"A lot of the money is believed to be in Swiss bank accounts, and Switzerland has now said it will help to send the money back". So goes the article from the BBC World Service Africa Business editor.
The article continues: "Nobody knows exactly how much money was made by these people," said Enrico Monfrini, a Swiss lawyer working for Nigeria's government to try and track down and return the missing money.
"All what we know was that $2.8bn was taken away from the Central Bank of Nigeria in cash.
"The rest of the money was made outside through commissions paid for by various international, or multinational, companies."
Imagine $2.8 bn, how many schools, clinics, miles of roads and other infrastructure could have been built to strengthen the nation, maintain the wellbeing of the people etc... This kind of crime is being committed in Africa hour by hour in every country and our people are suffering because of it. Time to rise up and question the status quo. Question the so called donors and worldwide financial institutions. See where there real desire is; is it with the people that are suffering day-in and day-out or is it with the dictators and the inept and the egomaniacs supposedly leading the people. It is time to ask those hard questions and get some answers.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Britain goes after Abacha millions
"The British High Court has given the government the go-ahead to help Nigeria trace more than $1bn allegedly looted by late dictator Sani Abacha". So goes the opening line of the article on the BBC News-Africa, this is a beginning of the realization that ruthless and blatantly corrupt African leaders should be accountable to their deeds much the same way that any ordinary thief or white collar criminals should. That is, face the legal systems of their own countries and be subject to international court proceedings. They should not be allowed to live in luxury in another country with the ill-gotten gains or money stolen from their country's treasuries, or from bribes and out and out theft. Please read the article by clicking at the link above.
Friday, September 30, 2005
African Leaders Can't Count, But People Still Know They're Lying
We have heard of the Pentagon's undeclared budget or the White house's slash funds and the like here in the US. But, in Africa and in this case, in Uganda - the military budget has a standing $ 1 million dollar allocated for dead or none-existent soldiers, some of whom were deserters and no longer serve in the army. What are the funds used for - read on to find out by clicking at the link above.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Nigerian police rearrest Abacha's son
This is real TV drama with out professional actors. The plot is money being looted from the treasury of the most populous nation in Africa. But the drama includes murder, arrest, incarceration, release and re-arest of the son of the former Nigerian ruler, Gen. Abacha. The general is accused of looting a Billion dollars from the Nigerian treasury and stashed it away in European banks. Please read on..the tragedy in Africa continues many times over... more to come..
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Switzerland to give back Abacha millions
Switzerland is to give Nigeria back hundreds of millions of dollars of embezzled state funds stashed away in the country's banks by former military ruler General Sani Abacha.
Swiss banks will be ordered to return $535m under an out-of-court settlement between the Nigerian authorities and General Abacha's family and business associates, the Swiss Federal Justice Department said.
Under the deal, a total of around $1bn will be transferred to Nigeria from banks around the world, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
In return, the country's authorities have said they will drop criminal proceedings against members of the former leader's family.
Disputed funds
General Abacha, who died of an apparent heart attack in 1998, was accused of stealing some $3bn from state funds in the oil-rich country.
Under the settlement, his family will be allowed to keep $100m of the disputed cash.
These funds were acquired before General Abacha began his five-year rule in 1993 and "demonstrably do not derive from criminal acts", the statement said.
Accounts frozen
Nigeria asked Switzerland in 1999 to help uncover the financial network it suspected that Mr Abacha had established.
In response, the Swiss authorities froze around $670m in bank accounts belonging to Abacha, his son Mohammed, widow Mariam and other relatives.
Suspicious money was also discovered in Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Jersey, and Britain has found traces of around $1.3bn thought to have been handled by domestic banks for General Abacha's family and friends.
The Swiss ministry said that the funds to be repaid - currently frozen in various bank accounts abroad - would be transferred to the Bank for International Settlements in Basel.
Source: BBC
If you want to see the picture of Gen. Abacha, please click at the link at the top of the page.
Swiss banks will be ordered to return $535m under an out-of-court settlement between the Nigerian authorities and General Abacha's family and business associates, the Swiss Federal Justice Department said.
Under the deal, a total of around $1bn will be transferred to Nigeria from banks around the world, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
In return, the country's authorities have said they will drop criminal proceedings against members of the former leader's family.
Disputed funds
General Abacha, who died of an apparent heart attack in 1998, was accused of stealing some $3bn from state funds in the oil-rich country.
Under the settlement, his family will be allowed to keep $100m of the disputed cash.
These funds were acquired before General Abacha began his five-year rule in 1993 and "demonstrably do not derive from criminal acts", the statement said.
Accounts frozen
Nigeria asked Switzerland in 1999 to help uncover the financial network it suspected that Mr Abacha had established.
In response, the Swiss authorities froze around $670m in bank accounts belonging to Abacha, his son Mohammed, widow Mariam and other relatives.
Suspicious money was also discovered in Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Jersey, and Britain has found traces of around $1.3bn thought to have been handled by domestic banks for General Abacha's family and friends.
The Swiss ministry said that the funds to be repaid - currently frozen in various bank accounts abroad - would be transferred to the Bank for International Settlements in Basel.
Source: BBC
If you want to see the picture of Gen. Abacha, please click at the link at the top of the page.
Nigeria recovers 'stolen' money
Here is the beginning of a story that has many to follow. The trail of looted money is hot and some of it is being recovered to the delight of all that have been working to see these kinds of days all over Africa. Please read on...
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Sorry for the long absence ......
I have been on a business trip overseas and was not able to post any articles, comments and links on the subject. I just got back on Friday and I will resume postings by Sunday.
A lot has happened over the last two to three weeks. Some of the highlights are the UN Summit and former President Clinton's roundtable on governance, poverty reduction and how the private sector can help eliminate these problems in the world. A lofty goal but in my view quite achievable if it prescribes a different approach and solutions than what has been done over the past forty years. I hope you will all join me in the discussion.
A lot has happened over the last two to three weeks. Some of the highlights are the UN Summit and former President Clinton's roundtable on governance, poverty reduction and how the private sector can help eliminate these problems in the world. A lofty goal but in my view quite achievable if it prescribes a different approach and solutions than what has been done over the past forty years. I hope you will all join me in the discussion.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Britain urged to lift Ethiopia aid ban
Britain urged to lift Ethiopia aid ban
Britain should lift the suspension of new aid to Ethiopia, and other nations should continue to support the government despite disputed elections and political violence that has left 42 people dead, a UN envoy said today.
Martti Ahtisaari, special envoy for the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, said as many as eight million people in Ethiopia will depend on foreign aid this year for survival.
Britain suspended STG£20 million after Ethiopian police opened fire on protesters demonstrating against suspected poll rigging. On Thursday, EU election observers said the May 15 general elections in Ethiopia did not meet international standards.
Ethiopian officials have insisted that the elections were free and fair.
The vote was seen as a key test of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's commitment to democratic reform in Ethiopia. Meles also serves on Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission for Africa, and had been seen as a leader of reform efforts in Africa.
Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, said the effort to help the poorest people in Ethiopia should be a separate matter from the elections.
I hope the negotiations continue,'' he said of Ethiopia's talks with Britain. Whatever has happened, humanitarian assistance should never be politicised. All those that are in need should be helped.''
Ahtisaari spent eight days in Eritrea and Ethiopia, where more than 10 million people require food aid. In Eritrea, food insecurity has left more than two thirds of the country's four million people dependent on outside help.
In Ethiopia, a $200 million a year pilot scheme has been launched to try and end chronic hunger and dependency among more than one in ten of the nation's 71 million people.
Each year, foreign nations inject $1.9 billion into Ethiopia in food and development aid, but the country remains among the poorest in the world.
Source: http://www.unison.ie 13:40 Sunday August 28th 2005
Comment: My only comment is on the last paragraph: Ethiopia receives $1.9 billion annually for food and development aid. Why do we have 10 - 14 million each year suffering from hunger. Why are they pouring money in if the government doesn't have adequate plans to feed its own people with the help that it is receiving from donors. Why are not the donors asking these questions? You know another fact- in countries like Ethiopia any aid help that comes for the hungry and the poor - governments claim they are feeding and housing the people and the recipients also are made to believe that their government is doing everything it can to feed them. In reality, it is the donors that are feeding the people and not the governments. They create dependency for control of the population and they ask the poor to support them in maintaining power. Another way that governments control people is by maintaining land ownesrhip. The government of Ethiopia owns all land and allocates it to farmers based on patronage and dolling favors for support from the people when the government needs it. Donors are aware of that as well. But, what are they doing about it? Reasonable people should ask and if they do not get reasonable answers they should investigate and act to make sure the aid is going to the people that need it the most and not to carry favors for the government's objectives. Kebede
Britain should lift the suspension of new aid to Ethiopia, and other nations should continue to support the government despite disputed elections and political violence that has left 42 people dead, a UN envoy said today.
