George Orwell’s Animal Farm is perhaps the most powerful rendition of what is happening in Africa.
I can never get out of my mind when the farm animals, at the end of the book, peak in to the house to see what the pigs are up to – and the pigs that were once the saviors of the farm have become as torturous as the humans who had once ruled the farm – and worse.
This in my mind is what some of our leaders here in Africa have become. And they will continue to eat the fat of the land while the experience of the majority is poverty beyond what any human should endure.
To progress and create a different more prosperous Africa for our children, we must demand Orwell’s truth – Some animals are NOT more equal than others!
On its current path – the future of the entire Africa is this:
"To the Excellencies and officials of Europe: We suffer enormously in Africa. Help us. We have problems in Africa. We lack rights as children. We have war and illness, we lack food… We want to study, and we ask you to help us to study so we can be like you, in Africa."
(Message found on the bodies of Guinean teenagers Yaguine Koita and Fode Tounkra, stowaways who died attempting to reach Europe in the landing gear of an airliner)
- Excerpt taken from Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid
The above is what we have been reduced to – begging first world countries to let us in because our own countries have gone rot.
I watched Hosni Mubarak on TV a short while ago – standing tall and proud – an utter resolve on his face to rule Egypt for another 30 years should he live that long… I watched as Gbagbo marched majestically on the red carpet that led to his joke of an inauguration after the Ivorians had legitimately tossed him out of power.
Now our leaders are talking endlessly to “resolve” the Côte D’Ivoire crisis and we all know what they mean by “peaceful” settlement – Gbagbo gets a power sharing deal. He ends up being president and the rightful winner Alassane Outtara will end up as Prime Minister and Côte D’Ivoire.
For however long the two will be in power Côte D’Ivoire will fail to prosper because instead of a decisive path to progress the two factions will forever be fighting – butting egos. Ultimately the Ivorians will ultimately be the losers.
Interesting how Botswana appeared to break ranks with other African leaders who failed to call Gbabgo’s tactics exactly what they were – a ploy to stay in power – whatever the cost to his country.
Botswana called the situation in Côte D’Ivoire a disgrace.
“The voice of the people must be respected,” said Phandu Sekelemani, Botswana’s Foreign Minister at an AU conference that discussed the Côte D’Ivoire impasse.
He went on to say, “It makes a mockery of our shared values, which include democracy... Is our understanding of democracy the same? ...If I don’t like the results, I can cause confusion and remain there.”
And how about election processes being questioned AFTER the incumbent loses?
Political Analyst Chrys Matubatuba worries that power sharing governments may be regressing the continent to an era when leaders enjoyed a life time of kingship.
But the real question is can power sharing government truly govern in a progressive manner?
Can power sharing Governments Govern?
Matubatuba begins his response to this with: “The settlement for power sharing sacrifices democracy… be it for the sake of peace. It’s a mockery of democracy and of the election process.”
He and other observers argue that bloodshed and chaos are threats the losing incumbents hold over their country and over mediators.
In their paper Lessons Learned from Power-Sharing in Africa, Harvard Strand and Scott Gates, from the Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW) contend that “power-sharing can be a useful remedy under certain conditions.”
I’ll summarize their case studies:
Burundi
In 2004, an advanced power-sharing accord was reached. This led to democratic elections and the installment of a new government in 2005.
The power-sharing provisions are very inclusive… Power-sharing has succeeded in incorporating both the major ethic groups in the country. However, the situation is still unstable.
Kenya
A power-sharing agreement between Kenya’s two main political parties was reached in March 2008…
It is otherwise a minimalist and purely inclusionary power-sharing agreement.
The agreement had the immediate effect of restoring peace and stability in Kenya. Yet, the accord’s long-term durability is far from certain.
The fundamental causes of the conflict, inequalities in access to power and resources, have not been addressed.
These issues remain latent sources of conflict that have the potential to derail the current grand coalition government and lead to renewed conflict.
Liberia
During its fourteen-year civil war, Liberia was dominated by a number of rebel groups. Power-sharing was an important aspect of most peace agreements signed to end the conflict…
But the problem of spoilers meant that as one peace arrangement failed after the other, power sharing was more and more tailored to fit the rebel organizations rather than society.
The final power-sharing arrangement has proven itself a success as a transitional vehicle, but in Liberia no such arrangement has been viable without third-party guarantees.
Nigeria
Various forms of power-sharing institutions have been introduced in Nigeria after the civil war, but they have seldom been implemented in a meaningful way.
