Let Africa Solve its Peace and Security Challenges
That we must now begin an African
conversation around how to address African challenges to peace and security is
not an option anymore. In fact, it has never been, only that for some strange
reasons, many people always thought it was. External imposed mechanisms of
addressing Africa’s challenges to peace and security have caused more harm than
good. History never lies and experience is the best teacher. Is Africa too stubborn
or too weak to learn from experience or is the continent so held hostage, by
extra-African forces, that the room to learn is suffocated? Whichever the case,
a new way of thinking must now emerge. Change is needed. Change never always
simply happen, sometimes it is forced to occur. Africa has come of age and its
leadership and people must learn to simply demand some things, at the least-respect.
For way too long African countries have
been used as specimens in western war and conflict laboratories. Some people
have lovingly chosen to toy with Africa, create different types of wars and
conflict and even epidemics only to analyze the outcomes using African people
and nations. In their writings they refer to those analyses as interesting
findings. Unfortunately, some Africans, especially so called leaders, are in
bed with the very people that toy around with Africa. Some of those who have
had the audacity to question some things, have at best been isolated and at
worst eliminated. But there has never been solidarity in fighting these
injustices across the continent. It must not be allowed to continue this way.
At some point a thick line must be drawn. The earlier the better, for the peace
and security, development and prosperity of the continent.
These experiments have now shifted from
creation of various forms of wars on the continent to testing various hypotheses
on post-conflict recovery and reconstruction. After, all, that is a multi-billion-dollar
industry. Now we have an emergence of peace mercenaries and conflict entrepreneurs
masquerading as experts on African conflicts and peace-building prescribing solutions
to African conflict and wars, most of which have been deliberately created by
them, or their fathers and mothers. Most if not all, African countries are
emerging from war or serious internal conflicts, and about 10 African countries
are currently embroiled in active violent conflicts. This is an industry. On
the one end, are those who want to sustain these conflicts, escalate them or
create new ones for sheer convenience; for their schools, organizations and
jobs to remain relevant. On the other hand, are those who pose are experts with
solutions to fix the mess in Africa. And
they use their media very well, to make the situation look exactly the way they
want it to. It is simply and industry and big money is moving. Meanwhile the plight
of millions of the people of Africa continues unabated. What is being witnessed
across the continent are externally prescribed conflict resolution and/or
transformation strategies, including externally forged, sometimes imposed,
peace agreements, that are designed never to work so that business can go on as
usual.
It must be clear that the only people who
can solve the African problems are Africans themselves. Africa should not chase
away external friends who genuinely wish to support these processes but let
them work under terms determined by African people. Africans have not gone to
resolve the conflicts in Belgium, or Northern Ireland, or Canada etc; which
have had similar or even more complicated implications than some of the ones
witnessed on the African content. Is it not wrong for people to sit somewhere
in New York or Geneva and decide what can and should happen to end the conflict
in South Sudan and come with ready-made solutions for the same? Africa should
begin to think that the men and women; peasant citizens in villages of Burundi
know better how to end the conflict that has plagued their country for decades.
It is not correct to pretend that anyone else can come up with a workable
solution for them. The best an outside can do is to facilitate the process that
will help the people give birth to the peace of their country, or at least,
leave them alone, instead of exacerbating already complicated situations. It is
time to rethink the ongoing peace processes in Africa if the continent is to
know peace.
Let Africa Solve its Peace and Security Challenges
Reviewed by Ibrahim Magara
on
June 17, 2016
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