Martti Ahtisaari, special envoy for the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, said as many as eight million people in Ethiopia will depend on foreign aid this year for survival.
Britain suspended STG£20 million after Ethiopian police opened fire on protesters demonstrating against suspected poll rigging. On Thursday, EU election observers said the May 15 general elections in Ethiopia did not meet international standards.
Ethiopian officials have insisted that the elections were free and fair.
The vote was seen as a key test of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's commitment to democratic reform in Ethiopia. Meles also serves on Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission for Africa, and had been seen as a leader of reform efforts in Africa.
Ahtisaari, a former Finnish president, said the effort to help the poorest people in Ethiopia should be a separate matter from the elections.
I hope the negotiations continue,'' he said of Ethiopia's talks with Britain. Whatever has happened, humanitarian assistance should never be politicised. All those that are in need should be helped.''
Ahtisaari spent eight days in Eritrea and Ethiopia, where more than 10 million people require food aid. In Eritrea, food insecurity has left more than two thirds of the country's four million people dependent on outside help.
In Ethiopia, a $200 million a year pilot scheme has been launched to try and end chronic hunger and dependency among more than one in ten of the nation's 71 million people.
Each year, foreign nations inject $1.9 billion into Ethiopia in food and development aid, but the country remains among the poorest in the world.
Source: http://www.unison.ie 13:40 Sunday August 28th 2005
Comment: My only comment is on the last paragraph: Ethiopia receives $1.9 billion annually for food and development aid. Why do we have 10 - 14 million each year suffering from hunger. Why are they pouring money in if the government doesn't have adequate plans to feed its own people with the help that it is receiving from donors. Why are not the donors asking these questions? You know another fact- in countries like Ethiopia any aid help that comes for the hungry and the poor - governments claim they are feeding and housing the people and the recipients also are made to believe that their government is doing everything it can to feed them. In reality, it is the donors that are feeding the people and not the governments. They create dependency for control of the population and they ask the poor to support them in maintaining power. Another way that governments control people is by maintaining land ownesrhip. The government of Ethiopia owns all land and allocates it to farmers based on patronage and dolling favors for support from the people when the government needs it. Donors are aware of that as well. But, what are they doing about it? Reasonable people should ask and if they do not get reasonable answers they should investigate and act to make sure the aid is going to the people that need it the most and not to carry favors for the government's objectives. Kebede
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Corruption in Africa: Western Banks Share Blame for Africa's Poverty
Dear Readers: I have been arguing on the side of the fact that we cannot continue to do business in Africa the way we have been doing over the last 40 years. This article on allafrica.com crystallizes the reason why more than anything else that I can write. It is a well written article full of facts and figures that will substantiate what I have been saying so far. It names names, gives dates and amounts of money mis-apropriated by the so called leaders of African countries. It also lays the blame on the door steps of western donors and governments, that look the other way when crimes are committed by their partners in African countries while at the same time their banks are benefiting form the inflow of capital that has been illegally, criminally being taken from the mouths of the poor in their countries.
Please read on by clicking the link above and suffer the concequesnces, more frustration, more headaches and more sleepless nights.
Please read on by clicking the link above and suffer the concequesnces, more frustration, more headaches and more sleepless nights.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Who helped Zuma...
Here is one of the latest - unfolding before our eyes, corruption investigation in South Africa.
The story is former deputy president Jacob Zuma, has been accused of corruption. "Mr. Zuma will go on trial in October on two charges of corruption which emanated from the fraud and corruption conviction of his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik". So goes the report from South Africa's News 24. Please go to the link above and read he whole article. I can assure you there will be more on this one. kebede
The story is former deputy president Jacob Zuma, has been accused of corruption. "Mr. Zuma will go on trial in October on two charges of corruption which emanated from the fraud and corruption conviction of his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik". So goes the report from South Africa's News 24. Please go to the link above and read he whole article. I can assure you there will be more on this one. kebede
Monday, August 15, 2005
African migration - Home, sweet home—for some
Here is a very timely article about the brain drain- a major problem, that plagues Africa more than any other region of the world. The article talks about efforts being made to reverse the trend by enticing Africans in the Diaspora to come back to their homeland. It is a worth while effort, but in my mind it does not deal with the root causes of the problem, lack of opportunities in education, lack of basic freedom, lack of basic necessities, low pay, corruption and mismanagement of resources, lack of rule of law and fairness, injustice, discrimination, ethnic or tribal governance that restricts movement from one region to another, authoritarian governments, etc.... Please click the link above and read the whole article.- Kebede
African migration Home, sweet home-for some
Aug11th 2005, From The Economist print edition
African migration Home, sweet home-for some
Aug11th 2005, From The Economist print edition
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Principles To Combat Corruption In African Countries
We, Ministers and representatives of Government, the list of which is annexed hereto, having met under the auspices of the Global Coalition for Africa in Washington DC on February 23, 1999, .... So goes the statement from the Ministers and Government representatives that drew a 25 point code or principles. The irony of it is, I did not see this document and had not done any research on corruption in Africa other than what I read regularly in the news and my own experience and intuition in how things are done in developing countries. I would like others to make comments about the similarity or differences between these principles and COESA. I am just a layman, an African frustrated by the events in the continent and I was just pouring my heart out to anyone that can listen and read. As they say, "all roads lead to Rome"; I just want to see some teeth and "tough love" not only in eliminating corruption but in promoting democracy and the rule of law, which I thinks are pre-conditions to economic growth and development. Please click on the link above and read the Principles.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
“Corruption Threatens Democracy”
“Corruption Threatens Democracy”
Document Actions
Corruption “threatens democracy, economic growth and the rule of law.” This is a central assertion of the Final Declaration of the IV Global Forum on Fighting Corruption approved Friday. The five-day event gathered representatives from international organizations, NGOs and government from 103 countries in Brasilia to discuss measures for fighting corruption around the world.
The document defines corruption as “a complex economic, political and social problem.” The nearly 1,800 participants reaffirmed their “commitment to the effective implementation of the international anticorruption conventions” and recognized the importance of signing and the ratifying the UN Convention against Corruption. Brazil is among the first countries to sign and ratify the Convention.
The final declaration of the IV Global Forum on Fighting Corruption urges governments to “deny safe haven to corrupt persons and entities – public or private – and their corruptly acquired assets, and to those that corrupt them.”
“The Forum has become the principal vehicle for all peoples in the struggle for dignity and against corruption,” said Minister Waldir Pires. “Brazil is prepared to support and strengthen all of the international conventions,” added.
The Minister of Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Geraldine Moleketi, announced that her country accepted the recommendation put forth by the international delegations that her country organize the 5th edition of the Global Forum, in 2007.
Civil Society
The distinguishing feature of the IV Global Forum on Fighting Corruption was the participation of civil society representatives the workshop and panel sessions. Participants applauded the Brazilian government’s decision to invite non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academics. The event gathered almost 1,800 participants from 103 countries.
At the Forum’s closing ceremony, the Minister of Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Geraldine Moleketi, stressed that the involvement of different segments of society in the discussions will ensure faster adoption of anticorruption measures. She went on to praise the Public Lottery Oversight Program established by Brazil’s Office of Comptroller General. “The Brazilian government is not merely adopting punitive measures, but is also vigorously pursuing preventive actions,” she stated.
The Director of Global Governance at the World Bank (IBRD), Daniel Kaufmann, spoke of Brazil’s organizational capabilities in expanding the Forum beyond official government agencies and representatives. The first three editions included only government entities. “The participation of civil society and academics reflects a democratic opening in Brazil,” he declared. Mr. Kaufmann lauded the dynamism of the workshops and panels, which focused more on discussion than long speeches.
The Executive Director of Transparency Brazil, Claudio Abramo, said that the IV Global Forum on Fighting Corruption succeeded “with great competence” in gathering representatives of civil society for the first time. Mr. Abramo also underscored that the Forum addressed issues not considered in previous editions, such as corruption measurement and the limits of NGO oversight of the State.
The representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Reiner Pungs, also qualified the inclusion of civil society in the discussions as an excellent initiative. He went on to add that the Forum is an important platform for countries to learn more about the experiences of other countries. “I am certain that some of the measures adopted by Brazil will be adopted by other countries,” he concluded
Source: IV Global Forum to Fight Corruption, Brazil, June 7-10, 2005
Document Actions
Corruption “threatens democracy, economic growth and the rule of law.” This is a central assertion of the Final Declaration of the IV Global Forum on Fighting Corruption approved Friday. The five-day event gathered representatives from international organizations, NGOs and government from 103 countries in Brasilia to discuss measures for fighting corruption around the world.
The document defines corruption as “a complex economic, political and social problem.” The nearly 1,800 participants reaffirmed their “commitment to the effective implementation of the international anticorruption conventions” and recognized the importance of signing and the ratifying the UN Convention against Corruption. Brazil is among the first countries to sign and ratify the Convention.
The final declaration of the IV Global Forum on Fighting Corruption urges governments to “deny safe haven to corrupt persons and entities – public or private – and their corruptly acquired assets, and to those that corrupt them.”
“The Forum has become the principal vehicle for all peoples in the struggle for dignity and against corruption,” said Minister Waldir Pires. “Brazil is prepared to support and strengthen all of the international conventions,” added.
The Minister of Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Geraldine Moleketi, announced that her country accepted the recommendation put forth by the international delegations that her country organize the 5th edition of the Global Forum, in 2007.
Civil Society
The distinguishing feature of the IV Global Forum on Fighting Corruption was the participation of civil society representatives the workshop and panel sessions. Participants applauded the Brazilian government’s decision to invite non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academics. The event gathered almost 1,800 participants from 103 countries.
At the Forum’s closing ceremony, the Minister of Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Geraldine Moleketi, stressed that the involvement of different segments of society in the discussions will ensure faster adoption of anticorruption measures. She went on to praise the Public Lottery Oversight Program established by Brazil’s Office of Comptroller General. “The Brazilian government is not merely adopting punitive measures, but is also vigorously pursuing preventive actions,” she stated.
The Director of Global Governance at the World Bank (IBRD), Daniel Kaufmann, spoke of Brazil’s organizational capabilities in expanding the Forum beyond official government agencies and representatives. The first three editions included only government entities. “The participation of civil society and academics reflects a democratic opening in Brazil,” he declared. Mr. Kaufmann lauded the dynamism of the workshops and panels, which focused more on discussion than long speeches.
The Executive Director of Transparency Brazil, Claudio Abramo, said that the IV Global Forum on Fighting Corruption succeeded “with great competence” in gathering representatives of civil society for the first time. Mr. Abramo also underscored that the Forum addressed issues not considered in previous editions, such as corruption measurement and the limits of NGO oversight of the State.
The representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Reiner Pungs, also qualified the inclusion of civil society in the discussions as an excellent initiative. He went on to add that the Forum is an important platform for countries to learn more about the experiences of other countries. “I am certain that some of the measures adopted by Brazil will be adopted by other countries,” he concluded
Source: IV Global Forum to Fight Corruption, Brazil, June 7-10, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Moroccans fight ‘crime against humanity’
Moroccans fight 'crime against humanity'
By Abderrahim El Ouali
Discover how a citizens group took action to demand the creation of a "national independent authority for truth and recovering misappropriated public funds." Please read the article by clicking on the link above. This is the type of citizens action that is required to face up to the corrupt officials in developing countries. Bravo to the Moroccans for being a very good example.
By Abderrahim El Ouali
Discover how a citizens group took action to demand the creation of a "national independent authority for truth and recovering misappropriated public funds." Please read the article by clicking on the link above. This is the type of citizens action that is required to face up to the corrupt officials in developing countries. Bravo to the Moroccans for being a very good example.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Africans among worst in 'corruption league'
Here is some more bad news regarding corruption and the African Continent. The article is entitled - Africans among worst in 'corruption league'.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Corruption 'costs Africa billions'
Here is another shocker, (maybe it is not to most of us) ...Corruption in Africa is costing the continent nearly $150bn a year, according to a new report. Please click the link above and read on....
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Kenya corruption review 'blocked'
An African Union watchdog set up to monitor good governance says it has stopped work in Kenya after the government barred it from its offices.
The fact of the matter is: The African Peer Review Mechanism ( APRM) was set up by the African Union last year as a mechanism to monitor each other's progress towards political and economic reform.
The fact of the matter is: The African Peer Review Mechanism ( APRM) was set up by the African Union last year as a mechanism to monitor each other's progress towards political and economic reform.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Kenyan papers stung by corruption claims
Let the government be told who among its cabinet ministers and civil servants are corrupt and the figures involved. If credible, the culprits will immediately be sacked.
First Lady Lucy Kibaki in East African Standard
That is quiet a statement, but not from the president but, the first lady of Kenya. (Kebede)
First Lady Lucy Kibaki in East African Standard
That is quiet a statement, but not from the president but, the first lady of Kenya. (Kebede)
Monday, August 01, 2005
Kenyan courts grind to halt
I had planned to post a video linkage for tonight. But the linkage did not work, I am trying to find a way to do that. Until then, here is another one from Kenya.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Code of Ethics for the Salvation of Africa (COESA)
Code of Ethics for the Salvation of Africa (COESA) ©2005
Donors’ Criteria for Aid
- Commitment to a multi party democracy.
- Commitment to fundamental human rights and the rule of law.
- Commitment to open, transparent and accountable government.
- Commitment to property rights and private ownership of land and resources.
- Commitment to abolish and/or eliminate government and or party ownership of economic resources.
- Commitment to open markets for internal and external investors.
- Commitment to set up preemptive processes to prevent corruption.
- Commitment to investigate any allegations of corruption and fiscal improprieties.
- Commitment to prosecute and punish those found to be guilty of corruption.
- Commitment of recipient countries to allow investigations by donors or their dully appointed representatives to conduct an investigation at will and/or annually and submit a report to donor countries and to make the report public.
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Recipient Country Obligations
- Establish the basis for a multi-party democracy by allowing the formation of political parties.
- Establish a constitution that underlines the rule of law, upholds the fundamental human rights of its citizens, and allows for property rights and private ownership of economic resources including the right to own land.
- Establish the basis of open, transparent and accountable government.
- Eliminate state or party ownership of businesses.
- Establish the means and the process that allows internal and external investments.
- Elected officials must declare their (spouses included) financial net-worth before taking office and those that are in office must do so immediately to an international body created for monitoring these obligations.
- Establish preemptive measures to prevent corruption and to establish the mechanism to investigate corruption or allegations of corruption.
- Prosecute corrupt individuals and make every effort to recover misappropriated funds and punish those that have been found guilty of the crime.
- Be open and ready to allow investigators from donor nations or their duly appointed representatives to conduct such investigations at-will or at a prescribed time and receive their findings that will be made public by the donor nations.
- To monitor donor funds and to require the establishment of the lowest possible limit for any overhead or administrative costs being deducted from the funds.
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For information contact: Kebede D Gashaw- kgashaw@gmail.com
An Open Letter to the President of The United States and the Code of Ethics for the Salvation of Africa (COESA)
Here is an open letter to the President of the United States that I sent a few weeks ago. I have also attached what I hope could be the basis of a discussion to change things around, to stop this massive corruption and pilfering of public funds and to help enhance democratic ideals and institutions in Africa. Please read the Code of Ethics for the Salvation of Africa (COESA) and let me know your thoughts, share it with others and give them an opportunity to make comments as well. Remember, with out open discussions, we cannot find solutions to our problems. Here is the letter..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kebede D Gashaw
9013 Old Creek Dr
Elk Grove, CA 95758-5407
Monday, July 18, 2005
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: (202) 456-1414
Fax: (202) 456-2883
Dear Mr. President:
You have just returned from the G8 summit where the dire situation in Africa had been discussed and some more funds, in billions are going to be spent by the very same donors that have been spending their taxpayers’ monies in supporting tyrants, petty dictators, corrupt and undemocratic rulers. All this is being done in an effort to help address the multitude of problems faced by millions of Africans every day.
In the past forty plus years, many governments have come and gone, and billions of dollars in aid for development had poured in to help the people of Africa. By any measure or standards, those funds could not be accounted for and no major gains have been attributed to the dollars spent. As an African and an Ethiopian American residing in the United States, I along with millions of Africans in Africa and in the African Diaspora whole-heartedly believe that the continent suffers from lack of leadership, corruption and indifference to the sufferings of the people. Time and time again, the ravages of famine, malnutrition and disease continually affect the population. Aid money pours in, only to have the same persistent problems recur repeatedly. In a democracy, such as ours, problems can occur ones and immediately, mitigating factors are instituted in order to avoid a repeat of the problem. If it happens again, the individuals or officials that let it happen will face the voters and will be voted out and will be denied the opportunity not to ever repeat their malfeasances on the population. In Africa, petty dictators, autocrats, incompetent and corrupt so-called leaders are allowed to continue to plunder, pillage and subjugate their people in to oblivion by rampant diseases, malnutrition, famine and poverty.
