Le partage de l’Afrique à la Conférence de Berlin de 1884
As we talk about neo-colonialism, and the new scramble for Africa, I thought about sharing this poem ‘They Came‘ by Cameroonian writer François Sengat-Kuo published in Fleurs de Latérite, Heures Rouges Éditions Clé, 1971. I had previously shared this poem here. In the poem, Sengat-Kuo talks about colonization and how Africans were fooled by European missionaries who were always preceding European explorers and armies. I particularly like the sentence: “they came, … bible on hand, guns behind.” Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, said it slightly differently, “When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.” (Nobel Peace prize Laureate, Desmond Tutu, of South Africa, is said to have popularized the quote). How true! In the days of colonization, Europeans claimed to be bringing civilization and Christianity to pagans across the globe. Today, they bring development, globalization, and democracy… same ol’ thing → submission and slavery to the people. Enjoy!
Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend about leadership in Africa: the endless complaints about our poor leadership, or the killing of our good leaders, and then my friend said talking about Mali, “I wish we had more Assimi Goïta, Choguel Maïga, Abdoulaye Maïga, … on the continent.” Although my heart warmed at this statement, it reminded me that the fight starts at the bottom with each of us. We have to be the leader we want to see; we have to be the Assimi we want to have as a leader. Leadership starts with us, at the individual level. We cannot leave all the task to Assimi or whoever is at the head, we have to do our part; that is the only way to move forward. Otherwise, if something happens to the leader, what will become of our cause? In the article “How do We Continue the Fight when the Head has been Cut Off?”, I wrote, “the prize of freedom is too great to lay on the shoulders of one man, one leader, or a few… we do not follow men, we follow ideas… we are not fighting for men, we are fighting for our right to dignity, our right to humanity, our liberty.“
African Renaissance Monument in Dakar (Wikipedia)
Very often it is said among Africans, that we have the leaders we have because that is, at the root, who we are. When you have watched Thomas Sankara, Amilcar Cabral, Patrice Lumumba, Samora Machel, Modibo Keita, Kwame Nkrumah, Ruben Um Nyobe, Felix Moumie, Sylvanus Olympio, Ernest Ouandie, Barthelemy Boganda, Mehdi Ben Barka, Muammar Kadhafi, and many others get assassinated by or in conjunction with foreign forces because of their vision for their countries, it is easy to cower away, and just bend the heads and accept whatever comes in silence. However, cowering in silence, perpetuates the problem endlessly. People often say, we all come on earth and will have to leave at some point, why not leave with dignity? Why cower away? If we start at our level, getting involved in our communities, doing our part (whatever our talents are), being there for each other, do you really think corruption will persist? Let us not wait for Messiahs (and we know how rare those are), but let us start laying the bricks to the foundation of the home we want to live in. If you are an educator, make sure to lay the foundation for the best education possible; if you are a brick layer, do your work with integrity; if you are an okada driver, drive with integrity; if you are a housewife, raise the next leader; if you are a business man, make sure honesty is at the core of your business; if you are a student, arm yourself to be the next leader; … If you want to be led by honest people, then deal with honesty in your daily encounters; if you want to have a transparent government, start with transparency at your level, etc. As my favorite quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr goes, “If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, “Here lived a great sweeper who did his job well.” ” We all play a part in this whole that is our homeland, and each one of us is needed!
Thomas Sankara once said in one of his interviews, “if you kill Sankara, you will have a million Sankaras.” Let’s have a million Assimi Goïta, a million Choguel Maïga! Let us have millions of African leaders! Let us have a billion exemplary leaders and more!
The New Scramble for Africa (Source: Source: Dr Jack & Curtis for City Press, National Institute African Studies (NIAS))
American Vice President Kamala Harris is travelling to Africa this week. Her visit comes on the heels of French president Macron’s tour of Africa (Gabon, Angola, DRC, and RC) at the beginning of March, Pope Francis’ visits to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan at the end of January and February. Less than 2 weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkenannounced—during his visit to Niger—that the United States government will provide $150 million in aid to the Sahel region of Africa. Is it a surprise that this aid is going to Niger, country which borders Mali and Burkina Faso? Jill Biden was in Namibia and Kenya in February; and there were many more American envoys crisscrossing the continent. Is it a surprise that the US is increasing the number of its AFRICOM bases in Africa? Just northeast of Niger’s capital Niamey, near the city of Agadez, is Air Base 201, with one of the world’s largest drone bases that is home to several armed MQ-9 Reapers.