The increase in the number of states is allegedly done to better integrate minorities, but the fact that many of these increases happened during military governments point to another plausible cause: a “divide and rule”-strategy.
While some small minorities gained representation… their influence remained insignificant. Larger ethnic groups were split up into several states, which tended to dilute the influence of these groups.
As a consequence of their inferior position, several smaller groups and fringe organizations have used violent means in Nigerian politics.
In order to oppose this tendency, a number of inclusive power sharing laws have been passed… [however] these measures fail to address the most important issue for these minorities: the allocation of the oil income.
Wealth sharing is administrated according to a number of contradictory principles, which leaves all groups more or less aggrieved.
Sierra Leone
Power-sharing in Sierra Leone served one specific purpose: to produce peace. This end was reached, although power-sharing as a system of governance failed.
Strand and Gates’ conclusion: power-sharing has done more to establish
peace than to promote good governance.
For more detail on their paper visit: http://www.prio.no/sptrans/790247883/Comparative%20Policy%20Brief.pdf
Egypt is the latest African country to hold the interest of the world.
Regardless of how soon President Mubarak leaves some observers say a power sharing government may still be on the cards for that country.
Of course there remain many complex issues with each country when it comes to governance.
Perhaps Dambisa Moyo, puts it best on her book Dead Aid – “The particular role of strong civil society is to ensure that the government is held accountable for its actions, through fundamental civil reforms other than simply holding elections.”
It is this writer’s belief that until we the people of Africa can create and maintain systems that put us in power and not our governments – we can expect to see more crises over elections.
Ms Moyo quotes Peter Bauer who says, ultimately this focus on politics, creates a scenario where instead of putting our energies into economic productivity those energies are expended on political life which ultimately weakens the social construction of a country.
Country after country in Africa has proved that very few times does changes in governance translate to, long term, positive change for the masses.
If this were not true the growth of various African economies would have translated to decreased poverty levels for people on the ground.
In its report titled Africa and the Monterrey Consensus: Tracking Performance and Progress, the UN Economic Commission for Africa notes that “African economies continued to sustain the growth momentum of previous years, recording an overall real GDP growth rate of 5.8% in 2007.
"...The report also notes that economic growth recovery in Africa has not yet translated into meaningful social development and has not benefited vulnerable groups.”
More recent reports on Africa indicate that the 2007 picture has not changed.
All the animals on the farm need to be empowered.
There will always be that group of pigs that slowly and very subtly, at first, change the rules to benefit them.
Orwell’s pigs clearly enjoyed their position of privilege and boy did they squeeze every iota of luxury from that farm – at the expense of all the other animals!
The pigs that had led the revolution to oust the humans were now the oppressors.
Can there be a better story that warns of the danger we place ourselves in by utterly pinning our hopes of progress and development on one person or group of people?
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Social grants: a bane on progress
South Africa is a complex society faced with complex challenges. Among them our biggest wound, unemployment.
In my mind the economy appears lop sided, limping along, trying hard to fix this wound and only managing to pacify the pain. Temporarily.
Enter the social grant system. I remain undecided about its efficacy and whether there is indefinite room for it.
One of our staff told me of a woman who was waiting for her child’s grant money so she could fix her hair.
Last week there was a story on the news about a woman who had abandoned her children and yet continued to chow their money while her 19 year old daughter fended for her three siblings.
While these stories may only make a very small minority of families who depend on the social grant for their existence they do raise questions.
A while ago Wife Swap had an episode where a family living on the dole swapped wives with a hard working farming family.
The farmer who got up every single morning before the sun was up made about the same amount of money a month this non working family received from the government.
Nothing is free – there is always someone footing the bill.
For me it is not about my hard earned money going into tax from which these social grants are funded (I believe very strongly that we as humans are responsible for one another) it's about whether we're fostering pride in people that comes from being self sustaining.
The reason I believe it is far better to give than to receive is because if you're giving it means you're at the higher end of the chart.
However there is no shame in receiving - but it must only be for a while.
My family fell on some really hard times and I am so grateful for people who gave us shelter, food and sometimes even money until we got back on our feet.
There must be a defined period for which a person is on the receiving end because always having a hand out erodes something in one's soul.
The unemployment issue in this country cannot be ignored. It is real and it exists.
Perhaps also the access to market for entrepreneurs is still a road under construction.
In the same breath I do wonder whether or not social grants keep the poor poor and thus a continuous drain on resources that could otherwise be used for more productive ways to develop our country.