Mr. President, the time has come to close the chapter on the petty dictators and autocrats and open a new beginning for the people of Africa. The so-called leaders should be accountable for their actions in the eyes of not only their people but of the world.
As a donor nation, the US must take the lead to demand they be accountable to their actions thus far and they must meet certain criteria developed by donors to qualify for any aid funds for development in the future. As any African in the Diaspora with thirty plus years of frustration and anxiety over the state of affairs in Africa, I have finally mustered the courage to put on paper what I feel should be given consideration: a Code of Ethics for the Salvation of Africa.
Mr. President, this code that I call, COESA for short, is shown as the attached document for your review and consideration. I hope and pray that you will consider it wholly or partially to redeem the people of Africa from the ravages of corruption, petty tyrants, autocrats and undemocratic governments by making them accountable for any development and aid funds they receive with the exception of direct humanitarian aid (food and medicine).
COESA will not only make them accountable but also will require them to commit for democratic reforms, establish the rule of law, protect human rights and allow the establishment of political parties thus establishing the basis for the creation of multi-party democracies.
There is no better time than now to take the necessary action to address Africa’s major problems – corruption and lack of leadership. There is no one individual that can address this issue and that can make a difference for over 850 million Africans than the president of the United States. You have championed the cause of liberty through out the world. Mr. president, here is the opportunity to do just that for a continent and people that have suffered so much and continue to suffer indefinitely unless this courageous and bold action is taken by the United States and other donor nations.
Respectfully,
Kebede D. Gashaw
CC: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Mr. Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank Group
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Kebede D Gashaw
9013 Old Creek Dr
Elk Grove, CA 95758-5407
Monday, July 18, 2005
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: (202) 456-1414
Fax: (202) 456-2883
Dear Mr. President:
You have just returned from the G8 summit where the dire situation in Africa had been discussed and some more funds, in billions are going to be spent by the very same donors that have been spending their taxpayers’ monies in supporting tyrants, petty dictators, corrupt and undemocratic rulers. All this is being done in an effort to help address the multitude of problems faced by millions of Africans every day.
In the past forty plus years, many governments have come and gone, and billions of dollars in aid for development had poured in to help the people of Africa. By any measure or standards, those funds could not be accounted for and no major gains have been attributed to the dollars spent. As an African and an Ethiopian American residing in the United States, I along with millions of Africans in Africa and in the African Diaspora whole-heartedly believe that the continent suffers from lack of leadership, corruption and indifference to the sufferings of the people. Time and time again, the ravages of famine, malnutrition and disease continually affect the population. Aid money pours in, only to have the same persistent problems recur repeatedly. In a democracy, such as ours, problems can occur ones and immediately, mitigating factors are instituted in order to avoid a repeat of the problem. If it happens again, the individuals or officials that let it happen will face the voters and will be voted out and will be denied the opportunity not to ever repeat their malfeasances on the population. In Africa, petty dictators, autocrats, incompetent and corrupt so-called leaders are allowed to continue to plunder, pillage and subjugate their people in to oblivion by rampant diseases, malnutrition, famine and poverty.
Mr. President, the time has come to close the chapter on the petty dictators and autocrats and open a new beginning for the people of Africa. The so-called leaders should be accountable for their actions in the eyes of not only their people but of the world.
As a donor nation, the US must take the lead to demand they be accountable to their actions thus far and they must meet certain criteria developed by donors to qualify for any aid funds for development in the future. As any African in the Diaspora with thirty plus years of frustration and anxiety over the state of affairs in Africa, I have finally mustered the courage to put on paper what I feel should be given consideration: a Code of Ethics for the Salvation of Africa.
Mr. President, this code that I call, COESA for short, is shown as the attached document for your review and consideration. I hope and pray that you will consider it wholly or partially to redeem the people of Africa from the ravages of corruption, petty tyrants, autocrats and undemocratic governments by making them accountable for any development and aid funds they receive with the exception of direct humanitarian aid (food and medicine).
COESA will not only make them accountable but also will require them to commit for democratic reforms, establish the rule of law, protect human rights and allow the establishment of political parties thus establishing the basis for the creation of multi-party democracies.
There is no better time than now to take the necessary action to address Africa’s major problems – corruption and lack of leadership. There is no one individual that can address this issue and that can make a difference for over 850 million Africans than the president of the United States. You have championed the cause of liberty through out the world. Mr. president, here is the opportunity to do just that for a continent and people that have suffered so much and continue to suffer indefinitely unless this courageous and bold action is taken by the United States and other donor nations.
Respectfully,
Kebede D. Gashaw
CC: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Mr. Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank Group
Friday, July 29, 2005
Corruption 'costs Kenya $1bn a year'
Here is one from Kenya. Expect to see a lot more in the next few days about corruption in Kenya, you will be amazed.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
THE NIGERIAN REVOLUTION
"The revolution we need isn't one of mindless violence but one that will replace tribalism, commercialization of conscience and selfish individualism with the ethos of individual and moral responsibility and community consciousness. Of course, anger has its uses. We should certainly be angry with ourselves for what we have allowed to happen to us and to our country. But we should also allow that anger fuel a determination to sculpt a better future with the clay of new ideas."
The citation above comes form the article by Chris Ngwodo, entitled THE NIGERIAN REVOLUTION, published on Nigeriaworld.com on Friday, July 22, 2005. Please click the the title above and you will be able to see the whole article. Another ensight from another African that is burning inside..yearning to see change for the better.
The citation above comes form the article by Chris Ngwodo, entitled THE NIGERIAN REVOLUTION, published on Nigeriaworld.com on Friday, July 22, 2005. Please click the the title above and you will be able to see the whole article. Another ensight from another African that is burning inside..yearning to see change for the better.
KILL POVERTY DEAD or (Who Needs Debt Relief?)
I am still searching for the author of the article below. I will post as soon as possible. Please read on..more ideas and diverse ideas ..all in the interest of understanding the problems of Africa and Africans.
*******************************************************************************
One of the major problems of Africa has always been the sad fact that too many foreigners consider themselves the best doctors for its ills. Back in history, the colonialists came in force with the declared mission of civilizing us as they said we were savages, uncultured, uncivilized and hardened cannibals. We all know now that colonialism wrecked our continent, the colons introduced the culture of savage violence that some of us are still imitating and our malady got complicated and grave. The Belgian colonialists not only murdered more than ten million Congolese but they did so in a savage and brutal way chopping off hands, organs and heads--a practice that Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army, Sierra Leone's rebels of the late Fode Sankoh and government soldiers copied with seriousness. The British colonial crimes in Kenya and other places, the brutality of French colonialism in Algeria, the massacres and decapitations and mass hangings done by colonial Italy in Libya and Ethiopia are examples. Surely, the same and more can be said of colonial Spain, Portugal and even of neo colonial America. They all said they came with lofty intentions but they all killed us dead in a savage way.
The whole operation of Live Aid was, in 1984, an openly patronizing operation that did give some relief to the starving and notoriety to fading Rock stars (who would have heard of Bob Geldof of Boomtown Rats otherwise?) while giving some inadvertent aid to tyrants. One is not being ungrateful but the good intentions of a clumsy kisser may not be pleasant. Compassion is one thing, knowing the medicine to the problem another. Both the Mengistu regime and the unsavory Tigrean front of Meles Zenawi benefited from the aid effort back in 1984. Since then, Bob Geldof has been knighted by the Queen, set up his own lucrative company, has shifted to calling for debt relief, has mobilized Tony Blair and through him none other than the likes of Meles Zenawi to set up an African Commission (as irrelevant as the African Union), is allied to another pop star called Bono in harassing the leaders of the G8 countries to cancel the debt of the poor countries. In the process, he has also declared openly and recently that Africa bores him tremendously and deeply which is a strange thing to say as Africans suffered to give him notoriety and Africa could be never boring to anyone.
