July 15, 2005

• 
  Not everyone is happy with Live 8. Although it was served by good
  intentions and a desire to end poverty and hunger, Cameroonian journalist
  Jean-Claude Shanda Tonme 
  says it's "all rock, no action." The consultant on interational law and
  columnist also called the whole effort 'misguided,'  organised to
  assuage a guilty conscience, amuse the crowds, but ultimately reinforce
  dictators.
   
  

  We Africans know what the
  problem is, and no one else should speak in our name. Africa has men of
  letters and science, great thinkers and stifled geniuses who at the
  risk of torture rise up to declare the truth and demand liberty.

  
  Don't insult Africa, this continent so rich yet so badly led. Instead,
  insult its leaders, who have ruined everything. Our anger is all the
  greater because despite all the presidents for life, despite all the
  evidence of genocide, we didn't hear anyone at Live 8 raise a cry for
  democracy in Africa.

  Don't the organizers of the concerts realize
  that Africa lives under the oppression of rulers like Yoweri Museveni
  (who just eliminated term limits in Uganda so he can be president
  indefinitely) and Omar Bongo (who has become immensely rich in his
  three decades of running Gabon)? Don't they know what is happening in
  Cameroon, Chad, Togo and the Central African Republic? Don't they
  understand that fighting poverty is fruitless if dictatorships remain
  in place?

  
  Read the full op-ed in the New York Times here.  Another piece in Der Spiegel seems to agree.

  Money is,
  for the Europeans, the solution to all of Africa's problems. But despite yearly payments of, at last count, some $26
  billion, the majority of the continent resembles something approaching one big
  emergency military hospital.

  Already today there are increasing numbers of Africans who call for an end to
  this sort of support. They believe that it simply benefits a paternalistic
  economy, supports corruption, weakens trade and places Africans into the
  degrading position of having to accept charity. "Just stop this terrible
  aid," says the Kenyan economic expert James Shikwati.

  
  

  
  It's a complex issue and I don't think there's an easy
  solution. It's impossible to develop prosperity in states that are
  falling apart, say the writers who also blame poor distribution of
  donor aid and wrong priorities. Then again, as the concert organisers
  say, it's a "long walk to justice"  and you just gotta start
  walking, to begin with.

  I suppose there's a place for generosity (sustained aid - not just in
  spurts) but the unintended consequences may just undo all the good that
  comes out of Live 8. Beside raising funds, debt forgiveness, etc,
  there are unjust power structures that need just as much attention and
  political will to address. What happens when the music stops? Now
  that's the hard part.

  • 10:35 pm
  • 3 Comments