African leaders
What is wrong with Africa's leaders? Deficiency in brain activity, or just interested in per diem? Asks K Kakraba Pratt
This week, I was appalled to turn on my TV to see all African leaders, diplomats, some with wives, husbands and girlfriends congregated at Sorchi in Russia at a so-called Russia - Africa summit, with President Vladimir Putin as chairman smiling from Coast to Coast on his face, showing all his 32s.
I asked myself, so of all the African countries, non of them from Algeria to Zimbabwe can host an African summit on its soil and invite the outsider to attend?
It started with Obama in America where the state department literally sent memos to African leaders saying that the "New God", president Obama would be available at the white House from this period to that period. So all leaders looking for a photo opportunity, should visit America to be seen with Obama in the white House in pictures.
It was shocking to see almost every African leader except President Mugabe in America that week to take pictures. Our president, Mahama went even further by posing next to the CNN building with beaming smiles as if visiting CNN buildings was next to Heaven.
Next was British Prime Minister, David Cameron who held a meeting with African leaders in London to lecture them on how to eradicate corruption. He had forgotten that it was his country that introduced 10% kickbacks into contracts in the Gold Coast and colonies in Africa.
He had also conveniently forgotten that his father made millions of pounds corrupting and stealing from oil rich Nigeria. Yet he had the audacity to call Nigeria corrupt with its President Buhari smiling with appreciation at the sweet scent of the good English being spoken without understanding the insult to the over 200 million Nigerians he represents.
And as if that was not enough, it was swiftly followed by that egoistic older women loving son of a gun in France, Emmanuel Macron, who also invited all African leaders to a France- African summit in Paris to lecture them on investments and good governance.
Was I surprised to see all African leaders except Mugabe troop to Paris in the best suits, some from English countries, practicing their best French vocabulary and accents and speaking better French than their Francophone counterparts?
Macron had conveniently forgotten that it stole and continues to steal at least 2 billion dollars every year from its former colonies in Africa by forcing them in a "departing colonial treaty" to deposit more than 80% of its foreign exchange earnings in the French Central Bank, and that without these compulsory inward investment from Africa, France would have ceased to be a viable economy long ago?
Not to be outdone by his Western friends and to be seen as a friend of Africa, here comes the bull of the east, Vladimir Putin, also inviting all African leaders to Russia for a Russia - Africa summit.
Some African leaders have actually left current and raging problems at home to attend such a useless, self serving public relations photo opportunity conference which does not actually address the inequalities in society and the various limitations that are placed in the way of African countries to enable them develop their own vibrant independent economies.
What really does Africa get from such public show conferences, apart from very beautifully couched insulting flowery languages, that merely remind us of our slave past and colonial history and allows these former colonialists and current neo-colonialists to rub it in and further entice our leaders with false promises and veild threats so that they willingly mortgage the rest of our natural resources to them to enhance their collapsing economies?
If African leaders display the same level of alacrity, sincerity, commitment and enthusiasm that they show at these useless Americo-Euro-African summits at AU or Non Aligned Movement meetings, Africa would have solved its poverty problems long ago, without handouts from America, Britain, France, Russia and China. After all, all those handouts are just a fraction of what these countries have stolen from Africa over the years. We are not being done any favours.
Let me remind the dozing African leaders who troop to these useless time wasting conferences, that they are the ones who make these foreign leaders, whose popularity and credibility at the time of these conferences in their own countries are so low and ebbing look good. It is not the other way round.
If anybody wants to meet our leaders on African issues, let them come to Africa. We have the best weather, best beaches, best food and best conscience to host and talk about our own problems.
What we give them by attending these conferences is legitimacy and credibility.
Also by attending such conferences, we allow TV cameras to send very attractive images of those countries into the living rooms of our citizens back home. That is advertising their economies and tourists sites freely for them. Any wonder that our young men and women walk across the Sahara desert in search of non existent green pastures in Europe perishing in droves?
African leaders must sit up. We must refuse to be used as doormats to better the image of neo tyrants, demi gods and self centered neo colonialists. It does not enhance the image of Africa. It does not improve our sinking economies and it does nothing to project the true African personality and identity.
What next in our continued self degradation? Kim Jon UN of Korea inviting African leaders for sight seeing In Pyongyang? Or Chairman Chi Jon Pin of China calling Africans to a summit in Shanghai to see a new wall built?
The annoying thing is that they don't travel alone. They travel with their wives, long list of ministers, friends, families, and hangers-on party functionaries, all at the cost of the poor tax payer.
Please if you want to humiliate yourselves by site seeing in Europe, do it in your free time when you retire and leave the presidency. Don't do it with our money, dignity and image in your pocket.
Is it not funny that all of you travel to a foreign country to talk about Africa when you can easily converge in a corner in Africa and invite that one foreigner to your midst? Look at the tourist value of images of Senkyey or Busea Beach Resort or Harare Elephant Park will do for our economy if shown on TV in these countries and even in other parts of Africa?
And at least, if you want to degrade us, please do it in Africa.