As usual, our foreign self declared saviors have failed to consult us the patients on what ails us. Like quack doctors, they are prescribing one potion after another without bothering to check from us on where we hurt really. Take the Live 8 world wide concerts which excluded Africa had not the South Africans tried to save face by organizing their own concert in haste. (African singers were kept away from Hyde Park and relegated to Cornwall). Geldof and Bono have come up with a slogan that says Make Poverty History--yet another example of their failure to consult with us Africans. "Make Poverty History" is soft and vague. Had they asked any ordinary African desiring a definitive solution and proud of his or her alleged penchant for violence and cruelty they could have had a better slogan. Like Kill Poverty Dead! Why procrastinate? Why should poverty be part of History as if it is worthy? Why should we even remember it? The main aim should have been to kill and bury it for ever to be dead and forgotten. The other mistake is the assumption that we want debt relief or debt cancellation. Let alone nominating Geldof and Bono, who is the ordinary and impoverished African who has publicly asked for this debt relief potion? My modest research has come up with no result. Those asking for debt relief or cancellation are the same tyrants who had been borrowing and want to be able to borrow more. We all know the politics of aid and the reality of debt, how so called developing countries were ensnared, how they have already paid up their original debt but are continuing to be strapped by the interests, etc...The donors were and are con artists, the tyrants their accomplices and the so called poor countries (poor countries who supply the rich country with all the precious metals and minerals!) the victims.
Most Africans are opposed to the cancellation of the debt not because they want to suffer but because they know that if our tyrants have no debt burden they will be wilder than could be imagined. No chains, no restraints. To talk in figures Tony Blair can understand, that is to say in British sterling pounds and in billions, Nigeria owes 19.2 , Sudan 9.6. , South Africa 15.26, Angola 5.33, Zimbabwe 2.44, Cameroun 5.04, Ethiopia 3.93 and even Somalia owes 1.56 billion. In most of these countries, there are troubled and troublesome regimes. If Nigeria has no debt burden it would wreak more havoc in West Africa as would South Africa down there and the Sudan and Ethiopia in their region. Mugabe could declare war not only in the Congo but against the homos of the world. They are war mongering regimes already and bereft of debt they would borrow more, buy more arms and bring down the Armageddon on our black heads. Actually, the whole hue and cry over the debt is a parody on the part of the likes of Tony Blair. Take his Africa Commission. The main man in it is none other than the bloody and corrupt Meles Zenawi. Tony Bliar made a lot of noise about 54 Britons being killed by bombers in London while receiving with pomp at Gleneagles the very Meles who had a month earlier ordered the slaughter of more than 60 Ethiopians in Addis Abeba alone. Much as we are used to the hypocrisy and the double standard, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Britain has refused up to now to give back the 1.3 billion pounds that former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha had stashed in British banks. In 2003, Britain sold arms to 10 out of 14 ongoing armed conflicts in Africa, Ghana's tomato industry, for example, was decimated by tariff cuts adopted by the EU following British prompting, etc. EU and American subsidies to their farmers and the inability of African goods to get access to the western markets are still there and untouched. The tariffs and trade barriers are intact. So, who cares for debt relief or why chop a finger to treat a headache?
Without being cynical, we have been forced to admit also that the Live 8 fiesta has been profitable for many. The very company that has been accused of malpractices towards its workers was advertised on the white bands sold and worn by the concert goers. And why was the wrist band white? Is white hope and black despair? How come Rupert Murdoch, the man who could sink Africa into the ocean if he is allowed, was behind the Live 8 campaign? It is, of course, a confirmed fact that a day after Live 8 concerts, British record stores registered an increase in the number of Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd disks bought by the public. The concert helped. Even Microsoft boss Bill Gates could play at being philanthropist and Madonna, who refused to drink or endorse the Live 8 fund raising bottled water, was photographed holding hands with an Ethiopian woman who was a child in 1984 and had survived the famine. Great photo Op as they say in the business but where is the beef? Two billion people tuned in to see the Live 8 concerts but the majority of Africans were not included in this as they have no electricity or TV. In any case, had they watched the show they would not have been elated in any way. America and Europe spend billions per day to subsidize their farmers, they dump their powdered milk and other artificially cheap products to ruin local business in Africa, they set low prices for Africa's main export commodities (cocoa, coffee, cotton, copper, etc..).... so much so that "for every dollar received by Africa, farmers of the continent pay two dollars to trade with the West". Will Britain and France agree to scrap the Common Agricultural Policy? Will America stop aggressively calling for the opening up of African markets to American companies? Will bread rain down from the sky?
The African disinterest in the debt relief hullabaloo is justified. There is no proof that the tyrants will spend the money saved in debt and interest payments in improving the livelihood of the people. As we say, God saw the evil in the heart of the serpent and refused to give it legs-- debt free, our tyrants will be out of control. Rwanda spends more money in paying interest on its debt than it does on its health budget but who can say for sure that if the debt gets cancelled Paul Kagame will not buy more arms to hunt down his enemies, to invade his neighbors and impose a more harsh regime over the people? The same can be asked of the tyrants in Ethiopia, Eritrea, the DRC, Liberia or of Guinea and Togo. It is evident hat the whole idea of first class or faded rock stars acting as saviors of Africa grates on our self respect. They are of course free to come over, visit our camps and orphan centers, adopt a child or two, make sympathetic noises, catch meningitis and get world wide press coverage without ever grasping that the chains that bind Africa to the West are more abhorrent than that of slavery. The whole notion of a Tony Blair weeping for Africa would have been treated as a comedy had it not been a cruel joke on our continent. In other words, there is an apparent lack of proper slogans. Naive and good intentioned people are climbing the wrong tree. To kill poverty dead it is primarily necessary to END THE RULE OF TYRANNY. The best allies and friends of Blair and Bush and of the West are despots in Africa. European and American companies plunder the raw material wealthy and rich continent. END NECOLONIAL PLUNDER is the other apt slogan. Barring this, canceling the debt will not alleviate the suffering of the African people. On the contrary, it will give a new lease of life to the tyrants.
We are living in a strange time when people bomb other people they never met or quarreled with and thus it could be more proper if we adopt as slogans "Bomb Poverty Dead, Bomb Tyranny to Smithereens, Bomb unto Dust Neocolonial Plunder". Very militant and violent slogans? Apparently. Aren't we dealing with Africa and its predators? And could those claiming to worry about us, please, wear black wrist bands!
*******************************************************************************
One of the major problems of Africa has always been the sad fact that too many foreigners consider themselves the best doctors for its ills. Back in history, the colonialists came in force with the declared mission of civilizing us as they said we were savages, uncultured, uncivilized and hardened cannibals. We all know now that colonialism wrecked our continent, the colons introduced the culture of savage violence that some of us are still imitating and our malady got complicated and grave. The Belgian colonialists not only murdered more than ten million Congolese but they did so in a savage and brutal way chopping off hands, organs and heads--a practice that Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army, Sierra Leone's rebels of the late Fode Sankoh and government soldiers copied with seriousness. The British colonial crimes in Kenya and other places, the brutality of French colonialism in Algeria, the massacres and decapitations and mass hangings done by colonial Italy in Libya and Ethiopia are examples. Surely, the same and more can be said of colonial Spain, Portugal and even of neo colonial America. They all said they came with lofty intentions but they all killed us dead in a savage way.
The whole operation of Live Aid was, in 1984, an openly patronizing operation that did give some relief to the starving and notoriety to fading Rock stars (who would have heard of Bob Geldof of Boomtown Rats otherwise?) while giving some inadvertent aid to tyrants. One is not being ungrateful but the good intentions of a clumsy kisser may not be pleasant. Compassion is one thing, knowing the medicine to the problem another. Both the Mengistu regime and the unsavory Tigrean front of Meles Zenawi benefited from the aid effort back in 1984. Since then, Bob Geldof has been knighted by the Queen, set up his own lucrative company, has shifted to calling for debt relief, has mobilized Tony Blair and through him none other than the likes of Meles Zenawi to set up an African Commission (as irrelevant as the African Union), is allied to another pop star called Bono in harassing the leaders of the G8 countries to cancel the debt of the poor countries. In the process, he has also declared openly and recently that Africa bores him tremendously and deeply which is a strange thing to say as Africans suffered to give him notoriety and Africa could be never boring to anyone.
