff Fenech (Australia) that anytime they file their taxes, their money could end up in the hands of some corrupt African leader to fund oppression, corruption and dictatorship. Who’s Jeff Fenech? He’s a cult villain/victim in Ghana who happened to be on the receiving end of one famous boxing victory by Ghana’s own boxing professor, Azumah Nelson. He implores them to encourage their own Western leaders to pressure Africa’s own to use their aid money judiciously. Why should this be news? It’s because most of Africa’s wars have been funded by various elements in the West. Even Rwanda.
Africa is really a rich continent, like my brother Paedae will say. Why haven’t we been to make use of these resources? The blame should fall squarely on our leaders. Maybe as we write letters to the West, we should also ask their leaders to give us a fair chance and not tie our hands with their subsidies and unfair trade agreements. Timber, gold, diamonds, oil, we have them all. Life for be easy as A-B-C-D. APlus attributes our problems to leaders like Iddi Amin, Fode Sanko, Charles Taylor and Farrah Ahin. Some of these leaders who were seen as revolutionaries turned out to be nightmares because they got power drunk. Some of them did it to resist Western influences but for whatever reason, the victims were their own people. Two elephants wrestled, and the grass suffered. Look at the case of Zimbabwe, how Mugabe has turned from hero to villain.
A-Plus asks African leaders, in particular Zimbabwe’s Uncle Bob and if they cannot be like Nelson Mandela. How did Mandela do it? He gave up power when it was time, that’s what. Above all the sins African presidents continue to commit, their biggest flaw is their will to hold on to power. Joseph Museveni tried to extend his presidential term and though he’s been doing a great job in Uganda, he is not the savior of all Ugandan problems. He has to be able to identify successors to continue his good work. I know we have the chieftaincy systems in our culture but governing our countries is a different ball game. Our leaders have grown up in Western civilization, where people are elected and serve their terms, hired and fired, appointed and made to step down. We need institutional constituency.
We have people fighting over diamonds, diamonds they haven’t seen in their lives before. The colonizers left African countries in bad states but not in bad hands. Even where the state was ‘good’, opposition flung up from different circles to challenge the leadership, destabilizing whatever peace we enjoyed. The times are changing but if you listen to A-Plus’s song, there is still a lot wrong in Africa, even today. People say T.I.A (This is Africa) and things happen. We’ve come to accept the worst and become indifferent to problems that don’t affect us. I asked a panelist at the Harvard African Business Conference about how his country functioned when it was in a civil war. He assured me that business and activities went on smoothly even in the midst of the war and people in the cities were not affected. We shouldn’t celebrate the fact that we have only isolated incidents of conflict and disturbances. The fact that our houses’ aren’t on fire shouldn’t leave us oblivious to the problems of our neighbours.
My man sums it up and we can’t say it enough, “We need peace in Africa, We need schools, we need education, We need houses, we need peace, Make this place a better place for us, For our children, and our children's children”. I’d love to say we can take ownership of these things but increasingly, we can’t do it without our leaders. Discussions about Africa always boil down to infrastructure, legislation, leadership. It’s been the same as long as I can remember, so why is nothing changing? We have had terrible leaders. But we’ve also had Mandela, Kagame, and ….. help me here. What can we do? We have to continue the discussions and write letters/petitions to the leaders in the West who are wronging our continent in many ways. We have to change the outlook people have of Africa, we have to counteract the negative images with positive images. We may not the financial and broadcast power of the Western media and propaganda, but we have the power of social media, the power of our relationships with other people and the power of democracy and freedom of speech.
Full A Letter to the West lyrics, audio, video.
Photo by The Seminal
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Comments
WE ARE OUR OWN ENEMIES
We are our own enemies. If you dont open your pen wide and unlocked, a hyena cannot get inside and eat your sheep. That is how we have been led by our leaders into the very enslavement we fought to free ourselves from. Independence and Emancipation means nothing if the cords that tie us are flimsily frayed and not cut off entirely.
We are our own enemies. Leaders can fool people some of the time but not all of the time. Our greatest power is the democratic process and the power of the people's will. No contorted leaders can withstand this force but until we weild this power and show that we mean business we will continue to be at the mercy of the sad examples of leadership scattered across the continent. The African leader's understanding of what leadership means is not to surround themselves with their people but to stand on top of their people. But even on that high pedestal of pomp and greed; the people can always pull it from under a leader and let him or her fall flat. That is the message and the movement we are not exercising.
The West is grossly opportunistic. They have known it no other way. Most of what they now enjoy have been at the expense of other people's blood and toil and the loss of their land and heritage. But despite their greed and opportunistic temperaments they are no dictators nor bullies as far as our affairs are concerned. They left our shores long ago and what we have made of the continent thereafter is our own doing. Whatever they took away should have been long replenished by now and we should have taken care not to let history repeat itself again. If we want fair trade, equal opportunities, disarmmament and respect from our peers from other Continents then we need to earn that accolade by looking to ourselves first.
THE CRINGE FACTOR! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT GOD MADE THREE WORLDS AND THAT I COME FROM THE THIRD WORLD. THE ISSUE OF RACE IS GEOGRAPHICAL AND NOT A STATUS SYMBOL AND NEITHER IS MY SKIN BLACK NOR YOURS WHITE.
how do we send the signals?
Yeah we seem to not stay away from bad news, ala the case of Guinea Bissau today. I don't know if we are maximizing the benefits of the democratic process and the freedom we enjoy. We have to become more active really, at least the people who are willing to create and push change.
