COLONISATION IN REVISED FORM - AFRICA, FOREIGN AID

Sir,

As a citizen of Eswatini, and a fellow African, kindly allow me to share my thoughts on the western countries’ continued interference on the continent’s politics. My comments will largely be based on the USA’s targeted sanctions on individuals in Eswatini, published in the Eswatini News dated April 29, 2023.

To express my thoughts without sounding politically biased, it is proper to state that I am one of the many citizens of Eswatini who are dissatisfied with several decisions or rather the approach taken by the Eswatini Government, particularly, and some of the African governments in general on issues that relate to good governance and democracy. The plethora of challenges that African governments, the Eswatini Government included, face nowadays stem from what has been referred to as leadership deficiency, where the people have been increasingly losing hope and trust on governments and have resorted to destructive modes for survival, which are mostly characterised by self-help.

Stagnation

Poor coordination between governments and the people has always been a major contributing factor to economic stagnation for most African states, moreover, the people’s unresponsiveness to meaningful participation to government issues have been a result of the empty promises that have been made for votes while the citizens’ economic status has remained unchanged and, in some cases, deteriorating even further. The aforementioned challenges facing African countries are just a tip of an ice beg, the list is endless, and they are well-known. They have been a permanent feature in most African countries and most of them date to the colonial era.

Most of these challenges can be attributed to colonialisation itself, however, the position of the US of playing God over African countries has always been distasteful. The constant threats for economic sanctions that the US always throw at African countries each time they do something that the Americans feel it is against their liking has always been a huge threat to the independence of the continent. African States are independent and can run their affairs without the constant interference of the Americans. Since independence, these countries have been fighting to be recognised as economic partners as opposed to infants under the mothership of the Americans. This assertion is against the backdrop that African countries have a lot to offer if they can be recognised as economic development partners and trade partners by western countries.

Reliance

To ensure that African countries’ independence is kept in a short leash, western countries, with the US being in the forefront in ensuring the over-reliance of African countries on western countries, the western countries have been using structures such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act ( AGOA) to white-wash African countries and making it seem as if this trade arrangements are meant to benefit African countries, yet in actual fact, they are used to cement African countries’ over-reliance on western countries. Countries such as Ethiopia, Gambia and Mali, where AGOA has been used as sanctions against these countries, are a few examples to illustrate the US’s lack of respect for African countries.

Recently, the debate whether South Africa will be sanctioned for not acting on the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) warrant of arrest on President Vladimir Putin, still proves how the Americans view themselves as gods to be worshipped by African states. The most disturbing part with regard to the US’s position of playing God over African states is the fact that the Americans have in the past had their own fair share of violating the very human rights they claim to safeguard. Their fight against terrorism, which they used to set-up the Guantanamo Bay, where heinous acts such as the detention of foreign nationals without prosecution, mostly those of Islamic origins, were done. Even with heavy criticism for their obvious violation of human rights, the Americans were quick to say that sacrificing a few suspected terrorists was justified for the protection of the American people.

Strategies

When African countries come-up with their own strategies of fighting terrorism, which by the way is a worldwide problem, not an American problem, the Americans are always quick to shout ‘human rights violation’ and go as far as imposing heavy sanctions against those African States, but to them, torturing, killing and detaining people just because they identify as Islam was justifiable. This to me shows the high level of hypocrisy which African countries should take note off to clearly understand the US’s hypocrisy.

It is a known fact that some of the doors that have let the western countries invade African countries without any consequences have been opened by individuals and certain groups, who when there are certain differences within African countries, they are very quick to run to western countries for interventions. In the case of Eswatini, the progressives that have been allegedly receiving monies to influence political reforms, former Siphofaneni Member of Parliament Mduduzi Simelane, who is reportedly in the United Kingdom to gunner international support for political change in Eswatini, and the countless petitions that have been submitted to the United Nations, are part of what has given the US the grip to hold the country by its throat. It has been always the case with the invasion of African countries by the western countries that some Africans are used in the process.

Even during the slave trade, where Africans were shipped to western countries, history records that African leaders, mostly chiefs, played an active role in the entire process. One would argue that the African leaders were misled and manipulated into taking part in the slave trade as the Westerners are known for their divide and rule strategy, which, however, still highlights the fact that the history of self-sabotage will always haunt African states.
Solutions
African countries need urgent solutions, mostly to the humanitarian and economic crises that are currently facing the continent. But what we do not need is one country playing God over African countries. To those who believe that there is assistance that can ever come from the goodness of western countries’ hearts, this just shows a very worrying understanding of world politics and most importantly the lack of understanding of the destructive nature of foreign aid, regardless of its nature. To the US,  Africa is not a charity case despite the Americans strategically creating an environment that will promote Africa’s continued reliance on foreign aid. Africa is a market for goods produced in Europe. It is a supplier of raw materials to European countries. Africa is basically a trade partner for the countries of the West. It is not a dumpsite to dispose poorly produced goods that did not find decent markets in Europe. It is not a looting spot to loot minerals and manipulate its inhabitants. And moreover, it is not a lawless jungle that needs to be saved by the US. Africa deserves to be treated with respect.

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