As usual, our foreign self declared saviors have failed to consult us the patients on what ails us. Like quack doctors, they are prescribing one potion after another without bothering to check from us on where we hurt really. Take the Live 8 world wide concerts which excluded Africa had not the South Africans tried to save face by organizing their own concert in haste. (African singers were kept away from Hyde Park and relegated to Cornwall). Geldof and Bono have come up with a slogan that says Make Poverty History--yet another example of their failure to consult with us Africans. "Make Poverty History" is soft and vague. Had they asked any ordinary African desiring a definitive solution and proud of his or her alleged penchant for violence and cruelty they could have had a better slogan. Like Kill Poverty Dead! Why procrastinate? Why should poverty be part of History as if it is worthy? Why should we even remember it? The main aim should have been to kill and bury it for ever to be dead and forgotten. The other mistake is the assumption that we want debt relief or debt cancellation. Let alone nominating Geldof and Bono, who is the ordinary and impoverished African who has publicly asked for this debt relief potion? My modest research has come up with no result. Those asking for debt relief or cancellation are the same tyrants who had been borrowing and want to be able to borrow more. We all know the politics of aid and the reality of debt, how so called developing countries were ensnared, how they have already paid up their original debt but are continuing to be strapped by the interests, etc...The donors were and are con artists, the tyrants their accomplices and the so called poor countries (poor countries who supply the rich country with all the precious metals and minerals!) the victims.
Most Africans are opposed to the cancellation of the debt not because they want to suffer but because they know that if our tyrants have no debt burden they will be wilder than could be imagined. No chains, no restraints. To talk in figures Tony Blair can understand, that is to say in British sterling pounds and in billions, Nigeria owes 19.2 , Sudan 9.6. , South Africa 15.26, Angola 5.33, Zimbabwe 2.44, Cameroun 5.04, Ethiopia 3.93 and even Somalia owes 1.56 billion. In most of these countries, there are troubled and troublesome regimes. If Nigeria has no debt burden it would wreak more havoc in West Africa as would South Africa down there and the Sudan and Ethiopia in their region. Mugabe could declare war not only in the Congo but against the homos of the world. They are war mongering regimes already and bereft of debt they would borrow more, buy more arms and bring down the Armageddon on our black heads. Actually, the whole hue and cry over the debt is a parody on the part of the likes of Tony Blair. Take his Africa Commission. The main man in it is none other than the bloody and corrupt Meles Zenawi. Tony Bliar made a lot of noise about 54 Britons being killed by bombers in London while receiving with pomp at Gleneagles the very Meles who had a month earlier ordered the slaughter of more than 60 Ethiopians in Addis Abeba alone. Much as we are used to the hypocrisy and the double standard, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Britain has refused up to now to give back the 1.3 billion pounds that former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha had stashed in British banks. In 2003, Britain sold arms to 10 out of 14 ongoing armed conflicts in Africa, Ghana's tomato industry, for example, was decimated by tariff cuts adopted by the EU following British prompting, etc. EU and American subsidies to their farmers and the inability of African goods to get access to the western markets are still there and untouched. The tariffs and trade barriers are intact. So, who cares for debt relief or why chop a finger to treat a headache?
Without being cynical, we have been forced to admit also that the Live 8 fiesta has been profitable for many. The very company that has been accused of malpractices towards its workers was advertised on the white bands sold and worn by the concert goers. And why was the wrist band white? Is white hope and black despair? How come Rupert Murdoch, the man who could sink Africa into the ocean if he is allowed, was behind the Live 8 campaign? It is, of course, a confirmed fact that a day after Live 8 concerts, British record stores registered an increase in the number of Paul McCartney and Pink Floyd disks bought by the public. The concert helped. Even Microsoft boss Bill Gates could play at being philanthropist and Madonna, who refused to drink or endorse the Live 8 fund raising bottled water, was photographed holding hands with an Ethiopian woman who was a child in 1984 and had survived the famine. Great photo Op as they say in the business but where is the beef? Two billion people tuned in to see the Live 8 concerts but the majority of Africans were not included in this as they have no electricity or TV. In any case, had they watched the show they would not have been elated in any way. America and Europe spend billions per day to subsidize their farmers, they dump their powdered milk and other artificially cheap products to ruin local business in Africa, they set low prices for Africa's main export commodities (cocoa, coffee, cotton, copper, etc..).... so much so that "for every dollar received by Africa, farmers of the continent pay two dollars to trade with the West". Will Britain and France agree to scrap the Common Agricultural Policy? Will America stop aggressively calling for the opening up of African markets to American companies? Will bread rain down from the sky?
The African disinterest in the debt relief hullabaloo is justified. There is no proof that the tyrants will spend the money saved in debt and interest payments in improving the livelihood of the people. As we say, God saw the evil in the heart of the serpent and refused to give it legs-- debt free, our tyrants will be out of control. Rwanda spends more money in paying interest on its debt than it does on its health budget but who can say for sure that if the debt gets cancelled Paul Kagame will not buy more arms to hunt down his enemies, to invade his neighbors and impose a more harsh regime over the people? The same can be asked of the tyrants in Ethiopia, Eritrea, the DRC, Liberia or of Guinea and Togo. It is evident hat the whole idea of first class or faded rock stars acting as saviors of Africa grates on our self respect. They are of course free to come over, visit our camps and orphan centers, adopt a child or two, make sympathetic noises, catch meningitis and get world wide press coverage without ever grasping that the chains that bind Africa to the West are more abhorrent than that of slavery. The whole notion of a Tony Blair weeping for Africa would have been treated as a comedy had it not been a cruel joke on our continent. In other words, there is an apparent lack of proper slogans. Naive and good intentioned people are climbing the wrong tree. To kill poverty dead it is primarily necessary to END THE RULE OF TYRANNY. The best allies and friends of Blair and Bush and of the West are despots in Africa. European and American companies plunder the raw material wealthy and rich continent. END NECOLONIAL PLUNDER is the other apt slogan. Barring this, canceling the debt will not alleviate the suffering of the African people. On the contrary, it will give a new lease of life to the tyrants.
We are living in a strange time when people bomb other people they never met or quarreled with and thus it could be more proper if we adopt as slogans "Bomb Poverty Dead, Bomb Tyranny to Smithereens, Bomb unto Dust Neocolonial Plunder". Very militant and violent slogans? Apparently. Aren't we dealing with Africa and its predators? And could those claiming to worry about us, please, wear black wrist bands!
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
COMBATING CORRUPTION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR
Here is an article that details the inner workings of the government of Ethiopia as it is involved in party owned and affiliate owned corporations as a competitor to private sector companies in the economy. If this is not corruption, grafting, croniesm or any other name you want to give it, I do not know what else it would be. Please click on the link above and read on and be amazed by the sheer magnitude of the ....
Monday, July 25, 2005
Help Us To Help Our Selves
Fuente: World Bank
http://www.worldbank.org
In Africa, Just Help Us To Help Ourselves
/noticias.info/ In a commentary published in The Washington Post (07/24), Gebreselassie Y. Tesfamichael, a development economist and former finance minister of Eritrea, writes that by many measures, it's been a great year for Africa, with debt relief, awareness-raising concerts and G8 leaders pledging more aid. “As an African, I am gratified that the world has turned so much attention to my continent,” Tesfamichael writes. “But at the same time, a voice inside me wants to shout: ‘Wait. This is not the way real development happens!’”
Since the 1950s, when most of Africa achieved independence, billions of dollars have been spent on aid and development. So why is the gap between the continent and the rest of the world widening instead of narrowing? The problem is that the aid community has been determining how Africa should go about development. At present, 30 African governments have produced national development programs from the same externally designed template -- the World Bank/International Monetary Fund's so-called poverty-reduction strategy papers. All are aimed at obtaining the most aid possible. Most of the other African countries are sure to follow. We continue to ignore the stark lesson that externally imposed development models have not gotten us very far. It's what Africans do themselves that will determine how far and how fast we move forward. The only way forward is for Africa to drive its own bus and for the driver and passengers to be in full agreement about where they're going. That said, we do need help filling up the tank. If donor nations and African governments are truly concerned about development, they should foster that sense of self-reliance.
In Eritrea, where I served as the head of development for the first years after liberation from Ethiopia in 1991 and later as finance minister, we decided to take control of our future, and for a number of years we worked hard at designing and implementing our own development. Eventually, another conflict brought much of this to a standstill, but I believe the lessons we learned point the way for the rest of Africa.
One of the major issues for us was the donor-recipient relationship. For decades, we had watched governments throughout the continent compromise their sovereignty as they adopted economic models imposed on them by both the West and the East in order to get aid. We could not help noticing how aid distorted the development process. For instance, donor organizations emphasize the social sectors -- health and education -- while almost entirely ignoring the commercial and business sector. Africa's cities are full of educated, enterprising people who are peddling goods made in Asia. Why should that be? Agriculture and manufacturing are starved for funding. We need health care and education, yes, but we also need a productive sector for the healthy and the educated to work in.