Le partage de l’Afrique a la Conference de Berlin de 1884
This sudden open frenzy for Africa reminds us too much of the Scramble for Africa, after the Berlin Conference when Africa was partitioned and shared among European countries. After all, Africa holds over 50% of some of the most valuable minerals in the world, the largest youthful population on earth, and still has the largest mass of arable lands on earth. Truly Africa is the future, and just like during the cold war era when African soil was the theater of the fight between the east and the west, Africa is now once again at the heart of fight for resources. What this does today with Russia, France, the US, China, and all the other nations courting Africa is give Africans more opportunities for better partnerships, or at least deals that actually benefit their populations and not like what France used to do and still does in Africa, exploiting resources for free, not paying taxes to the locals, and not building any schools, hospitals, or even roads. Can Africans unite, and look out for Africa this time around? These promise to be turbulent times, but Africans have to rise up and stand for Africa’s gains, not signing up deals that line up the pockets of only a few, but truly look for the future and the best of our continent. Below is the excerpt about the VP’s visit from the BBC. The American VP promises more investments as usual… they always give aid programs and debt while they take mines, resources, etc… Enough empty promises and paper (valueless) money for resources. Why not teach the people to fish? African people are tired of getting the fish!
====
Map and Flag of Ghana
First it was the US secretary of state who went on a trip to Africa, now it is the vice-president and later in the year the president himself is expected to come.
This flurry of visits by top figures in the US administration reflects a growing awareness that the US needs to deepen its engagement with the continent.
This all comes in the face of growing competition from other global powers, especially China and Russia.
Vice-President Kamala Harris started her nine-day trip in Ghana on Sunday, where she was greeted by drummers and dancers at Kotoko International Airport. She will later go to Tanzania and Zambia.
Ghana, with its focus on strengthening ties with the African diaspora as well as a record of several peaceful democratic transfers of power, provides an ideal launchpad for Ms Harris.
Her trip, according to an official statement, is intended to “build on” December’s US-Africa summit in Washington where President Joe Biden said the US was “all in on Africa’s future“.
But it is that future, boosted by a youthful and growing population as well as the continent’s immense natural resources, that have attracted a lot of other powerful nations vying for influence.
Flag of Ethiopia
While Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s recent visit to Ethiopia and Niger focused on these countries’ security challenges, the vice-president’s tour will take her to nations facing serious economic problems.
… [University of Ghana Economist and professor of finance, Godfred Alufar Bokpin] told the BBC the interest the US is showing in the country and its debt crisis “is good” but he is worried about what he described as “unfavourable terms of trade” with creditor nations.
… There is a growing sentiment on the continent that Africa should have a free choice in its relationships with the rest of the world.
“Zambia sees the United States in the same way as it sees China and Russia – a friend,” Dr Sishuwa told the BBC.
“When a country turns to China, or Russia, or the US for support, this should not be seen as snubbing one major power bloc or the other.“
He said attempts to seek exclusive relationships with African countries may be counterproductive and unsustainable.
This echoed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s comments during a visit to Washington last year when he said: “We should not be told by anyone who we associate with.” …
FESPACO 2023 theme ‘African Cinema and Culture of Peace’
The biennial African film festival, FESPACO, took place this year from 25 February to March 4. On March 4, the winner was announced, and Tunisian Youssef Chebbi won the Golden Stallion of Yennenga (Etalon d’or de Yennenga) for his film ‘Ashkal‘ which centres on the investigation into the killing of a caretaker on a construction site at Carthage on the outskirts of his hometown. He won the first prize over Burkinabe filmwriter Apolline Traore, who picked up the Silver Stallion of Yennenga for the film ‘Sira‘, while the Bronze Stallion was awarded to Kenya’s Angela Wamai for ‘Shimoni‘.
FESPACO 2023
The Festival Panafricain du cinema et de la television de Ouagadougou (FESPACO) is the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, which happens to be the largest African film festival. It is held biennially in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. First established in 1969, and boasting some of Africa’s greatest writers and filmmakers (like Ousmane Sembene), the FESPACO offers a chance for African filmmakers and professionals to showcase their work, exchange ideas, and meet other filmmakers, and sponsors.