If this be the case then perhaps social grants should come with a strategy with each disbursement that will end up with self sustenance for the recipient and thus a deadline for how long the grant will be given.
My hope for South Africa, Zambia and the rest of the African continent is to see an end to poverty driven by our innovation and us realizing our potential as a people.
I doubt that will come from us always being on the receiving end of the economy.
At the moment all I’ve said is opinion but I do prefer having an informed decision which is what moneymula.com is about.
So I’m on the search for information that will help me come to a conclusion I can be confident in and thus work towards.
In the meantime do read Baz’ blog. It’s hilarious and may echo sentiments some of you may have.
Keep in mind he is talking about the UK and not South Africa.
Happy reading.
Dole money entitlement
...I feel quite strongly about the unemployment issue. Fair enough, if somebody is GENUINELY seeking work and wants a job, but are struggling to find one, I sympathise. Naturally, I’m not against people with genuine illness or mental illness either. For the rest…. they need to be made to work for their "free" money. To read more go to http://www.ukcentral.co.uk/rants/opinions/dole-money-entitlement.html
In my mind the economy appears lop sided, limping along, trying hard to fix this wound and only managing to pacify the pain. Temporarily.
Enter the social grant system. I remain undecided about its efficacy and whether there is indefinite room for it.
One of our staff told me of a woman who was waiting for her child’s grant money so she could fix her hair.
Last week there was a story on the news about a woman who had abandoned her children and yet continued to chow their money while her 19 year old daughter fended for her three siblings.
While these stories may only make a very small minority of families who depend on the social grant for their existence they do raise questions.
A while ago Wife Swap had an episode where a family living on the dole swapped wives with a hard working farming family.
The farmer who got up every single morning before the sun was up made about the same amount of money a month this non working family received from the government.
Nothing is free – there is always someone footing the bill.
For me it is not about my hard earned money going into tax from which these social grants are funded (I believe very strongly that we as humans are responsible for one another) it's about whether we're fostering pride in people that comes from being self sustaining.
The reason I believe it is far better to give than to receive is because if you're giving it means you're at the higher end of the chart.
However there is no shame in receiving - but it must only be for a while.
My family fell on some really hard times and I am so grateful for people who gave us shelter, food and sometimes even money until we got back on our feet.
There must be a defined period for which a person is on the receiving end because always having a hand out erodes something in one's soul.
The unemployment issue in this country cannot be ignored. It is real and it exists.
Perhaps also the access to market for entrepreneurs is still a road under construction.
In the same breath I do wonder whether or not social grants keep the poor poor and thus a continuous drain on resources that could otherwise be used for more productive ways to develop our country.
If this be the case then perhaps social grants should come with a strategy with each disbursement that will end up with self sustenance for the recipient and thus a deadline for how long the grant will be given.
My hope for South Africa, Zambia and the rest of the African continent is to see an end to poverty driven by our innovation and us realizing our potential as a people.
I doubt that will come from us always being on the receiving end of the economy.
At the moment all I’ve said is opinion but I do prefer having an informed decision which is what moneymula.com is about.
So I’m on the search for information that will help me come to a conclusion I can be confident in and thus work towards.
In the meantime do read Baz’ blog. It’s hilarious and may echo sentiments some of you may have.
Keep in mind he is talking about the UK and not South Africa.
Happy reading.
Dole money entitlement
...I feel quite strongly about the unemployment issue. Fair enough, if somebody is GENUINELY seeking work and wants a job, but are struggling to find one, I sympathise. Naturally, I’m not against people with genuine illness or mental illness either. For the rest…. they need to be made to work for their "free" money. To read more go to http://www.ukcentral.co.uk/rants/opinions/dole-money-entitlement.html
Dear Ms Moyo on your book Dead Aid...
Dear Ms Moyo,
I do hope you read this mail and I hope very much that you, and not your staff, will respond to it.
I am on page 54 of Dead Aid and for over two months have been unable to read on. The rage in me is suffocating.
I have not yet read what your thoughts are on how the issues in African can be solved however after what I have read so far and having lived on this continent pretty much all my life I am loathe to say that
change is happening far too slow and my concern is that perhaps Africa will never change.
And this Ms Moyo I am ashamed to say has raised a hatred for our continent I have never been able to admit to until now.
We’re a joke the rest of the planet cannot get over. Africans and their inability. My fear is that even we, the people of this continent, believe that.
I conversed with a man the other day and bemoaned the state of our roads – and black as he was he said “Well that’s what happens when you put a black man in office!”