Eritrea implemented a vigorous program of market liberalization, reduced and simplified the tax and customs rates, liberalized investment laws and regulations, restructured public finance and reduced the civil service by a third. Without the guiding hand of structural adjustment and its associated aid, the Eritrean economy grew at an average of 7 percent a year between 1992 and 1997. We did it all with minimal external advice and funds. Obviously, Eritrea, which has suffered recent setbacks, still has a long way to go. But our success over those years shows what's possible. If a small country coming out of 30 years of war and drought could achieve this reform on its own, why can't the rest of Africa?
The fundamental problem in Africa is not lack of resources, but the failure of political leadership, argues Tesfamichael. The modern African state is a colonial creation, extractive in its design. Its mission was not to serve the people, but to dominate and exploit them. Despite independence, and despite improvements brought by numerous recent democratic elections, the nature of that state remains intact. The primary solution is to change it. I am pleased by all the focus on my continent this year. But aid and one "Year of Africa" is not enough. Developing Africa is indeed the challenge of our times, but that challenge is primarily Africa's.
In a commentary published in Les Echos (France, 07/25), Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, writes that international aid to Africa can have a positive impact but that it is far from a perfect solution. Africa’s problems persist despite dozens of billions of dollars in aid. The efforts to gather more aid should be refocused on fostering trade. Trade is the forgotten weapon in the fight against poverty. If the rich countries truly want to help poor populations, they must open their markets to the production of poor countries, including textile and farm products. If customs barriers and import quotas imposed on developing countries’ exports were abolished, along with the subsidies given to farm producers in rich countries, the positive effect on the lives of poor people in Africa and elsewhere would be spectacular. The private sector would develop, jobs would be created and revenues would increase. Trade can act as an engine for economic and political reform.
http://www.worldbank.org
In Africa, Just Help Us To Help Ourselves
/noticias.info/ In a commentary published in The Washington Post (07/24), Gebreselassie Y. Tesfamichael, a development economist and former finance minister of Eritrea, writes that by many measures, it's been a great year for Africa, with debt relief, awareness-raising concerts and G8 leaders pledging more aid. “As an African, I am gratified that the world has turned so much attention to my continent,” Tesfamichael writes. “But at the same time, a voice inside me wants to shout: ‘Wait. This is not the way real development happens!’”
Since the 1950s, when most of Africa achieved independence, billions of dollars have been spent on aid and development. So why is the gap between the continent and the rest of the world widening instead of narrowing? The problem is that the aid community has been determining how Africa should go about development. At present, 30 African governments have produced national development programs from the same externally designed template -- the World Bank/International Monetary Fund's so-called poverty-reduction strategy papers. All are aimed at obtaining the most aid possible. Most of the other African countries are sure to follow. We continue to ignore the stark lesson that externally imposed development models have not gotten us very far. It's what Africans do themselves that will determine how far and how fast we move forward. The only way forward is for Africa to drive its own bus and for the driver and passengers to be in full agreement about where they're going. That said, we do need help filling up the tank. If donor nations and African governments are truly concerned about development, they should foster that sense of self-reliance.
In Eritrea, where I served as the head of development for the first years after liberation from Ethiopia in 1991 and later as finance minister, we decided to take control of our future, and for a number of years we worked hard at designing and implementing our own development. Eventually, another conflict brought much of this to a standstill, but I believe the lessons we learned point the way for the rest of Africa.
One of the major issues for us was the donor-recipient relationship. For decades, we had watched governments throughout the continent compromise their sovereignty as they adopted economic models imposed on them by both the West and the East in order to get aid. We could not help noticing how aid distorted the development process. For instance, donor organizations emphasize the social sectors -- health and education -- while almost entirely ignoring the commercial and business sector. Africa's cities are full of educated, enterprising people who are peddling goods made in Asia. Why should that be? Agriculture and manufacturing are starved for funding. We need health care and education, yes, but we also need a productive sector for the healthy and the educated to work in.
Eritrea implemented a vigorous program of market liberalization, reduced and simplified the tax and customs rates, liberalized investment laws and regulations, restructured public finance and reduced the civil service by a third. Without the guiding hand of structural adjustment and its associated aid, the Eritrean economy grew at an average of 7 percent a year between 1992 and 1997. We did it all with minimal external advice and funds. Obviously, Eritrea, which has suffered recent setbacks, still has a long way to go. But our success over those years shows what's possible. If a small country coming out of 30 years of war and drought could achieve this reform on its own, why can't the rest of Africa?
The fundamental problem in Africa is not lack of resources, but the failure of political leadership, argues Tesfamichael. The modern African state is a colonial creation, extractive in its design. Its mission was not to serve the people, but to dominate and exploit them. Despite independence, and despite improvements brought by numerous recent democratic elections, the nature of that state remains intact. The primary solution is to change it. I am pleased by all the focus on my continent this year. But aid and one "Year of Africa" is not enough. Developing Africa is indeed the challenge of our times, but that challenge is primarily Africa's.
In a commentary published in Les Echos (France, 07/25), Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, writes that international aid to Africa can have a positive impact but that it is far from a perfect solution. Africa’s problems persist despite dozens of billions of dollars in aid. The efforts to gather more aid should be refocused on fostering trade. Trade is the forgotten weapon in the fight against poverty. If the rich countries truly want to help poor populations, they must open their markets to the production of poor countries, including textile and farm products. If customs barriers and import quotas imposed on developing countries’ exports were abolished, along with the subsidies given to farm producers in rich countries, the positive effect on the lives of poor people in Africa and elsewhere would be spectacular. The private sector would develop, jobs would be created and revenues would increase. Trade can act as an engine for economic and political reform.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Economic Commentary - From Addis Fortune: Vol. 6 Issue No. 272 July 17, 2005
Economic Commentary
The recent G-8 meeting in Scotland, as well as concerts and celebrity activism, has put a spotlight on the amount of international assistance reaching the countries and peoples of Africa. This is understandable in light of the continent's persistent poverty, seemingly endless conflicts, and the prevalence of HIV/Aids and other infectious diseases. If properly targeted and conditioned on reforms, international aid can make a positive difference, says Richard N. Haass, formerly Director of Policy Planning in the U.S. State Department, now President of The Council on Foreign Relations. This article was provided to Fortune by Project Syndicate.
Trade more than Aid
Aid is no panacea. The fact that so many problems persist despite tens of billions of dollars of assistance and years of effort is a sad reminder that aid can allow governments to undertake foolish investments that accomplish little, or can easily be siphoned off by corrupt officials. Moreover, aid is inherently uncertain, leaving Africans at the mercy of outside forces beyond their control.
Another problem with the emphasis on aid - in addition to the near impossibility of accurately measuring the scale of the flows from all sources - is that the political effort to increase it absorbs attention that would be better spent on a more powerful instrument of economic development: trade.
Trade is the all-but-forgotten weapon in the battle against poverty, but it can provide more help to the poor than aid can. If rich countries in particular, the United States (U.S.), the 25 members of the EU, and Japan really want to help poor people, they will open their markets to what poor countries produce, especially textiles, apparel, agricultural products, and commodities.
Phasing out tariffs and import quotas for poor countries' exports "and phasing out subsidies for their own producers of agricultural products" would have a dramatic effect on the lives of hundreds of millions of people in Africa and elsewhere. Private businesses would develop, jobs would be created, and incomes would rise.
Moreover, trade benefits the world in many other ways, providing a major boost to the advanced economies of the world. One recent study estimates that incomes in the U.S. alone could rise by half a billion dollars a year if global trade were to become truly free. Similarly, incomes around the world would rise significantly from liberalizing more global trade in both goods and services.
Trade is also an engine of political and economic reform.
What countries must do to join the World Trade Organization is precisely what they must do to become productive and democratic: accept the rule of law, reduce corruption, and become open, accountable, and transparent. At the same time, increased trade can help create and sustain a middle class "precisely the social group that often stands at the forefront of movements for democratic reform."
Trade has a strategic benefit as well, for it gives countries a stake in good relations with one another and in maintaining order and stability. A China that trades extensively with the U.S. and its Asian neighbours will think twice before it pursues any policy that would place those relationships at risk. Likewise, trade between India and Pakistan could contribute to the normalization of ties between these long-estranged neighbours.
But if the case for expanding world trade is compelling, the prospects for actually doing so are clouded, owing to a simple but nonetheless fundamental political reality: those who gain from trade, which is almost everyone, are not always aware of it. The benefits of freer trade, such as job creation, lower inflation, and greater consumer choice, are often invisible or only partly visible.
By contrast, those who lose from trade, or who fear that they could lose, while relatively small in number, are anything but invisible. They feel the threat acutely and act accordingly, often dominating their country's political process. Highly motivated minorities can and do overwhelm the general interests of majorities who are not seized with an issue.