The Golden Stallion of Yennenga
There were a total of 170 entries selected for the FESPACO festival in the capital Ouagadougou, including 15 fiction feature films in contention for the Yennenga Golden Stallion award and a prize of around $30,000. A big win for women filmmakers, with the second and third prizes won by Apolline Traore and Angela Wamai respectively. Burkinabe filmmaker Apolline Traore won the Silver Stallion for Sira, about a woman kidnapped by Jihadists, and Kenyan director Angela Wamai took home the Bronze Stallion forShimoni, about a schoolteacher rebuilding his life in his remote village after a harsh stint in jail. In 2019, Burkinabe director Apolline Traore had said that any award had to be earned, not considered a token gesture; we are glad for the recognition her work and that of others is getting recognized.
The film, ‘Cuba in Africa‘ produced by Negash Abdurahman won the Thomas Sankara Prize. The film talks about the altruism of Cubans who sacrificed their sons and daughters on behalf of Africa; Cuban volunteers gave their lives to help Angola, Namibia, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, and others win independence, and contributed to the fall of apartheid in South Africa. It is a story all Africans should learn.
The 29th edition of Fespaco will be held from 22 February to 1 March 2025, also in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
March 8th marks International Women’s Day (IWD). Every year around the world it is commemorated in a variety of ways: it is a public holiday in over 25 countries, and is observed socially or locally in others to celebrate and promote the achievements of women, and address key issues pertaining such as women’s rights, gender equality, equal pay, reproductive rights, violence against women, and many others. In some countries, women march on that, while in others it is customary for men and women to give their female colleagues and loved ones flowers and gifts and show equality towards the other gender. This year, we are posting this beautiful musical collaboration from Tanzania titled “Superwoman“. It is truly an amazing work of art, which celebrates women of all walks of life in song, and highlights Tanzanian and African cultures as a whole. Enjoy and share by telling the ladies around you how awesome they are, and superwomen!
King Mandume ya Ndemufayo, portrait extracted from a photograph of the King with British representatives in South Africa
Mandume, king of the Cuanhama (Oukwanyama) principal subgroup of the Ovambo in Southern Angola, was one of the last and most important resistance leader against Portuguese conquest in Angola. By the size of his army, he could be compared to Samori Touré, but he did not have the same historic aura or military genius and given his very short life, he has remained unknown to many. Yet, in 1915, he held in his hands for 10 days the scourge of the balance of power in Southern Angola directly, and indirectly in Angola as a whole. Mandume is celebrated by many nationalists in Luanda as one of their heroes because he fought against Portuguese advances inside Angolan territory. He was a leader of the Ovambo resistance, defending the independence of his people, the Cuanhama so as not to get absorbed within Angola. Given European drawing of African boundaries during the 1884Berlin Conference, the Cuanhama found themselves between areas of Portuguese West Africa (Angola) and German South West Africa (Namibia); thus Mandume has also entered the pantheon of the Namibian resistance. Who was Mandume?
King Mandume ya Ndemufayo, probably in Oihole, sometime before 1916
Mandume ya Ndemufayo was a simple ethno-nationalist, who refused to be colonized and had about 35,000 to 40,000 armed fighters; more than any Angolan nationalists ever had before 1974. He took over the reins of the Cuanhama kingdom in 1911 and his reign lasted until 1917 when he died of either suicide or machine gun fire while under attack from South African forces. Ya Ndemufayo grew up during a time of significant upheaval in the Oukwanyama kingdom due to the presence of European merchants and missionaries. As King Nande’s nephew (his mother was the king’s sister), he was third in line for succession to the Kwanyama throne. To protect his life as royal child heir to the throne, Mandume had to live in various homesteads. King Nande died on 5 February 1911 and Mandume succeeded him at barely 18 years old. Immediately upon ascending the throne, he moved the royal residence to Ondjiva (now in Angola). He could be thought of as a neo-traditionalist leader, who, even though he studied in the German mission schools, he spoke German, and a bit of Portuguese, and championed the independence of his people. Strongly anti-European, he expelled Portuguese traders from Kwanyama territory to denounce price inflation. Given the great drought and famine which lasted from 1911 to 1916, Mandume issued decrees prohibiting the picking of unripened fruits to protect against droughts and the unneeded use of firearms, an important commodity obtained from European traders. Significantly, he also issued harsh penalties for the crime of rape and allowed women to own cattle, which was previously illegal. Overall, King Mandume sought to restore previous Kwanyama wealth and prosperity against a decaying system of local leadership. Ya Ndemufayo had a reputation for expelling Christians within the Oukwanyama kingdom. Numerous Christian families fled to the Ondonga kingdom of the Ovambos. Ya Ndemufayo did not favor Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries as well as German Rhenish Missionary Society Protestants within his kingdom. In some European archives, it is said that he was a tyrant, but it is unclear whether it is European propaganda (a case of the hunter telling the story of the hunt) or reality.
