The following is an edited version of the speech by President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to The Irish Times/Harvard University Colloquium at University College, Dublin, yesterday evening:
TO educate and to inform are essential elements in the search for a more harmonious, more fulfilling world. The organisers of this colloquium are at the forefront of the providers of that dual need and have, doubtless, chosen the subject "Africa: Recognition of its Past and Remedies for its Future" because of its topicality.
Indeed, all who think deeply: about the condition of our world must consider the subject to be topical. Africa is a continent endowed perhaps more than any other with an abundance of natural resources. It is centrally positioned at what could be a crossroads for world trade, within easy reach of markets in America, Asia and Europe. It possesses its own potential market of over 600 million persons. Its genius is attested to by the fact that once it was a cradle - some would say the cradle of human civilisation. Yet today it ranks as the world's poorest continent. The question to which we must seek an answer is why this is so.
Ladies and gentlemen, any discussion of Africa has of necessity to deal with two problems at the same time: one is that of the true condition of Africa as it is found on the ground, and the other is the image of Africa as depicted by a number of stereotypes. Africa has been dubbed the "Dark Continent" in spite of the fact that there is probably more light and sunshine on the African continent than on any other land mass on this planet. To many people outside the continent, Africa is the land of savages and cannibals, as portrayed in the Tarzan movies. It is a continent of meaningless gyrations of conflicts, violence, witchcraft, disease, grinding poverty, hunger and frightening epidemics like AIDS, ebola and other evils. Some of the world news media prefer to feed their readers on a simple diet of the stereotypes of Africa rather than on the objective realities about the continent.
Poverty, disease and ignorance are indeed found in Africa as in many other continents, but these are not the only things we find there. Africa is much more than a story of tragedies. The good news out of Africa rarely finds space in the world media. Even more disappointing are the reasons one often reads to explain why certain events occur in Africa.
For example, many reports dwell on the centrifugal forces that threaten the politics of many of Africa's states. They dramatise the actual armed conflicts that have broken out in places, bringing their wake refugees, social dislocations, disruptions in economic activity, trauma, poverty and disease, and, in the light of the new post Cold War wisdom, ascribe all this to bad governance in Africa in the post independence period. But is this all that can be said to explain the African condition: bad government of Africans by Africans?
Such an explanation, in my view, is much too simplistic. Today Africa is indeed pulling out of the dark age, an age of unreason, cruelty and irrationality. But it is a dark age into which it was plunged by others, not by itself. We go to history to learn, and not necessarily to apportion blame. A proper appreciation of what happened will instruct our steps today and so help us avoid the pitfalls of the past.
Africa's situation today is to a large extent explained by its history. And that history is not just the history of the last four decades. That history encompasses the stave trade, colonialism, the Cold War and the situation created by the end of the Cold War.
The stave trade had a physical and psychological dimension. The physical dimension was the actual displacement of persons from Africa, which depleted the continent's population, diminished its brawn and brains for developmental activity and curtailed its capacity for self defence.
The psychological, dimension of the slave trade was that it gave rise to the scourge of racism. This dimension was indeed greatly insidious, and later coloured almost all relations among and within states as it percolated into every aspect of human interaction. It had not only justified colonialism, but had also made sure that when colonialism came, the need for master servant relationships would be allowed to distort and disrupt beneficent economic growth patterns in the colonies and ensure that the political systems installed there were anti democratic.
We are all familiar with the modus operandi of the colonialists. It was based on the divide and rule principle, which lowered the cost of imperialism for European governments while hiking the price of nation building for Africa's future leaders. There was the bestialisation of the indigenous population, the ridiculing and suppression of its identity, culture and the relevance of its social mores in continuing justification of colonialism.
While the sword won the initial battle, colonialist rule was buttressed by the assumption of racial superiority: the subdued race needed to remain diminished, continuously confronted with "evidence" of its own inferiority.
THERE was the infrastructure which was aimed at exploiting natural and human resources for the benefit of the imperial power rather than for the development of the colony. Even when the development of the colony was contemplated it was aimed not at the even development of the whole society but only of the settler segment, white the rest of the populace was allowed to wallow in poverty in order to reinforce its presumed inferiority. Economically, there was the creation and "sustenance of a dependency syndrome, by making the colonies produce what they did not need and need what they could not produce.