So Ms Moyo while I have become perhaps one of your biggest fans - for I cannot stop talking about you – I wonder whether change will come from policy makers and our governors or whether it will, again as it has in the past, come from us the people?
I think of my children and my fear is I don’t know what to tell them about pride in who they are when they see their own govern and act in such deplorable ways.
So often I’m told that the democracies we now covet took centuries to establish. We do not have centuries Ms Moyo – our children are lost now.
I believe very strongly that it is the people who create the system that should govern them and then hold their governments to the principles of that system.
I don’t mean to sound weak but I think you may share this sentiment –how does a hungry man fight for a system when all he can think of is the next meal for his family? How can a woman demand justice, such as is the case for the women who are continuously raped in the DRC and elsewhere, when all she can think of is how she will survive the very moment she is living in?
I cannot believe, in fact refuse to believe, that this world does not have what is needed to protect this women. For me Ms Moyo, my sentiment is that no outside help is coming for Africa. We have to do this ourselves. I feel the world is too busy laughing at us to take as seriously – we have taught them that.
I hear of al these shifts that appear to elevate our beggary status – but I see the people of this continent every day – those changes are not reaching them.
So I want to say to all those policy makers, in places like Davos who want a pat on the back for doing so much good for Africa, that they should just wait a while on the applause – I was in Zambia just a few months ago and I can attest to the fact that change has not reached the townships of Lusaka – children are dying of malaria as their mothers wait in queues to be attended to – in places like Mansa malnutrition has built a home – no Ms Moyo, they should not applaud just yet – the rot here has not even begun to clear up just yet.
I read an African.com interview with Mr. Shantayanan Devarajan, of the World Bank’s Africa region.
And when asked for his thoughts on your book, he is reported to have responded: “She’s asking if aid has helped or hurt Africa and says aid should be replaced with private capital flows (PCF). Though I sympathize with her, the book’s publishing was imperfectly timed, right before PCFs dwindled. PCF is preferable to aid, but it isn’t available. Less aid may be needed, but African governments also lose revenue by not charging full price for utilities. For example, some governments subsidize electricity but if the government can’t pay the subsidies, electricity cutoffs occur.”
As learned as Mr. Devarajan may be his attitude annoyed me. Your book came at a perfect time in fact I wish it had come decades ago. And yet I do believe that things happen as they should.
I was born in Zambia and have lived in South Africa for the past 19 years. There are times I wished I could go back home but the economics are such a dreadful deterrent I’m ashamed to speak of them to the South Africans who consider people like me a bane on their existence.
While I do not see your book and the adoption of your thinking as Africa’s only savior – my hope is that African people will adopt it as a life-jacket. I hope more Africans will come up with solutions. I fear these solutions will hardly come from our so called leaders. For it appears to me, even from what I’ve read from your book so far, that the status quo suits our leaders perfectly.
I am not as hopeful as you may be or the many people that keep on chanting that it’s Africa’s time to shine. We are sinking in a cesspool of madness, greed and disorganization.
The African child has so little to look up to and is raised in an environment that tells them that they cannot be great – and it is not their fault – they are African who can blame their inability?
I say this because living on this continent this is my observation.
I was living in Europe when Ms Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I tell you after reading of her achievement I felt ten feet taller.
I feel the same about your achievements and yet your book presents to me a hopelessness that I cannot shake.
But of course it is unfair of me to say this until I have read your book completely.
I thought to share these thoughts because they have been nagging at me and I thought to speak to you about them.
I do hope you read this mail and I hope very much that you, and not your staff, will respond to it.
I am on page 54 of Dead Aid and for over two months have been unable to read on. The rage in me is suffocating.
I have not yet read what your thoughts are on how the issues in African can be solved however after what I have read so far and having lived on this continent pretty much all my life I am loathe to say that
change is happening far too slow and my concern is that perhaps Africa will never change.
And this Ms Moyo I am ashamed to say has raised a hatred for our continent I have never been able to admit to until now.
We’re a joke the rest of the planet cannot get over. Africans and their inability. My fear is that even we, the people of this continent, believe that.
I conversed with a man the other day and bemoaned the state of our roads – and black as he was he said “Well that’s what happens when you put a black man in office!”
So Ms Moyo while I have become perhaps one of your biggest fans - for I cannot stop talking about you – I wonder whether change will come from policy makers and our governors or whether it will, again as it has in the past, come from us the people?
I think of my children and my fear is I don’t know what to tell them about pride in who they are when they see their own govern and act in such deplorable ways.
