Hello everyone. In whichever part of the world you’re living in, I want to say thanks for reading this blog and I do hope that you will pass this blog link to others who might be interested. I wish you a fruitful and fulfilling 2013. The subject matter isn’t a nice one to be starting the year with but we just can’t become de-sensitized to violence and conflict in the continent.
2012 ended with news of the rapidly-deteriorating civilian conditions in the Rwanda-orchestrated violence in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Let’s not forget the ignominy of the deaths of the 34 miners in South Africa and the violence that is smouldering like a slowly-awaking volcano in that country. Of course the roll call of violence won’t be complete without mentioning the terror unleashed in Northern Nigeria by the extremist group Boko Haram claiming hundreds of innocent lives.
Within the last few weeks, France and the UK have taken upon themselves yet another “so called mission of stability and solidarity” in Mali (at least that’s what my definition of modern day humanitarian intervention is). Of course, the African troops are welcome to come along on what promises to be another setting for brutality, violence and bloodshed that will mostly claim the lives of the innocent. I can’t claim to be naïve; such is the nature of conflict and violence – it is brutal, messy and there are rarely true winners. What is incredibly sad about the Mali conflict is the senseless way in which a band of “uncivilized brutes” (they can’t claim to be any better) have systematically destroyed important and priceless artefacts; decimating irrecoverable parts of their history and civilisation. Watching some clips of the destruction of some of the structures in Mali last year; I wondered what or who was driving these brutish acts. It was like watching a disaster movie, only this was all too real - innocent people were and are still caught up in fear, hopelessness and despair in its wake.
Over and over again, we see across the continent the ways internal violence destroy and threaten to desecrate all that is beautiful and powerful in these nations. Why is Africa fighting itself? The widespread violence can no longer be explained by the widely-documented “natural-resources curse” or the legacy of colonial meddling with geographical boundaries and other stuff. Needless to say that this latest Western intervention can only at best bring a temporary cessation of violence or at worst become an abysmal failure on a scale worse than Somalia’s.
As a continent, who and what are the troubled parts of the continent fighting? What drives and continues to feed this thirst for bloodshed bearing in mind that all it does is push ailing communities into a comatose state? A land that is divided against itself cannot stand. Why is it so difficult for sub-Saharan Africa to figure out for itself what it takes to be a peaceful and progressive society for all its citizens not just a select minority? Why have places like Mali become breeding grounds for terrorists and extremist groups?
These are questions that sub-Saharan Africa has to find answers to as a matter of urgency. There has to be an acceptance on the part of the Western donor community that none of the historical data or theories can sufficiently answer these questions let alone surmise feasible solutions. It will be foolhardy of me to even think I have any concrete responses at this time. However, I don’t think this should stop the search for answers. There are elders who have been a force for good on the continent. People like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are living examples of wisdom that we should take heed to before it’s too late (these guys aren’t getting any younger). One of the lessons from African traditions is about seeking the counsel of wise elders in solving family and community problems. It is high time SSA goes back to basics, draw on its hidden strengths and vanquish a relentless enemy that will destroy its landscape permanently if unchecked taking with it the beauty and soul of the sub-continent. Not forgetting innocent lives already lost and still been lost daily.
Until next time…
The conflict in Mali should be discussed, as should the potential for spill over but I'm not sure which aspects of it your post is seeking to address. I'm also wary of using Sub-Saharan Africa as a synonym for Mali. That isn't because I think Mali is the only unstable SSA state but because I think merging all such conflicts and tagging them SSA conflicts hinders good analysis of the problems in these countries. Each of these conflicts has unique cultural and historical underpinnings. Mali is very different in many ways from say, Ivory Coast or Botswana. Its troubles should be analysed in a way that acknowledges this and the language we use in describing the problem can help or hinder in this regard.
ReplyDeleteFinally, am I right to infer a dislike (or disdain even?) for Western military intervention from your post? If so, that's fair enough but you don't cite any workable alternatives. It would be great to read your thoughts on the alternative approaches to intervention that you'd like to see.