Someone mentioned tribal suspicion and another mentioned 'internal racism' at the African Business Conference. All I am trying to say though is, as much as we want better leadership from our leaders, we must begin to send those signals by leading ourselves. The same people take up arms and conflicts with each other, we can also take up discussions, community service and understanding.
the destiny of a nation at any given time depends on the opinions and contributions of its young men and women.
This is how we do it
To know oneself is to understand how the self ticks. But alas one of the downsides of the African society is the Apathy and Indifference. The 'me myself and i' syndrome that we can't shake off; rather prefering to go along the line that somebody should do it which in effect means that nothing gets done is a big downside. Everybody expects somebody else to do something so in the end nobody does anything. Thus the minute the democratic process hits a rough patch the wimp mechanism of blaming, witch hunting and insults come into play.
Talk about cowardly acts such as tribalism and negative tribal sentiments when it is obvious that the ruling administration is not doing its job properly for example. I mean why turn on your innocent neighbour because they picked the short straw of being a kinsman to the president when instead you can rally your residents association to organise a peaceful march to the castle or the finance ministry and submit a petition because the tax increase is affecting your livlihoods in Abelenkpe and whether Ga or Fante or Ewe you are all in the same soup. Or how about this same group of voices and bodies take on a corporation or a company straight to the Ombudsman because they are giving shoddy service. Knowing my people very well the response you will get will be a big wave of apathy. ''It will blow over they quip...abi you know how crap this government is and they wont do anything about the problem''
Well my response to such sentiments is that well its no wonder we are taken for-granted year after year and all we do is boil with anger and explode into negative acts. How many people write to their local council or MP to tell them about problems in their suburbs and call upon them to do something or else. The chain reaction is not happening in society. Checks and balances are not in play so we do not exercise our rights and we never get to fulfil our obligations either.
Another problem we need to get our heads round is awareness. Knowing the results and consequences of our actions in society and how it collectively helps or damages our country is an eye opener. It creates a sense of worth and responsibility. That is the catalyst by which voices are heard and people are motivated to move. Everybody get involved and do something in your own little corner. Those who can...teach; Those who can...lead; Those who can...defend; Those who can...help; Those who can...challenge the status quo; Those who can...shed some light on the unknowns; Those who can...extend your own little piece of the action from your end and collectively we will all feel a part of the democratic process. That is the time when leaders know that they were chosen to serve and engage with their people and not to lord it over them.
But all this good works can come to nought if we are not careful because of a slight glitch in governance. The Universally accepted norm of Heads of States being commanders in cheif of security services does not bode well in Africa. Look around you and all the dictators, the bullies, the greedy and the unstoppable sad examples of leadership across the continent had the guts because they were behind the cordon and under the sheild of the security forces who they use with impunity against the people.
That is the time when ordinary citizens cower in fear and disappointment and feel that they have no voice and no stake in the democratic process whiles the bold ones take up arms in order to return fire for fire and meet them on their own grounds. And whiles your average freedom fighter (Rebel) is busy on the road to emancipation he will be met by supporters and sympathisers otherwise known as business men, natural resources hawks and arms dealers who are always too happy to show their solidarity with a few sales of ammo or two or stir things up till they reach boiling point. Crikey! it is just a viscious cycle. Why do you think the conflicts and refugee camps never end and are dotted all over the continent?
These and many more are some of the issues we should face head on as citizens and get them out of the system of governance. We need to engage, communicate, spread the word and come together as one voice, one nation, one idelogy, one charter and a common right as citizens to a free and fair environment. Only then can we know our stance on the global podium. Local crisis if left unchecked blows over into a district crisis, a regional crisis, a national crisis and then an international crisis. So over to us Joe Larteys. Who makes the government? We do!
THE CRINGE FACTOR! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT GOD MADE THREE WORLDS AND THAT I COME FROM THE THIRD WORLD. THE ISSUE OF RACE IS GEOGRAPHICAL AND NOT A STATUS SYMBOL AND NEITHER IS MY SKIN BLACK NOR YOURS WHITE.
nicely laid out Omanba
nicely laid out Omanba.
I'm afraid the same people we want to send these signals are the same fanning flames of tribalism in many Ghanaian online communities. We may have lost those.
the destiny of a nation at any given time depends on the opinions and contributions of its young men and women.
I have faith
I have faith in our people; just waiting to be a believer. I still think there are a lot out there who share the same sentiments and want nothing but what is best for Ghana. As for those who peddle in negativity and vent their frustrations along tribal lines; well that is their prerogative. Everybody can have an opinion but it takes real men and women to stand on both sides of the divide and criticise or applaud the democratic process objectively.
THE CRINGE FACTOR! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT GOD MADE THREE WORLDS AND THAT I COME FROM THE THIRD WORLD. THE ISSUE OF RACE IS GEOGRAPHICAL AND NOT A STATUS SYMBOL AND NEITHER IS MY SKIN BLACK NOR YOURS WHITE.
Political leaders must focus
Political leaders must focus on how they will uplift their country fro poverty. The world is now in the midst of economic crisis that’s why politicians must now look for ways on how to help the people survive in the present situation. United States is greatly affected by economic crisis. In fact, United States has been hit of recession since December 2007 and has resulted loss of jobs to millions of people. United States is not the only country that is affected by the global economic crisis. The national currency of Iceland, the Kronur has fallen over the last few months after the near collapse of their entire banking system, and they had to get a $2.5 billion bailout in payday cash advance loans from other Northern European countries to keep them afloat. That said, there are signs of life, as they have been having a bit of a tourism boom. Iceland has seen over a half a million tourists in the past year, which is impressive for an island of only 320,000 people, and which helps to keep unemployment down. So perhaps tourist income can provide debt relief to Iceland, and perhaps more value over time to the Kronur.