Flag of Ovamboland
Before Mandume, previous Cuanhama kings had fought valiantly against Portuguese invasion of their land, King Weyulu from 1885 – 1904, his brother King Nande (1904 – 1911); unfortunately, they all in the end saw no choice to the inevitable Portuguese colonization. Mandume rejected the idea of Portuguese colonial rule and demanded to be on equal terms with the colonial rulers in their distant capitals.
King Mandume with his warriors in Oihole in 1916
No European colonizer seriously challenged the well-organized and well-armed Ovambo kingdoms until 1915 and the beginning of World War I which coincided with a massive local drought. During the Battle of Omongwa in August 1915, ya Ndemufayo and the Kwanyama’s resisted a Portuguese attack led by Pereira de’Eça for three days. On 20 August, Mandume assembled several thousand men and attacked the Portuguese camp shouting “The land does not belong to the white[s]!”. After 10 hours of fighting, the Ovambo were forced to retreat due to a lack of supplies including the water which they had lost. In total, the Portuguese took 35 casualties and 57 wounded; while the Ovambo lost 25 and had 100 wounded. After the battle, the Portuguese also started claiming that German forces were helping the Ovambo because it was unimaginable to them that Africans were able to wage war like Europeans. Simultaneously, the South African forces peacefully conquered the portion of the Oukwanyama kingdom formerly located in German South West Africa; this was at a time when Germany lost the first world war, and thus all its African colonies. German South West Africa’s administration was taken over by the Union of South Africa (part of the British Empire) and the territory was administered as South West Africa under a League of Nationsmandate. Due to losses and lack of water, ya Ndemufayo first relocated the Kwanyama capital to an area south called Oihole, and then later into South West Africa. He used the border line to conduct attacks against Portuguese who were encroaching on his old territory in Southern Angola. However his attacks of Portuguese interests from his territory in South West Africa were not appreciated by the South African authorities who summoned him to Windhoek where he refused to go. In February 1917, after ya Ndemufayo refused to submit to South African control, he died in battle against the South Africans who had mounted an attack against him. The cause of his death is disputed; South African records show his death from machine-gun fire, while oral and popular history described his death as suicide, after being wounded so he could not be taken in by enemy forces. After his death, the South African administration abolished the Kwanyama-Kingship which was only restored in 1998, after over 8 decades.
Mandume Ndemufayo Ave in Windhoek, Namibia
Today, Mandume Ya Ndemufayo is honored as a national hero in both Angola and Namibia. He is one of nine national heroes of Namibia that were identified at the inauguration of the country’s Heroes’ Acre near Windhoek. Namibia’s Founding President Sam Nujoma remarked in his inauguration speech on 26 August 2002 that: “It is better to die fighting than to become a slave of the colonial forces.” — These were the defiant words of one of Namibia’s foremost anti-colonialist fighters. He said these words in defiance when the combined [European] colonial forces insisted he should surrender. […] To his revolutionary spirit and his visionary memory we humbly offer our honor and respect.
Early resistant, bronze plaque for King Mandume ya Ndemufayo at the Independence Museum in Windhoek, Namibia
The 100th anniversary of the death of Oukwanyama King Mandume ya Ndemufayo on February 2017 was attended by thousands of Namibians at Omhedi in the Ohangwena region including former Namibian presidents, where President Hage Geingob unveiled a bust of King Mandume. If you ever visit Windhoek, Namibia, make sure to walk along the street named after King Mandume, or visit the Universidade Mandume ya Ndemufayo in Angola. Please check out the article “The Legacy of legendary Oukwanyama King still vivid“, the article from The Namibian, Order out of chaos: Mandume Ya Ndemufayo and Oral History by Patricia Hayes, and lastly Les Africains Tome 8, editions J.A. p.207 (1977) to learn more about this great last resistant to Portuguese colonial advances in Southern Angola and Northern Namibia.
