Ebola - the African Response

Africa’s efforts to tackle the Ebola crisis have been largely overlooked even though Africans have taken the lead in providing frontline staff and shown themselves “better placed to fight infectious diseases in their continent than outsiders”, according to the African Union(AU).

Dr Olawale Maiyegun, director of social affairs at the AU commission, said that despite the fact that Africans had proved both willing and able to deal with Ebola, the focus had been on the work of international agencies and those with the greatest media clout. “Unfortunately, Africans do not have the international voice of CNN, BBC and France 24, therefore much of our work is overlooked in the western media,” he said. “Most of the assistance provided by the international community is in the areas of finance and infrastructure. In the most critical human resources for health, Africans – including the affected countries – have had to take the lead.”

The AU deployed more than 835 African health workers to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea at the peak of the epidemic. “The success of African health workers – including the heroic health workers of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – shows one thing: African health workers are better placed to fight infectious diseases in their continent than outsiders,” he said. Maiyegun said the AU’s response had been guided by the philosophy that it should not dictate how the the affected countries should run their fight against Ebola. “We put volunteers at the disposal of the governments of the affected countries,” he said. “They told us what to do and we have performed creditably.” He added: “The people of the affected countries must be given credit for doing a good job. With so many actors in the field, it’s important that it’s not just those with the loudest voices who are credited in the press for bringing Ebola under control.”

The Dark Side Of The European Union

Apologies - this is a little late, however still relevant:

The EU is the Union of European countries.
The AU is the Union of African countries.
Tomorrow, there will be an EU-Africa Summit in Brussels.

Now here comes how rogue the EU is.
1. The EU refused the meeting to be between EU-AU, because the EU doesn’t want to deal with Africa as a unified continent, but each individual states.
2. The EU sent individual invitation to each african country, then the AU asked its members not to attend the meeting, because of the way the EU is trying to divide and conquer.
3. The EU first refused to invite Mugabe, a democratically elected president, but sent an invitation to the president of Egypt who is excluded from the AU because of taking power by a coup.
4. When Many Africans sided wit Mugabe, the EU then granted him a visa, but refused to give visa to his wife to come with him.
5. When Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa expressed his concern over the dubious methods of the EU in Africa, he got shunned.
Regardless of the fact that the AU (African Union) asked its members states not to attend the meeting, over 40 puppets Africans president will be tomorrow in Brussels to get instructions on how to let multinationals loot their countries in exchanges of some gifts.
Now, you may ask, how could the EU force Africans to act against their own interest. They can because before anything EU is a war machine, they have guns and they can make a coup in any country when they want. Most of the presidents are afraid to be victim of coup.
In fact, During the last 50 years 21 African presidents were Killed in office, and since 2008 altogether 13 presidents died in office in the world, 10 were African presidents.
Even the logo of the so called partnership shows the EU swallowing Africa, a continent 3 times bigger than the whole Europe, and million times richer.

Here is the propaganda website for the EU colonial pact with Africa : http://www.africa-eu-partnership.org/
They say they will open EU market 100% to african products, but … But … Africa does not produce “anything” except exporting raw materials (which the continent doesn’t have any problem selling anyway). In exchange Ecowas 16 countries will open their 300 millions consumers market 75% during the next 20 years to EU multinationals to crush the soul out of local producers (like they are already doing in agriculture) and kill any dream of african industrialization and economical infrastructure building.
It’s just plain stupid deal, but to make it easy to accept by the puppets african leaders, EU promised about 6 billions euros corruption money (also called aid) for the local elite to get new cars, new houses, etc.
While we were focused on the Ukrainian crisis, the EU tried to bribe 16 governments in West Africa to sign a colonial pact that will help its multinationals to loot more Africa, and impoverish the average african.
In fact the EU succeeded to bribe about 15 governments, who were ready to sign the so called new partnership with EU, but fortunately for us the big Nigeria refused to sign such a deal.
I suspect the EU would prepare a coup in Nigeria soon (with the help of France) to trow the nigerian government, and ask the new puppet to sign the colonial pact.
Africa is not poor, Africa is constantly agressed and impoverish by Europeans.
 
from here

Half a century of "Unity"

