Teresa
Wottalogg Out of Africa
TIME TO TACKLE AFRICA’S CORRUPTION
Back in July, I joined a quarter of a million people to march
through the streets of Edinburgh to Make Poverty History. The idea was to
put pressure on the G8 leaders to act to end the vicious cycle of poverty
afflicting people in developing countries. It was an incredible experience.
We waved placards and aired many views on solutions for world poverty. We
talked of equitable distribution of world resources and criticized the World
Bank and International Monetary Fund. We discussed how globalization had played
havoc with Third World economies, forcing them to open their markets to so-called
‘free’ trade and compete with highly subsidized products from
the rich North, pushing farmers out of business. Although G8 commitments fell
far short of expectations, there was some progress, aid was increased and
some debts of the poorest countries were cancelled. Most importantly for HIV
positive people, the G8 agreed to strive for access to Aids treatment for
all by 2010.
Third World countries now know they have the goodwill of the international
community over poverty reduction and the stage is set for this to happen.
But they must do everything to make sure this goodwill is not squandered.
The time has come for us to point some fingers at ourselves and design ways
of helping ourselves. Most urgently of all, this means eradicating corruption
at the higher echelons of government, local and international corporations
and upholding human rights and good governance, otherwise known as democracy.
Resource-poor countries have brilliant constitutions put together by brilliant
lawyers that should provide good governance. But something is terribly wrong
because the gap between rich and the poor continues to widen in our countries.
My
grandmother used to tell me that in the old days, when there were no roads
in the thick, wild, animal-ridden jungles of Africa, local people made food
provisions for travellers visiting relatives, consulting witchdoctors or trading
in grain or animals.This food was stored in structures known as ‘God’s
Granaries’ and were replenished by the community through whose land
you made the journey. You could eat and drink enough to satisfy your hunger
but custom forbade you from taking any away to ensure something was left for
other travellers coming after you. You were also allowed to enter someone’s
land and eat enough fruit to sustain you but again, custom forbade you from
taking any away. Thus communities supported each other and made sure no one
went hungry as long as there was food in the community in the spirit of looking
out for your neighbour.
These days taxes are the modern successor of ‘God’s Granaries’.
But our attitude means we often eat our fill and hoard the rest with no regard
for fellow ‘travellers’. And sometimes we even destroy the granaries,
sell the contents and use the money to build personal granaries abroad, beyond
the reach of the troublesome beggars we have created. Few stop these days
to think that the money could be used to buy HIV, malaria and TB drugs to
save lives. In the same spirit we pack several petrol-guzzling four-wheel
drives in secured compound
driveways with swimming pools, Jacuzzis and gazebos because we think people
will be in awe of our affluence and forget it is their money we are squandering
so selfishly. We are no longer moved by sick and dying children.
This culture is so common it’s like a rampant disease. Meanwhile the
poor are left to grab a share of this cake, questioning the activities of
those disenfranchising them and making their lives a misery. This disease
is variously called hoarding, ‘Grabiosis Africana’ or simply vanity.
So if anyone out there knows where we can obtain massive doses of ‘anti-vanity’
vaccines, please let me know as lives depend on it.