It is no secret that 14 African countries today are still under the French colonial tax (The 11 Components of the French Colonial Tax in Africa), and that every year, France takes home upwards of 500 billion dollars (Africa is funding Europe!) from its currency imposed upon those countries. After all, France has no gold mines on its soil but yet is the 4th world producer of gold, gold coming from Mali, while Mali is among the world’s poorest countries on the planet. It is also no secret that Mali has been trying to free itself from this colonial tax (The French Colonial Tax at the Heart of Mali-France Tensions), and has been working tirelessly to revoke at least 8 of the 11 rules. With the unrest in Burkina Faso brought by the Jihadists from the north who were well protected by the French army brought in to protect Burkinabe interests, but who instead have created further unrest in the area, it is no surprise that Burkina Faso has joined forces with Mali, and now Guinea, to create a strategic axis which will focus on military and trade agreements between the 3 countries. Although we do not particularly trust the Guinean leader, we applaud the union between the two brothers Mali and Burkina Faso, faced with sanctions from the puppet organization that is ECOWAS. We also applaud this ‘federation’ which will give Mali and Burkina Faso access to the sea via Guinea, thus opening up these land-locked territories to further trade. Enjoy excerpts below from the People’s Dispatch; check out also the write-up on AfricaNews.
Like Thomas Sankara said, “La patrie ou la mort, nous vaincrons!”
====
Burkina Faso
The three West African countries, all of whom have recently undergone military takeovers amid rising public anger against France, have agreed to a Bamako-Conakry -Ouagadougou axis, with enhanced cooperation on matters ranging from trade to the fight against insecurity.
As France is getting ready to withdraw its troops from Burkina Faso by the end of the month, signs of a possible realignment in the region are emerging with a tripartite meeting between the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Guinea—Olivia Ragnaghnewendé, Morissanda Kouyate, and Abdoulaye Diop—held in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on February 8 and 9.
The leaders discussed a range of issues, “in particular the success of the transition processes leading to a return to a peaceful and secure constitutional order,” and, importantly, the “revitalization of the Bamako-Conakry-Ouagadougou axis” to make it a “strategic and priority area” on matters including trade and economic exchanges, mining, transport, roads and railway links, and the “fight against insecurity.”
…
Guinea-Conakry
The communique issued following last week’s tripartite meeting condemned the “mechanical imposition of sanctions which often fail to take into account the deep and complex causes of political change,” adding that these measures “affected populations already battered by insecurity and political instability,” “undermine sub-regional and African solidarity,” and “deprive ECOWAS and the AU of the contribution of the three countries needed to meet their major challenges.”
While calling for “technical, financial, concrete, and consistent support” for security efforts and the return to a normal constitutional order, the three countries have agreed to “pool their efforts and undertake joint initiatives for the lifting of the suspension measures and other restrictions.”
“We are heirs of the revolution” by Thomas Sankara
Almost 4 decades after Thomas Sankara and his 12 companions were treacherously murdered, they are given a burial at the memorial erected in Sankara’s honor in front of the place where they were assassinated, at the Conseil de l’Entente. His family has boycotted the ceremony because, as they say, how can you bury such a hero in the place where he was murdered? In a press release, they said, “We believed and continue to believe that it is fundamental that a space be found that allows to gather and appease hearts, and not to divide and increase resentment,” the Sankaras added in their statement on Sunday, calling the place chosen by the government “conflictual and controversial”. I know that Thomas Sankara now belongs to the entire nation of Burkina Faso, and even to the continent of Africa, but shouldn’t his family have a say as to where he is buried?
At the time of Thomas Sankara and companions’ murders in 1987 ordered by Blaise Compaore and his croonies, Sankara and his comrades were buried in some common fields with no names. Later, their bodies were exhumed in 2015 for legal proceedings.
What do you think? Is it okay to bury Thomas Sankara, our true panafricanist and anti-imperialist revolutionary, who fought for our freedoms, in the place where he was murdered?
As Sankara always said, Homeland or death, we shall overcome!
This is about 2 weeks old news, but it is a victory nonetheless. France has agreed to a request from Burkina Faso’s military leaders to withdraw all its troops from the country within a month. Remember that, as part of the colonial tax forced upon the Burkinabe people by France (and all other 14 past French colonies in Africa – The 11 Components of the French Colonial Tax in Africa, agreement #6), there is one rule which links Burkina Faso to France via defense agreements where France is supposed to help Burkina Faso in case of external attacks. As we have seen, France has not held its part of the bargain, instead funding and letting jihadists proliferate on the Burkinabe territory and committing abuses against the local populations. There were other defense agreements signed in 2018; this is a rescinding on the 2018 agreements. It is the third African country from which France is forced to move out its troops: Central African Republic, Mali, and now Burkina Faso. It is a victory; Little by little… As Agostinho Neto said, “A luta continua, e la vitoria e certa.” Enjoy excerpts below from Al Jazeera. For more, read also the piece by Ramzy Baroud on GulfNews.