The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) (re-named the African Union in 2002), was established on May25 1963 by the independence-era African leaders as the outward expression of the desire of the people of Africa for true political and economic independence. The OAU provided a body for the African leaders to discuss common African problems and a forum for resolving contentious issues facing the continent. The 53 members contain some of the poorest countries in the world. Some pan African proponents such as Nkrumah and Gaddafi called for a “United States of Africa”. The Pan African vision has as its basic premise that we the people of African descent throughout the globe constitute a common cultural and political community by virtue of our origin in Africa and common racial, social and economic oppression. It further maintains that political, economic and cultural unity is essential among all Africans, to bring about effective action for the liberation and progress of the African peoples and nations

A failed venture by all accounts. There is a marked reluctance of ruling elites to cede sovereignty to a central authority and integration. Sovereignty makes a life of privilege possible by giving African rulers and their collaborators privileges and advantages unavailable to anyone else: management and direction of foreign aid; income from movement of goods within jurisdictions and between them, through tariffs and licenses; borrowing and taxation powers. Unrivalled opportunities for corruption. Sacrificing independent statehood would almost certainly would be not entered into freely by various ruling classes.

The OAU’s inability to prevent the genocide in Rwanda in April 1994, stop the collapse of Somalia state and the Eritrean/Ethiopian wars were all clear manifestations of its impotence. The OAU could not intervene military but the present AU is indeed exercising that power, mostly as a paid proxy force for Western nations’ interests rather than a truly independent entity, acting on humanitarian reasons.

What difference has the AU made to the lives of the ordinary Africans? It is envisaged that an African common parliament, court of justice, central bank and currency will be established in the next few years, like in the EU. Through the parliament and court of justice, it is hoped that the continent's people will have greater say in the running of the affairs of the continent while the court of justice will promote respect for human rights by ensuring that violators of human rights and perpetrators of crimes like genocide are punished. Furthermore, it is expected that by establishing an African common market, currency and central bank, obstacles to the economic integration of the continent will be dismantled thus paving way for economic prosperity and higher living standards for the poverty-ridden peoples.

It will be no more successful than the now defunct OAU in uniting the continent and developing its economy. This is essentially because the same old, rotten capitalist economic system remains intact. If the European Union cannot guarantee decent living for workers of Europe, how then can the weaker African Union be expected to liberate Africans from endemic poverty and misery? Only by the African working class and peasants organizing and struggling to overthrow capitalism by putting the continent's resources under common ownership and with full democratic control and management by the working people themselves, will it be possible to end exploitation and use of the resources of the continent for the needs of its peoples. Africans in the various countries on the continent need to build independent workers’ parties aiming to establish socialism and the unity desired will be in the form of a world socialist movement, not just continental unity but a global union.

Africa: Kosovo Revives Hopes for Secession

The recognition of Kosovo by some of the West’s major powers is boosting the hopes of secessionist movements across Africa , according to this news item . In an article titled “Kosovo—the precedent that will enflame Africa,” a columnist for the Ivoirian newspaper Notre Voie predicts a revival of secessionist groups across the continent and doubts that the international community will be able to resolve the resulting crises.

“The world is about to witness… another political and diplomatic revolution which may give birth to some new nations," reads an opinion piece published on Somalilandnet.com, a website that caters to the autonomous region of the same name that seeks to secede from Somalia.

“Kidal will follow the example of Kosovo to become independent,” reads a forum entry on Kidal.info, a website named after a city in the northeastern part of Mali that is home to a Touareg rebellion that has clashed sporadically with governmental forces.

“This hard-won freedom by Kosovar citizens will serve as an example for the future autonomy of Kabylia,” wrote a contributor to Kabyle.com, a website committed to the affirmation of Algeria’s Kabyle Berbers, who resent the arabization of the country at the expense of the Amazigh culture.

At Rewmi.com, one of Senegal’s major news sites, one commentator wonders if the Senegal's government’s recognition of Kosovo will not reignite the separatist tendencies of MFDC, a rebel group that wants independence for the southern Casamance region.