What is needed, therefore, is a pledge by governments to make global trade liberalization a much higher political priority. This will happen only if all of the major trading countries demonstrate a commitment to play by the rules.
For China, this means respecting and enforcing intellectual property rights, allowing non-Chinese firms to compete on an equal basis, and setting its currency at a fair level rather than one that is artificially low. For the U.S., the EU, and Japan, it means ending massive subsidies to farmers and curtailing other forms of protection provided to uncompetitive sectors.
Governments can take these steps if they introduce and expand programmes designed to assist those who would lose their jobs as a result of trade liberalization. Displaced farmers and workers must be provided with the education and training required to enter new jobs, as well as the funds, health care, and other essential services that they need to tide them through the transition.
There is urgency in all of this. The current (Doha) round of global trade negotiations is behind schedule; the next session, to be held in Hong Kong, is only months away. Where are the many people who benefit from trade, including the celebrities who care so deeply about alleviating poverty and promoting development? Live Trade, anyone?
© Addisfortune.com, 2004
The recent G-8 meeting in Scotland, as well as concerts and celebrity activism, has put a spotlight on the amount of international assistance reaching the countries and peoples of Africa. This is understandable in light of the continent's persistent poverty, seemingly endless conflicts, and the prevalence of HIV/Aids and other infectious diseases. If properly targeted and conditioned on reforms, international aid can make a positive difference, says Richard N. Haass, formerly Director of Policy Planning in the U.S. State Department, now President of The Council on Foreign Relations. This article was provided to Fortune by Project Syndicate.
Trade more than Aid
Aid is no panacea. The fact that so many problems persist despite tens of billions of dollars of assistance and years of effort is a sad reminder that aid can allow governments to undertake foolish investments that accomplish little, or can easily be siphoned off by corrupt officials. Moreover, aid is inherently uncertain, leaving Africans at the mercy of outside forces beyond their control.
Another problem with the emphasis on aid - in addition to the near impossibility of accurately measuring the scale of the flows from all sources - is that the political effort to increase it absorbs attention that would be better spent on a more powerful instrument of economic development: trade.
Trade is the all-but-forgotten weapon in the battle against poverty, but it can provide more help to the poor than aid can. If rich countries in particular, the United States (U.S.), the 25 members of the EU, and Japan really want to help poor people, they will open their markets to what poor countries produce, especially textiles, apparel, agricultural products, and commodities.
Phasing out tariffs and import quotas for poor countries' exports "and phasing out subsidies for their own producers of agricultural products" would have a dramatic effect on the lives of hundreds of millions of people in Africa and elsewhere. Private businesses would develop, jobs would be created, and incomes would rise.
Moreover, trade benefits the world in many other ways, providing a major boost to the advanced economies of the world. One recent study estimates that incomes in the U.S. alone could rise by half a billion dollars a year if global trade were to become truly free. Similarly, incomes around the world would rise significantly from liberalizing more global trade in both goods and services.
Trade is also an engine of political and economic reform.
What countries must do to join the World Trade Organization is precisely what they must do to become productive and democratic: accept the rule of law, reduce corruption, and become open, accountable, and transparent. At the same time, increased trade can help create and sustain a middle class "precisely the social group that often stands at the forefront of movements for democratic reform."
Trade has a strategic benefit as well, for it gives countries a stake in good relations with one another and in maintaining order and stability. A China that trades extensively with the U.S. and its Asian neighbours will think twice before it pursues any policy that would place those relationships at risk. Likewise, trade between India and Pakistan could contribute to the normalization of ties between these long-estranged neighbours.
But if the case for expanding world trade is compelling, the prospects for actually doing so are clouded, owing to a simple but nonetheless fundamental political reality: those who gain from trade, which is almost everyone, are not always aware of it. The benefits of freer trade, such as job creation, lower inflation, and greater consumer choice, are often invisible or only partly visible.
By contrast, those who lose from trade, or who fear that they could lose, while relatively small in number, are anything but invisible. They feel the threat acutely and act accordingly, often dominating their country's political process. Highly motivated minorities can and do overwhelm the general interests of majorities who are not seized with an issue.
What is needed, therefore, is a pledge by governments to make global trade liberalization a much higher political priority. This will happen only if all of the major trading countries demonstrate a commitment to play by the rules.
For China, this means respecting and enforcing intellectual property rights, allowing non-Chinese firms to compete on an equal basis, and setting its currency at a fair level rather than one that is artificially low. For the U.S., the EU, and Japan, it means ending massive subsidies to farmers and curtailing other forms of protection provided to uncompetitive sectors.
Governments can take these steps if they introduce and expand programmes designed to assist those who would lose their jobs as a result of trade liberalization. Displaced farmers and workers must be provided with the education and training required to enter new jobs, as well as the funds, health care, and other essential services that they need to tide them through the transition.
There is urgency in all of this. The current (Doha) round of global trade negotiations is behind schedule; the next session, to be held in Hong Kong, is only months away. Where are the many people who benefit from trade, including the celebrities who care so deeply about alleviating poverty and promoting development? Live Trade, anyone?
© Addisfortune.com, 2004
African firms back corruption war
I am very glad to see the attached BBC article talking about African businesses urging world leaders to help their fight against corruption in their home countries. I have always maintained that Africa's problems need to be resolved by Africans themselves. First it is the recognition that there is a problem and acknowledging that it exists. Just as an alcoholic needs to recognize and acknowledge that he/she has a problem before he/she can get any help. I think all of us knew it existed but we did not do anything about it. We were afraid to do anything about it. We did not want to expose our dirty laundry to public scrutiny. We were afraid of reprisals, intimidation, incarceration or afraid of being killed. Well it is out in the open now. And it is about time. Here is an article trying to do just that. Please take the time and read it and comment about it if you can.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Well, it's Thursday night, close to midnight and before I go to bed I wanted to continue to write a bit about my burning issue, you know about Africa's seemingly never ending problems. I want to write about it in hopes that others would start writings and talking about it. We have to get our dirty laundry out in the open, out in the open for all to see. As they say, if you do not tell the doctor about your ailments, you will not get the medicine that you need. You know what happens when you do not get the right medicine for what ails you. Certain death, that is what you get.
I do not want my fellow Africans to die. I do not want them to continue to suffer unnecessarily either. But their problems are real, as real as day and night. Some of these problems are caused by non other than their own rulers. Others are caused by mother nature, political and economic exploitations, racism, tribal or ethnic conflicts, corruption and the like. All these problems are surmountable, can be managed, effectively dealt with, given the right leadership, resource allocation and dedicated efforts of all the people. It needs unselfish and unyielding focus on making things happen for the benefit of the larger population and not for the benefit of the few. Let us see where we can go with this tomorrow.
I do not want my fellow Africans to die. I do not want them to continue to suffer unnecessarily either. But their problems are real, as real as day and night. Some of these problems are caused by non other than their own rulers. Others are caused by mother nature, political and economic exploitations, racism, tribal or ethnic conflicts, corruption and the like. All these problems are surmountable, can be managed, effectively dealt with, given the right leadership, resource allocation and dedicated efforts of all the people. It needs unselfish and unyielding focus on making things happen for the benefit of the larger population and not for the benefit of the few. Let us see where we can go with this tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
By now, you should know that I am a frustrated and angry African residing in the US. Since I am a fairly recent immigrant (only thirty three years in this country), I am still attached to my roots and culture. Therefore, I still think and dream in my native language and follow the news about Ethiopia and Africa on a daily basis. That is where the frustration comes from. I listen to the news and read the newspapers and follow up with magazines such as The Economist and the like on a regular basis. So continually hearing about the constant conflicts, hunger, poverty and disease problems in Africa is an everyday experience and is always in the back of my mind no matter where I am. That leads to the frustration that I as an individual could not do anything to address the problems that millions of Africans face each day. Then , a few weeks ago, during the G8 conference, my frustration reached to a boiling point after hearing that the G8 countries are going not only forgive debts but are planning to spend additional billions of dollars, Euros etc. over the next five years to do the same thing that they have been doing over the last 30 plus years. I have had enough of it. I had to do some thing about it in my own limited capacity. I decided that I had to tell the world that we can not continue with our old ways. We can not afford to continue to support corrupt governments while their people are suffering and dying by the millions from hunger, malaria and HIV/AIDS. Their people continue to suffer from abject poverty while their so-called leaders are wallowing in luxury, wealth and opulence in their own country and at their overseas homes and businesses. You know the rest of the story… Well what am I going to do about it.. we will see.. tomorrow.
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