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Obama Redefined the "Door of No Return" But...
James Shikwati,
African Executive magazine
July 15, 2009
President Barack Hussein Obama helped redefine the Door of No
Return for Africa but fell in the trap of "silences". Silences
aside, Obama's speech was very powerful and refreshing
especially on its focus on the youth aged below 25 who comprise
65% of Sub Sahara population.
"You can conquer diseases, end conflicts, and make change from
the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can. Because in this
moment, history is on the move" said Obama in his address to
Ghana parliament. This statement pushes responsibility squarely
on the shoulders of the African youth: ‘Do not wait but move and
act. To ensure that your actions do not have negative effects,
seek information and get equipped with the right tools.’ Let me
explore some of the redefined doors of no return as was outlined
by Obama's visit to Ghana.
The Cape Coast Castle was built by a Swedish company in 1653 and
then captured by the Danes in 1663 and was used for trade in
timber and Gold. When the British captured it in 1664, they
turned it into one of the slave holding forts on the West
African coast during the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade that saw an
estimated 12 million Africans shipped to the new world. The Cape
Coast Castle, has a door that opened to the sea, once a slave
passed this door, there was no more hope as one had to be loaded
onto ships. The door of no return has its equivalent in East
Africa in what is referred to as "Bwagamoyo" in Tanzania, now
Bagamoyo town. "Bwagamoyo" a Swahili word loosely translated to
mean "give up” or “lose hope"... after trudging all the way from
as far as modern day Congo, slaves would literally give up their
"spirit" at being loaded onto boats to the Zanzibar slave
market.
Obama's hard hitting statements on Africa's tyrannical leaders,
corruption, tribalism and lack of institutions symbolically
point at the continent's self inflicted modern day doors of no
return. His emphasis that "...Africa's future is up to Africans"
could be based on the fact that after 500+ years of people on
the continent suffering the fate of externally engineered "doors
of no return" it is nonsensical to expect salvation from the
same (outsiders). It is up to Africans to either shut the door
and or turn it into a door of opportunity where one can always
"return" a hero.
Can you imagine 12 million people; fathers, mothers, sons and
daughters all shipped like cattle to go-power the economic
livelihood of the capturing nations? Fast forward; not so
different from those leaders who engaged in slavery, African
leaders are leasing out over 30 million hectares of land to feed
other economies while 200 million Africans are faced with
starvation. What the ordinary citizen look up to as leaders are
simply individuals out
to cut deals with developed economies and stash the proceeds in
Western banks and built castles for themselves. Due to poor
leadership on the continent, Africans are once again on the run.
If it is not famine chasing them; it is their own leaders
pushing them at gun point to give space to mining companies
without adequate compensation. If it is not diseases; it is
conflict over resources and wars over the control of the
"national cake."
For Africa, the key to the door of no return was handed down by
the West as a slaughtered carcass called "government." African
hunters (leaders) are busy fighting over this carcass. The
African people never chose of their own volition to institute
the animal called government as we know it. That explains why
governments on the continent exist to serve the political elite
and exploit their people. Tyrants, that is, individuals who
prioritize their own interests over the best interests of the
majority roam the continent under the guise of "government."
Obama is right to point out that it is us Africans to get rid of
this negative culture - and - this cannot be through elections
alone. It has to include cultural, constitutional and law reform
in order to build institutions that are respected by all.
The myths such as that propagated in Kenya that some communities
are more enterprising and educated than others masks tribalism
as another door of no return. If one particular group holds
hostage the governance system of a country and goes ahead to
award tenders and strategic opportunities to themselves, they
subject others to a door of no return. One cannot argue that if
the political establishment for example filled the police force
with one ethnic community; that it follows they (the ethnic
community) are the only ones capable of holding guns! Clearly,
Obama's speech pointed at possibilities of making the pie grow
bigger by removal of chains holding people back from prosperity
and enjoyment of life.
Now I turn to silences that is, deliberate attempt to distort
historical facts to serve one's immediate strategy. President
Barack Obama either deliberately or through omission opted to
engage in silences in his address to Africa. In pointing out
that Kenya had a higher per capita economy than South Korea at
the time he was born, Obama failed to discuss who "owned" that
economy he refers to. It is one thing to refer to a successful
nation and another when one discusses individual citizen's role
in such a success. Kenyans are still struggling 46 years after
independence to move out of spectator status (picking flowers,
serving as watchmen, cooks - what I refer to as employment
economy; while actual wealth is transferred elsewhere) in terms
of wealth creation.
On Zimbabwe, Obama got it wrong. Whereas it is true that the
West is not 100% responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwe
economy; Obama "silence" here ignores the West's involvement in
land politics and subsequent lack of productivity in this
country. The Zimbabwe story might one day turn out to be a clear
case of sabotage and an attempt to perpetuate the notion that
only particular types of people can be farmers.
Obama also deliberately engaged in "silences" when he simply
chose to gloss over Western patronage in Africa; governance and
talked of "old habits must also be broken" in reference to
dependence on commodities as if all this is Africans fault not
to engage in value added exports. What is governance for
instance, is it government service delivery to its people? Paid
for by whom? African countries cannot purport to have good
governance if other countries pay for their upkeep. Patronage
will continue unless Africans pay for the upkeep of their own
governments. A value added relationship with external and
African markets is what will translate to positive contribution
to governance.
" ... And I think, as Americans, and as African Americans,
obviously there's a special sense that on one hand this place
was a place of profound sadness; on the other hand, it is here
where the journey of much of African American experience began,"
said Obama at the Cape Coast Castle. A keen observation of what
African Americans are faced with to date is an indicator of how
systems (banking, education, political parties, flawed
institutions, media, etc) hold back progress from a group of
people. For Africa, it is largely a governance system that has
been accepted without thorough probing as to whose interest it
serves. Other than focusing on individuals, we as the people
must prioritize to probe both the impact of systems and their
agents in order to secure positive change for the future of
Africa.
By James Shikwati
Mr. Shikwati
james@irenkenya.org is
Director of Inter Region Economic Network.
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