Africa’s strongest case will likely come from Western Sahara, which has been recognized as an independent country by the African Union but whose sovereignty is not effective because of Morocco’s insistence that it is a province of its kingdom. A Saharawi blogger at Saharaopinions.blogspot.com, noted what he regards as the inconsistency of Western powers: “In Kosovo they imposed an independence that was not based on international legality, but in Western Sahara they’re opposed to self-determination that has been recommended multiple times by that same legality.”
Another wrote “Kosovo is an example of how we can effectively make our case,”

Article 20 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights affirms "the unquestionable and inalienable right to self-determination," but this has to be balanced against the inviolability of territorial boundaries that resulted from colonization (the so-called uti possidetis principle under Article 4 of the African Union’s Constitutive Act).

The African Union - An "Old Boys" Association

The recent African Union summit has once again raised the prospect of a United States of Africa . Whether this is ever going to be likely , Socialist Banner serious doubts , since there are often too many inter-capitalist rivalries for such an entity to exist . Not too mention the overblown giant egos of some of the African nation's leaders

We reprint an article from African Socialist No. 5


THE AFRICAN UNION - An "Old Boys’ Association"?

At the 2nd AU summit in Maputo the BBC asked the new AU chairman, President Chissano of Mozambique to sum up in 30 seconds the achievements of the Union. His reply was " I don’t need the 30 seconds you have given me. Quite simply, we have more cohesion and more solidarity." What the BBC did not ask Chissano to clarify was the meaning of his first person plural of the pronoun "we". Did he use it to mean "we the masses of Africa" or "we the privileged few gathered here"? This is the question we, socialists (in Africa), are answering below.


In our part of the world it is not unusual for the alumni of an institution to form an "Old Boys’ Association". And it is important to be part of one, especially those of the institutions which are the preserve of the privileged in society. Such associations constitute some of the vital social networks, through which members can take undue advantage over others when it comes to employment, promotion, and other forms of scarce or "competitive" opportunities and needs. Even at its second summit, at such a teething stage, the AU already hinted noisily at its "Old Boyist" leanings.

The post of chairman of the AU Commission is a highly privileged and therefore "lucrative" job. It is the equivalent of the position of Secretary General in the erstwhile OAU. The struggle for that position was therefore expected to be a keen one but curiously enough, it was not. Amara Essy, the outgoing and interim chairman had foreseen a hot battle for his seat and made it clear he would not contest. Being at the helm of affairs at the AU, he had known for a long time that the heavyweights – Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Senegal – wanted the chairmanship of the Commission to the exclusive preserve of former heads of state. In fact he had noticed a very high preference for Alpha Oumar Konare of Mali to take the seat (even before he had completed his term of office as Malian President). According to speculations, which were rife at the secretariat in Addis Ababa, Olusegun Obasanjo would, as planned, come unto the throne after Konare’s term. These machinations were as far back as 2002.

But in spite of all the fears of Essy, his country’s president, Laurent Gbagbo would hear none of that. It was "for the good of La Cote d’Ivoire", the president reported to have insisted.
When the heavyweights realised that Cote d’Ivoire had put forward their man Essy’s candidature, they quickly talked to Gbagbo and that was it. The latter simply pulled the rug from underneath Essy without any second thoughts. When news of the incumbent’s withdrawal by his country reached the delegates at the summit, it was met with an outcry by many delegates who dismissed the AU as "a club of retired heads of state". But Abdoulie Wade, the Senegalese president, the charade in the following words "It does not matter who heads the AU as long as the person has the right profile to carry out his important task. The advantage that Alpha Oumar Konare has (which Amara Essy hasn’t) is that as a former head of state he can phone any other head of state, even go and see them without having to organise an official meeting, something which another person cannot." What stupidity!

But this does not surprise us in the least because even from the very onset, the Eminent Persons Advisory Panel was constituted from among the same "old boys". They include individuals who have worked or are still working with the UN system, the OAU, or have been presidents or heads of state before. They definitely must have rubbed shoulders with each other for years and collectively perfected in the art of hoodwinking the masses with deliberate diplomatic untruths. If, therefore, such a selected few cannot have cohesion, who else can? These are people who can never understand the plight of the suffering masses because they are so far away from reality.

As for the overwhelming majority of the African people, the AU is a concept that they have either never heard of (not with this pervasive illiteracy here), or they are too busy looking for food to take any note of it. Thus, it is only in this context that Chissano’s "we" can be understood.

Suhuyini