====
France will withdraw its troops from Burkina Faso within a month after the West African country’s military rulers asked it to leave, the French foreign ministry said, in a move that will further reduce its presence in a region facing growing violence from armed groups.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the French ministry said it had received notice the previous day that a 2018 agreement on the status of French troops in the country had been terminated.
“In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the denunciation takes effect one month after receipt of the written notification. We will comply with the terms of this agreement by complying with this request.”
France retains some 200 to 400 special forces in its former colony.
On Monday, Ouagadougou said it had decided to end a military accord that allowed French troops to fight armed groups on its territory because the government wants the country to defend itself.
Burkina Faso’s national television reported on Saturday that the government had suspended a 2018 military accord with Paris on January 18, giving France one month to pull its troops out.
Protests against the French military presence have surged in Burkina Faso, partly linked to perceptions that France has not done enough to tackle the violence that has spread in recent years from neighbouring Mali, whose military rulers asked French forces to leave last year and deployed Russian private security contractors instead.
Pope Francis (R) waves as he arrives on the popemobile for the mass at the N’Dolo Airport in Kinshasa. [Source: Arsene Mpiana/AFP – Al Jazeera]There are no coincidences. Is it a surprise that the Pope is visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) just after the big signing of cobalt and copper mines to the US? Or South Sudan oil fields (3rd largest in Africa behind Nigeria and Angola)? This is the first visit of the Holy See in the DRC in 37 years, and his second visit to South Sudan! To all the religious people out there, this is not an attack on religion or the Pope, it is just asking questions: let’s face it, your prayers are not the reason the Pope is visiting the DRC or South Sudan; your resources are! Some people tell me that it is because Africa is the future of Catholicism with the largest growing population of Catholics, but why is there no true African presence at the Vatican then? Others say that the Pope is trying to preach peace… President Charles De Gaulle of France once said that, “states do not have friends, they only have interests.” It is best for Africans not to think of love or friendship, but rather in terms interests.
Flag of Mozambique
Remember how the Pope visited Mozambique just before the major signing of the biggest gas fields in the world to the French firm Total and a condominium of commercial banks from around the world descended upon it? Ever since that 15 billion dollars contract with the French firm Total for the oil in Cabo Delgado, and the discovery of one of the largest oil, gas, diamonds, rubies fields in the world, peace in northern Mozambique has become evasive (Who/What did we say goodbye to in Africa in 2020?). Now they want us to believe that there is an Islamist insurgency in Mozambique of all places! The Islamists passed over Congo, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, to land in… Mozambique! After his Mozambican visit, Pope Francis sent money to help the people and children of Mozambique who have been displaced by conflict! … Why did the Vatican not help the government of Samora Machel in their fight for independence back in the days? Lastly, to help with peace in Mozambique, Rwandan troops have been sent there. Rwanda today is a world producer of minerals it does not have on its soil, and we know that neighboring Congo is the real provenance of those. Is it then a coincidence that the same Rwanda that is in conflict in DRC, is the same deployed in Mozambique to protect TotalEnergies’ interests in the region?
Flag of the Democratic Republic of Congo
To come back to the Pope’s visit to the DRC and South Sudan, I wish that while visiting the country, instead of asking the faithful to pray (1-million mass to celebrate the Pope visit in DRC), the Pope could ask for roads or hospitals… the country probably took out of its coffers the money needed for hospitals or roads, to accommodate his visit. Couldn’t he ask that for his next visit, he would like to go from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi by road or rail (not possible at the moment)? The Pope made a grand speech saying all the things Africans love to hear Pope says Hands off Africa: “Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa, it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered.” However, for the new African generation, the era of words is over, actions speak louder! There is no secret that since the Ukraine war, many foreign leaders have been visiting Africa in search of the next energy source, even the King of Belgium visited Congo in 2022 for the first time since independence and offered words as usual (King Philippe of Belgium’s Visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)); after all, Africa is relatively easy to tame: no united governments, poor governance, corrupt leadership, no cohesion, 54 countries, etc. So it is easy to sign a deal for Nigeria’s oil and gas for X amount, and not give a dime to Niger (France’s backyard) for its uranium for instance. This is where the African Union (AU), had it been an organization at the service of its constituents and not external financial backers, would have played an important role.
African Heritage 