Global Policy Forum

By Charles Mangongera

The just ended World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa provided yet another platform for the discussion of Africa's development predicament. One major issue that sparked debate is the increase in poverty on the African continent as there was consensus among the participants that indeed Africa is now worse off than it was ten years ago when the Rio Earth Summit was convened in Brazil. African leaders and the Third World community argued at the summit that the unfair nature of the global economic relations between the rich and the poor was to blame for the worsening poverty in the developing countries. They pointed out to historical injustices as being largely responsible for this.

President Robert Mugabe seized the moment to defend his violent land seizures. They took turns to lambaste the rich northern countries for perpetuating poverty on the African continent blaming colonialism and neo-colonialism as they argued that imperialism destroyed Africa's potential for growth and that today the continent still languishes because the Western powers have unleashed a neo-colonial crusade to keep Africa at bay in matters that are crucial to economic development.

But the question that many are asking is whether it is justified to continue blaming historical injustices for Africa's development problems. The sincerity of the African leaders in blaming slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism for the continent's economic stagnation is questionable.

I argue that historical injustices played a significant role in condemning Africa to poverty and underdevelopment but that, more importantly, African leaders themselves have also failed the resource-rich continent. They continue to unscrupulously harp on historical injustices to cover up for their political and economic mess that are a sad manifestation of their suppression of democratic governance. Corrupt and inefficient management of economies, greed, power hunger, disrespect for human rights, cronyism, among other vices, have contributed to the underdevelopment of Africa today.

Africa is also plagued by a plethora of wars that have ravaged the continent's resources. Angola was plunged into more than three decades of civil strife as Jonas Savimbi's rebel Unita movement and government forces fought to control the mineral rich country. A booming diamond-for-guns market masterminded by the rich and powerful Western conglomerates fuelled a war that stagnated the development of one of Africa's potentially rich countries. The search for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been painfully elusive. In Sierra Leone years of civil war left the country one of the poorest in the world. Burundi has continued to be strife-torn and the Nelson Mandela-led peace initiative has remained a "wild goose chase" as the fragile peace agreements persistently collapse.

These are some of the innumerable problems that Africa faces today and the question that should be asked is whether they are the legacy of colonialism and the perpetual neo-colonial exploitation of Africa's resources.

Western imperialism should have its fair share of blame for these problems. It is undeniable that the continent has never recovered from the looting and plunder that it was subjected to during the colonial era. It is undeniable that the Western world continues to make conscious and deliberate efforts to exacerbate Africa's isolation in the global economy. It is true that instead of helping Africa recover from the adverse impact of their colonial domination, the Western powers have sought ways to alienate Africa in terms of development by prescribing flawed experimental economic policies that have been made a precondition for aid.

The Bretonwoods institutions, the World Bank and the IMF, have formulated these policies and they have failed to steer Africa to development. African leaders have been forced to adopt these policies in return for aid with very little understanding of what the policies entail. They have assumed that they could apply the science of muddling through in implementing these policies but it has turned out that the policies are condemning the generality of African people to chronic poverty.

The point is that the Western powers are not seriously committed to helping Africa recover from the abject poverty that it is enmeshed in following the decades of imperial domination and unprecedented asset stripping that it was subjected to. This explains why today they are not willing to write off Africa's debt or to pay reparations for slavery.

But one cannot afford to be blind to the damage that African leaders have inflicted on their own continent. Yes colonialialism retarded Africa's growth but this has been exacerbated by a culture of irresponsible leadership that believes in using political power to amass wealth and to build rich empires while the generality of the people bear the brunt of poverty.

The civil wars and conflicts that engulf Africa today have primarily stemmed from the manipulation of people's frustrations by some unscrupulous Western powers. These frustrations have emanated from persistent failures by the people to change unpopular and corrupt governments through legal means as leaders have manipulated constitutions to hold onto power even when they have lost the legitimacy to rule.

Zimbabwe is a classical example of an African country that has seen its potential for growth destroyed by the suppression of democratic governance for selfish reasons. There is no doubt that the country had its mineral and agricultural wealth looted under a century of British imperial domination. But to continue blaming the British for the country's problems today is hypocrisy of the worst kind.

When Zimbabwe attained independence from the British in 1980, it had the potential for development, and indeed the first decade of Mugabe's rule was a period of economic growth. But Mugabe adopted IMF and World Bank structural adjustment policies that he had very little knowledge about and this resulted in a significant downturn in the economy that saw unemployment, inequality and poverty rising.

Meanwhile the people had been paying a blind eye to Mugabe's intensification of his grip on power and when they eventually felt the pinch of the austerity measures, Mugabe became very unpopular. Several years of frustration with Mugabe's regime resulted in the birth of a very strong opposition which threatened to end ZANU PF hegemony and that is when the crisis began.

Faced with growing opposition and the prospects of losing power, Mugabe has suppressed democratic governance. He has caused mayhem and has suspended the rule of law to maintain his grip on power. He has silenced voices of dissent by gagging the media and clamping down on the opposition. He is chasing away white commercial farmers because of his mistaken impression that they are the opposition in Zimbabwe. It has not dawned to him that the opposition in Zimbabwe is a strong force that is bound by nothing but a desire to end his wayward policies.

This has been the scenario in many other African countries. After years of destruction under imperial forces, African countries have been ruled by a bunch of idle and thieving leaders who continue to blame colonialism and neo-colonialism for their persistent failures. Their governments are usually very corrupt and they have no respect for democratic ideals in their endeavour to remain in power.

Africa therefore faces a dilemma in that while the West seeks to maintain its economic superiority over the continent through unorthodox means, Africa itself has contributed to the tragedy that it is today because its own sons and daughters have failed to steer the continent to economic development. They have instead pursued personal enrichment through plundering their economies. They have engaged in several unnecessary wars into which they have been manipulated by powerful gun manufacturing conglomerates that are making billions of dollars of profit in the lucrative guns-for-minerals trade.

Until African leaders realise that they have to build a strong coalition among themselves and the people in resisting neo-colonial forces, the future of the continent is doomed. It is time leaders stopped harping on neo-colonialism as the only cause of Africa's problems and looked at themselves and the damage they have done to the continent. They have been equally destructive.

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