PR stunt or real business, the hype that is AU reforms
5 min readBy Deng Vanang – Dares Salaam, Tanzania
February 13, 2018 (SSB) — It is better late than never, hope than none the currently introduced AU’s reforms by its new chair, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
Pulling African continent from its morass of darkness in which it is today is the wishful dream of every forward looking African.
For in its realization lies the much desired progress and pride of the continent and its people who completely run short of all dark corners in which to hide from series of hurled abuses by outside bullying peers.
Mental docility and physical laziness resulting in hopelessness become collective derogatory with which Africans are identified by obviously well to do and proud outsiders.
Any messiah promising liberation from such decadence is highly welcome, whether from heaven or hell notwithstanding. Until purported messiah falls short of intended promises.
But Kagame, the man promising that hope is known to be no mean performer.
For he turned around Rwanda riddled with myriad of ethnic pogroms into a sanctuary of stability and from basket case into a bread basket full of finger licking delicacies.
A down to earth pragmatist than peacocking populist, though an enlightened dictator. Quite unlike many of his shortsightedly marauding fellow political dinosaurs whose countries are trapped in grips of intractable conflicts, ignorance, poverty and diseases.
The only publicly known impediments to his best wishes could be shortage of time and entrenched colonial legacy.
Being Chair for a single year term isn’t enough to usher in such reforms as well as cement them against political erosion once he leaves AU’s helm.
To uproot the entrenched colonial legacy out of the hearts and minds of African leaders isn’t easier either as well.
These leaders are beholden to the West which will not allow them to do things their way.
While some of whom find comfort in Western mentors to help them oppress their own kind in return for keeping them in usually stolen seats of power.
With the rise of China to super power status challenging United States further complicates matters for well-intended Africans to assert their resolve and necessitate much needed freedom of socio-economic and political emancipation.
First casualty in this Western driven charade is the erosion of democracy and in its place authoritarianism is installed.
Change of heart from the West to safeguard democracy is due to rising break neck and cut throat competition between it and China over the immense riches of the third world including Africa.
In which promotion of democracy is railed to the back banner and no longer the priority than the quick fix economic miracle to later guarantee global dominance.
However, welcomed are the new policy shifts of fighting corruption, ending wars and promoting economic cooperation by knocking down colonial barriers among African member states as the centerpiece of highly touted AU’s reforms by Kagame.
Though there are still several fools in this free trade deal to be discovered and not certainly Rwanda among those economically impoverished fools to suffer.
What remains to be seen, is how practically the words shall be translated into deeds.
Which is not the first time since the humble beginning of Kwame Nkrumah and recent ostentatious end of Muamar Gadhafi.
Angrily facing him head on in AU’s reforms agenda moreover, he needs to be told, is corruption that has clawed tentacles deep into the earth under its two towering branches: civil wars and economic plunders in Africa.
To ride the continent of these two evils, corruption must first be pulled off its entrenched roots. Particularly through mitigation if rule of law is respected and against defining it only in monetary terms.
Its political dimension has to be dealt with swiftly too. Such as preferentially awarded state’s contract tenders and ethnically based employment.
These abominable transgressions are known to be responsible for civil wars, arising mainly from forcefully bungled elections and retrogressive ethnic chauvinism.
For Kagame to tell most of his peers right in the face to either shape up against them or chip out of them would at best be an ironical and at worse an order so tall.
Since Addis, Ethiopia where ruling EPRDF wins every election 100% in its 27 years’ rule is an already desecrated political shrine that requires moral cleansing before any other business is transacted therein.
While most of its tenants, African visiting heads of state, have hands dripping with blood from swagger batons and support rungus as publicly decried mugging tools of repression with which they crack heads of opponents on the backs of their fanatic supporters.
And more unfortunately being the crudes they still carry along into the same sacred shrine, the AU.
These tint pot somethings who constitute well over 80% make AU more of a solidarity of self-imposters in their respective countries.
Where they are profiteering from acts of security forces brutality, mega money laundering, wanton ethnicity and electoral bloodletting.
A lethal combination that helps them tread the pedestal on which they proudly stand today.
The latter malpractice – electoral bloodletting – is obviously an Ashlie’s heel Mr. Kagame is blamed for in his country.
Where he eliminates opponents and critics without batting of an eyelid by either execution or arrest in cheer pursuit of his developmentally visionary leadership of Adam Smith with an autocratic iron fist of Adolf Hitler.
Reforming AU and the continent it represents, advisably therefore demands a political will in many of those leaders, especially through their warm embrace and collective ownership of the proposed reforms.
Otherwise Kagame’s better articulated dream shall remain stuck in its pipe.
The author, Deng Vanang, is a graduate of the Catholic University of East Africa in Kenya with a bachelor degree in Philosophy and political sciences. He got awarded with undergraduate diploma in public relations and management at Kenya school of exports and imports in Kenya. And in later years secured a post-graduate diploma in print media journalism from the University of Nairobi as well as a post-graduate diploma in peace and development studies at the University of Juba, among several short courses certificates in both information and governance from East African region and Republic of South Africa. He once served in SPLM/A during the war of liberation as political commissar and other political groupings in the post-war period. He became a Director in GoSS’ Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in Juba until 2010 while serving as the columnist with various newspapers before and after the December 2013 conflict erupted. He can be reached via his email: dvanang@gmail.com
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