With friends like Ian Taylor, who needs enemies?

I am appalled by the editorial in your current newsletter by one Ian Taylor. It makes for depressing reading and is reminiscent of the Western media which is always out to bash and discredit Africa.

For one Mr Taylor seems to have a very strong opinion regarding Zimbabwe elections and concomitant reaction around which African issues in his eyes orbit. Quoting one ‘respected professor’, he starts by prophesying ‘fallout’ as a result of the ‘election debacle’. He goes ahead to discredit respected African elected leaders as ‘elites’. This amounts to rubbishing the African electorate. The low esteem Taylor holds Africans in is further depicted in his shabby treatment of Africa observer teams. What makes him believe what the other observer teams said, or was he an observer himself; in which case he should tell us about his experiences for comparison purposes? And anyway, what morality does the West have of observing elections in Africa? Do Africans interfere in the elections of the West, say of the US or France?

Zim elections were in no way a test case for NEPAD. The latter is already a winner in that it is already a recognition by Africans that their destiny lies in their hands, not in the hands of the increasingly repugnant and retrogressive Washington-based World Bank and IMF. Yes, let Africa Renaissance (for the record this is a vision of former South African President Nelson Mandela, not of President Thabo Mbeki as the author claims) and NEPAD be declarations and talking shops; these are but the first steps to a long and treacherous liberation of Africa by Africans, led by their elites. Yes, elites, not only because they are the ones at the forefront – exposed and entrusted with the running of African countries – but the ‘person on the street’ mostly does not have the insights or capabilities to envision the big picture. In fact it would be a blessing in disguise for the North to ignore NEPAD ‘as an irrelevancy’ because we have had enough of their unworkable meddling. British and Canadian Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Jean Chretien may be interested in Africa, but only towards their selfish ends. How else would one explain Blair’s whirlwind visit to strategic African countries just before the Commonwealth meeting, and concomitant ‘pushing and shoving and cajoling and pleading’? The overdrive by Jean Chretien for a successful G8 agenda is not missed by many, as the earlier one of John Howard for the Commonwealth hosting.

If the Zim elections drove a wedge and led to a sobering up of relations between the elites of the North vis-à-vis of Africa, then that in itself is a success of the elections. It is high time Africa stopped being deluded by the sweet blah blah of the North, and saw the wolves in the sheep-skins for what they are. We do not need to ‘save positions’ on anyone’s agenda but our own. To Africa, the recent meeting of the Africa heads of state in Senegal is more important than the G8 meeting if only because there is commitment, and the issues at hand are not viewed or tossed about according to other parties’ whims.

Suffice it to say Mbeki’s and President Olusegun Obasanjo’s treatment of the ‘tripartite’ final announcement inspires Africans’ confidence in them as leaders with the times. Their contempt captures our feeling to being muscled about by others because of their being wealthy. No more should we agree to strings being pulled to make us puppets to the ‘globalisers’.

Democracy, human rights, good governance et al are all very good. Unfortunately, these cannot be viewed in isolation. Zimbabwe’s land issue and US after September 11 have something in common, and that is there are more basic and pertinent issues to democracy and human rights. For Africa, President Daniel arap Moi correctly refers to the issues surrounding implementation of these ideals as ‘African democracy’. If NEPAD is to go slow for total emancipation of Zimbabwe so be it. Indeed if NEPAD is to go slow rather than receive conditional aid (‘we’ll behave’ – the cheek) the better, as the latter amounts to neo-colonialism.

For now Africa Renaissance and NEPAD may be media buzzwords, but they are slowly getting into us Africans’ subconscious. It may take twenty, fifty or even a hundred years, but Africa will finally live these dreams, maybe as an African civilisation akin the Egyptian civilisation. It is gratifying that our friend Taylor notes that ‘Africa is indeed willing and able to police itself’; he should only appreciate that our leaders are a mirror of that willingness and ability.