The Africans at Cross-roads
"AU is the political wing in the continent so it is responsible for taking political decisions and it is responsible for seeing to it that there is intervention in terms of democratization in the continent and if AU can just fast rate its process of seeing that there is democratization that will create a conducive environment for economic development and that is where NEPAD will be relevant, and that's where NEPAD will start to be visible round the continent."
I extracted the above quote from the meeting of the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) taking place this week in Abuja, Nigeria. This precedes the African Union meeting later this week. The AU meeting comes at a very critical time when Kenya is burning. It will be all eyes on the AU as its leaders meet in Addis Ababa. The Kenyan opposition has already petitioned the AU to refuse the Kenyan government any participation as that will be tantamount to endorsing its illegal hold on power. And Alpha Oumar Konare, the head of the African Union responded thus, "We in Africa cannot turn a blind eye when a tragedy is unfolding around us" as he addressed African foreign ministers gathered in Ethiopia ahead of an AU summit this week. It however remains to be seen if this rhetoric translates into action.
I for one have been dumbfounded about what is unfolding in Kenya over the last one month. I rather find it easy to believe that this is just one of those bad dreams that will come to an end soon. In my article
http://www.newsudanvision.com/news/news-analysis-fingers-crossed-elector..., I had precisely predicted that no matter who won, there was going to be chaos. What I didn`t know then was the magnitude of destruction and vilification of innocent Kenyans the conflict has brought. John Kufuor of Ghana tried to bring the warring parties together all in vain. The argument that ensued was that because Kufuor is a fellow head of state, he is required by protocol to be respectful to his Kenyan counterpart. Excuse me! Now Kofi Annan has taken over the mantle of mediation. In this mix, the annoying Yoweri Museveni of Uganda comes in with his weird proposals before Annan`s team started their work. In fact Annan`s meeting with Kibaki had to be delayed for a day so that Kibaki met with Museveni! Let`s note that Museveni is the only president to have congratulated Kibaki over his disputed win in last year`s general elections. So what did Museveni tell Kibaki? We can speculate tons but let`s keep that out of the way for now. It`s against this background that I find it contemptible and a decay of morals when Moses Wetangula, Kenya`s current foreign minister, says "The issue of our elections is not a subject to be debated in a foreign parliament! Our elections don't need a stamp of authority from the House of Commons." Are we justified in invoking African patriotism when things are clearly going wrong?
The preceding question is so important. We choose to defend what is African but fail to condemn in the strongest terms what is bad. The case of Kenya will be a big test. To quote from Dr Adwok Nyaba`s ``What is African Liberation`` (http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=16965), we in South Sudan have had our problems over the last two decades that we have not been able to contribute to the African Liberation. Now we are coming out of war and need to be more vocal on African issues. We have to participate in African liberation for our own benefit too. South Sudanese have always been proud of fighting the war with the Arab North. Our war is unlike any other African problem; it`s in the league of South African apartheid war. Now after the war, should we find ourselves bedevilled by the same issues that have plagued other African countries for close to five decades? I have thought hard and realized that the biggest problem in Africa is lack of a vibrant middle class and informed civil society.
What next for South Sudan and her neighbours? I believe the AU must issue a very strongly worded statement isolating Kenya`s government. Without justice, these problems will keep recurring. We must overcome this dilemma of wanting to keep African dignity but at the same time unwilling to face up to a fellow head of state. We in South Sudan must work hard so we don`t fall into the same problems. We badly need a vibrant middle class – enough of us that successful in their own lives to be able to think of the big issues, who can speak out not because they want to make ends meet but because they believe it`s the right thing to do. I believe in honesty and straightforwardness of South Sudanese which will be needed to keep East Africa together. This integrity gets compromised when we have to think about our stomachs. I say again work hard ladies and gentlemen! "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends". Martin Luther King Jr.
*Jok Gai is a B.Eng student in Electrical Engineering at the University of Victoria, Canada. He is also a columnist for the New Sudan Vision.*
