For without tackling the political crisis in Africa most especially the one that it about to reach a tipping point in East Africa ; then the humanitarian summit in Malabo deserves to take a step backwards while borrowing both the philosophy of Sanfoka and the proverb of Equatorial Guinea. The same country whose capital city hosted the humanitarian summit on the 27th of May 2022. African problems should be entreated with African home bred solutions, so does the singer of the song announce. However how do we get ourselves out of a problem that we have created ourselves. This now brings me to the idea that instead of a humanitarian summit perhaps maybe the African union should focus on ensuring that it's members abide to the respect of all human rights and to all the best tenets of democracy. Most Africans are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis brought about by bad governments whose common denominator is the abuse of basic human rights and the disregards of democratic principles. The African Union should start summits that draft policy documents which are aimed at curtailing and bringing to book those bad African leaders that not only stop at killing dissenting voices but only change the constitution in order to extend their over stay in power. In that way every politically motivated humanitarian crisis will be controlled right at the very tap root of its genesis.
Pledges amounting to millions of American dollars shall be collected but as long as their is no will by African leaders to tackle the trigger of African based humanitarian crisises every effort will seem but in vain. unlike in the western hemisphere where the spill over of humanitarian need is fundamentally brought about by natural calamities, in Africa its really a far different scenario. Bad governance is the major cause of humanitarian situations in Africa. Thus even though the effort to establish a humanitarian agency by the African union is amazing in and unto itself, bad governance in Africa is more urgent a problem needing emergency solution as of now. The African Union needs a democratic and human rights watchdog. To make sure that member states not don’t give room to undemocratic proclivities such as the abuse of a given election process along with the unusual tempering of the constitution to suit the need of those individual with the intention to overstay in power.
Gifted Tongues Magazine - 09
