It’s not like taking the issue of the African continent at 50 years too far. Not like a situation that occurred some years back with a trial judge jailing someone who took his friend’s tape recorder and pleaded that it was all a joke.
Replied the judge, that’s a joke too far.
Well Africa at 50 years has it fulfilled expectations, exciting, thrilling or depressing?
For a continent of 53 states what is the state of the report card? If it fares a poor performance this year, will it be better reading for those African states celebrating their 50 years of independence next year?
The guess may probably be as good as it holds. Africa at 50 has a lot of minuses than pluses, many say. At 50 years, Africa still faces the kidnapping of political dissidents who are rushed through extrajudicial trials and then executed all within minutes after being brought back to their homeland.
The case of the four Equatorial Guinean military officers kidnapped Mafioso style from Benin by a group of shady operatives, spirited back to Equatorial Guinea and hanged few hours later, remain worrisome. Should Africa do that after 50 years trumpeted independence?
At 50, many political leaders remained pinched by the bug to stay in power till death do us part. Once in power, they convince themselves to become self-trapped and the issue of succession sets in.
It’s either the presidency being passed on to a son, a brother or family relation and in the extreme to the wife.
Formula One is to groom the successor, serious African diplomats contend, as they direct their focus on Egypt and Malawi.
They say that despite official silence, the 82 year-old Egyptian leader, Mr. Hosni Mubarak is grooming his 46 year old son, Gamal to succeed him after elections due next year. Mr Mubarak has been in power for 28 straight years.
The latest alleged presidential leadership transplant is focused on Malawi where President Bingu wa Mutharika’s brother, the current Education Minister is being groomed to take over even though national elections are four years away.
At 50, its not enough to have staged a successful World Cup event while thousands watched it on empty stomach.
At 50, intratrade between African states are either far between or on slippery track. The gong of the alarm bell of donor fatigue means little.
Better to dupe foreign investors by taking their money and giving them fake gems while the judicial apparatus grinds on slow motion if the victims cry foul.
That’s Africa at 50. Tanzanians are asking about the state of health of their leader, President Jakaya Kitwete. How is he shaping out after the encounter when he slumped while addressing a public event? In his case, not even the best physician can argue if a man who slumped turned out to say he is fighting fit and can wrestle a tiger.
The off-and-on-and-off-again elections in Cote d’Ivoire continue forcing observers to formulate a new game of chess. Political stakers have labeled it an Indian summer dream.
Clueless leaders have formulated a political stunt than a determined move to improve their nationals current nutitionless food on the table.
For a worse case scenario, what Russians called “ochin pluka (extremely bad)” is the situation in Somalia – all happening within 50 years of africa’s independence.
The al-Shabab militia group battling the shaky Transitional Federal Government of President Sheikh Aharif Sheikh Ahmed. In recent days the scent of death plagued the capital.
Gang rape in eastern Congo goes on even withinh distance of a UN peacekeeping outfit. Its in africa that you’d have a member-state of a judicial system, the International Criminal Court inviting someone with an international warrant for human rights violation. Kenya did it in the case of Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir and went ahead to explain it otherwise.
Taken on the scale of one to ten, six of the worst corrupt countries are in Africa, three out of the ten termed as “riskiest business environments and nine out of the ten having high mortality rates…all within 50 years of independence.
But perhaps the worst knock on the head for the continent could be traced to what the mass circulated Newsweek magazine called ”the best country in the world.” Only 18 out of the 100 countries are in Africa and it started from 65 (Tunisia) with others trailing at 67 (Morocco), Egypt (74), Botswana (80), South Africa (82), Mozambique (95), Nigeria (99) and Burkina Faso (100). Others were not even mentioned giving the impression that nobody from other parts of the world do not want to live in these states.
Travelling across land borders in africa can be worse. The medicine is to have a pocket full of two to five dollars to tip outstretched hands.
Its like one of the billboards at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. It is illegal to offer a bribe to any worker in the airport.
A European traveller testing the compliance, asked one customs officer : would you accept a bribe ? Replied the official “No, but I can be persuaded.
But thats Africa at 50 where airlines dont run on time, luggage gets missing.
But at 50, do things have to get worse before they get better ?
No answers in sight though. It may be what many african leaders say at campaign rallies – we are on top of the situation.