Obama's speech 'arrogant'
by Mphatjie Monareng
2009-07-14 14:02
United States President Barack Obama delivered a much-anticipated speech in Ghana this past weekend; and the speech - from where I am sitting - did not live up to expectations. Without its trademark Obama rhetoric, the speech was an arrogant denial of the destructive role that successive Western governments play in Africa.
Amongst other arrogant statements, Obama said "the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants". This is really a sad observation, particularly coming from a president some of us regard as part and parcel of Africa.
The economic and political sanctions against Zimbabwe - and not just corruption and mismanagement by the Zanu-PF government - are responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy. Countries such as Britain, the United States and their allies in the European Union are at the forefront of these sanctions.
The previous US Congress passed a law - the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 - which effectively gives the US government an illegal mandate to interfere in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe by funding anti-government activities through western non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
And, when these sanctions do not exert enough pressure to agitate the Zimbabwean population against their government, a deliberate propaganda campaign is unleashed to portray Zimbabwe as a country in a state of anarchy. Stories are exaggerated about cholera outbreaks, but when the disease is contained, the media is not there to tell us how this was done.
I am not, in any way, trying to deny the corruption and the thuggish behaviour of the Zanu-PF government. I am saying that all of us - including powerful politicians such as Obama - need to acknowledge the destructive role that both Zanu-PF and malicious western sanctions played in the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy.
Obama was also wrong to attribute the resolution of post-election violence in Kenya to efforts by civil society and business. Said Obama in typical American ignorance: "Across Africa, we've seen countless examples of people taking control of their destiny, and making change from the bottom up. We saw it in Kenya, where civil society and business came together to help stop post-election violence."
In many cases, the "civil society" that Obama refers to is made up of western-sponsored NGOs. Such NGOs are not democratic grassroots organisations and people cannot use them to "take control of their destiny". In fact, as we speak today, ordinary Kenyans are not in control of their destiny. They suffer from poverty whilst politicians divide resources amongst themselves in a bloated cabinet.
Obama should know this. His farther is Kenyan and his family members, including his maternal grandmother, still live in Kenya under the administration of this corrupt government that we are now told is an example of what happens when people "make change from the bottom up".
Contrary to Obama's apparent belief that the Kenyan coalition government is something to emulate, I believe that, as Africans, we should be ashamed of Kenya, for the coalition government there is nothing more than a political conspiracy against ordinary folk. The coalition government is made up of a large cabinet, consisting of 41 ministries and 50 assistant ministries. Politicians share money amongst themselves as the poor watch helplessly.
You can't in all honesty praise the Kenyan coalition government (which is a result of a post-election war that left 700 people dead and around 260 000 displaced) whilst slamming a similar arrangement in Zimbabwe. Both presidents (Mugabe and Mwai Kibaki) lost elections and both did not accept defeat; and both managed to get away with it - and Obama believes one of them is more acceptable than the other! Why?
Get published on MyNews24 by sending your letter, story or column to us.
Send us your news photos
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.