So often I’m told that the democracies we now covet took centuries to establish. We do not have centuries Ms Moyo – our children are lost now.
I believe very strongly that it is the people who create the system that should govern them and then hold their governments to the principles of that system.
I don’t mean to sound weak but I think you may share this sentiment –how does a hungry man fight for a system when all he can think of is the next meal for his family? How can a woman demand justice, such as is the case for the women who are continuously raped in the DRC and elsewhere, when all she can think of is how she will survive the very moment she is living in?
I cannot believe, in fact refuse to believe, that this world does not have what is needed to protect this women. For me Ms Moyo, my sentiment is that no outside help is coming for Africa. We have to do this ourselves. I feel the world is too busy laughing at us to take as seriously – we have taught them that.
I hear of al these shifts that appear to elevate our beggary status – but I see the people of this continent every day – those changes are not reaching them.
So I want to say to all those policy makers, in places like Davos who want a pat on the back for doing so much good for Africa, that they should just wait a while on the applause – I was in Zambia just a few months ago and I can attest to the fact that change has not reached the townships of Lusaka – children are dying of malaria as their mothers wait in queues to be attended to – in places like Mansa malnutrition has built a home – no Ms Moyo, they should not applaud just yet – the rot here has not even begun to clear up just yet.
I read an African.com interview with Mr. Shantayanan Devarajan, of the World Bank’s Africa region.
And when asked for his thoughts on your book, he is reported to have responded: “She’s asking if aid has helped or hurt Africa and says aid should be replaced with private capital flows (PCF). Though I sympathize with her, the book’s publishing was imperfectly timed, right before PCFs dwindled. PCF is preferable to aid, but it isn’t available. Less aid may be needed, but African governments also lose revenue by not charging full price for utilities. For example, some governments subsidize electricity but if the government can’t pay the subsidies, electricity cutoffs occur.”
As learned as Mr. Devarajan may be his attitude annoyed me. Your book came at a perfect time in fact I wish it had come decades ago. And yet I do believe that things happen as they should.
I was born in Zambia and have lived in South Africa for the past 19 years. There are times I wished I could go back home but the economics are such a dreadful deterrent I’m ashamed to speak of them to the South Africans who consider people like me a bane on their existence.
While I do not see your book and the adoption of your thinking as Africa’s only savior – my hope is that African people will adopt it as a life-jacket. I hope more Africans will come up with solutions. I fear these solutions will hardly come from our so called leaders. For it appears to me, even from what I’ve read from your book so far, that the status quo suits our leaders perfectly.
I am not as hopeful as you may be or the many people that keep on chanting that it’s Africa’s time to shine. We are sinking in a cesspool of madness, greed and disorganization.
The African child has so little to look up to and is raised in an environment that tells them that they cannot be great – and it is not their fault – they are African who can blame their inability?
I say this because living on this continent this is my observation.
I was living in Europe when Ms Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I tell you after reading of her achievement I felt ten feet taller.
I feel the same about your achievements and yet your book presents to me a hopelessness that I cannot shake.
But of course it is unfair of me to say this until I have read your book completely.
I thought to share these thoughts because they have been nagging at me and I thought to speak to you about them.
Power sharing governments in Africa... what a joke
Dare I say that if I were Laurent Gbagbo truly I would be ashamed - but not a smidgen of shame on his face as he marched up the red carpet in his self-declared victory parade to inaugurate himself leader once again - how shameful!
If Cote d’Ivoire ends up with a power sharing government I think I'll have to do much to stop from hurling my entire insides out.
Power sharing governments do not work and it makes me ill that so much is given to despots the majority of people they once led do not want anymore.
I see power sharing governments as a way to pacify tantrums like one would pacify a child by offering them candy.
Only in the case of governance the candy are the people of a country who go out to vote and their votes are insulted by making the loser a winner.
Anyway for those that think power sharing government are a way forward - I do welcome your thoughts.
I think they are a MASSIVE joke and a huge impediment to progress.
If Cote d’Ivoire ends up with a power sharing government I think I'll have to do much to stop from hurling my entire insides out.
Power sharing governments do not work and it makes me ill that so much is given to despots the majority of people they once led do not want anymore.
I see power sharing governments as a way to pacify tantrums like one would pacify a child by offering them candy.
Only in the case of governance the candy are the people of a country who go out to vote and their votes are insulted by making the loser a winner.
Anyway for those that think power sharing government are a way forward - I do welcome your thoughts.
I think they are a MASSIVE joke and a huge impediment to progress.
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