In short, under colonialism there were put in place educational, cultural, social, economic and political structures that were aimed at proving the alleged inferiority of the subject race in every dimension. The colonialists seemed to have truly reasoned along the lines of Attila the Hun, who is reported to have said: "To succeed is not enough others must fail."
The need to believe this was so persuasive that even in the academic world there emerged phrenological and other pseudo scientific theories claiming that Africans were at the bottom level of the scale of human evolution in comparison with all other races. As some would say, it was a question of giving a dog a bad name and hanging him. Indeed, even as late as the 1950s there were professors at the Universities of the Witwatersrand, Cape Town, and Rhodesia who believed that Africans were mentally incapable of abstract mathematical concepts and legal logic and hence, it was alleged, they could not do degrees in such disciplines as economics and law.
However, the tyranny of colonialism meant that it could not succeed forever as the subject races rose in revolt, which meant the destruction, in many cases, of whatever little infrastructure was in place. This resulted in the disruption of production, systematic dislocation of colonial life, and a diversion of effort, time and resources away from peaceful pursuits to war.
As the colonial arrangements fell apart, the horrific legacy of that colonial and imperialist era became increasingly clear. The colonialists had relied for control on their armies, not on democracy and societal consensus. They had broken down Africa's pre colonial socio political systems and put nothing but the brute force of arms in their place.
Practically out of the blue, on the eve of independence, one man one vote elections were called and a democratic ethos, which had been largely absent throughout the period of colonial rule, was supposed to suddenly flourish. How could this be? Ethnic groups had always been kept apart and were liable to be suspicious of each other. All groups had been materially acutely deprived and were therefore inclined to fight desperately for access to resources. And then there had always been an absence of democratic practice.
Is it any wonder then that several contesting leaders resorted to tribal or ethnic politics in their political campaigns? Colonial rulers had always pitted one tribe against another. In Ghana, it was the Fanti against the Ashanti in South Africa, the Zulus against the Xhosas; in Kenya, the Masai against the Kikuyus and the latter against the Luo; in Nigeria, the Ibo against the Yoruba; in Central Africa, the Tutsis versus the Hutus; in Zimbabwe, the Shonas against the Ndebete, and so on and so forth.
However, the arrival of independence was welcomed in all African countries with great enthusiasm as marking the real beginning of Africa's self determination and achievement of equality with other nations in the world community. It brought its own opportunities in the economic, social and other spheres. Successes were achieved in some social areas like education and health, especially in the early days.
But we in Africa are the first to admit that as different parts of the continent gained independence in the last 40 years, the new governments made some errors which have still to be fully rectified. There is now a realisation that, after the achievement in many countries of independence, a number of policies adopted to achieve greater democracy, economic recovery, growth and development have failed. Africa's policy makers do accept their part of the responsibility for what has been called a "false start".
Nonetheless, the fact that the Africans did not succeed in rescuing their economies from the role they were made to play before independence has as much to do with the stubborn effects of colonialism as with the failure of Africa's leaders.
The basic motivation of the colonisation of Africa was to enable Europe to capture markets and sources of raw materials for its industries. Colonial economies compelled people to produce minerals and cash crops for the "mother" countries which demanded such commodities as cotton, rubber, tea, coffee, tobacco or some colonies produced more of such cash crops to the detriment of their own staple foods. Furthermore, secondary industries to process these products were rarely brought to the African continent.
The new African leaders made attempts to diversify the economies of newly independent countries, but, without their own strong indigenous entrepreneurs, they found themselves compelled to resort to the creation of state owned companies to fill the vacuum. Parastatals thus engaged in all manner of economic activity, ranging from the running of airlines to baking and selling the daily bread. When these failed to deliver the goods, as far as growth and development were concerned, the result was hardship characterised by growing unemployment. In a number of countries, economic failure led to disillusionment with freedom and independence, the collapse of democratically elected governments and the emergence of dictatorships of one kind or another, especially military ones.
AFRICA has not broken from the vicious cycle of diminishing returns for its exports and the rising costs of its imports from developed countries. The lack of major industries on the greater part of the continent thus remains a major obstacle to progress and the main reason for Africa's ever soaring debt.
To the above must be added the effect and influence of the Cold War. National policies and the ideological disposition of countries were not allowed to be the sole responsibility of those countries alone. In the war for supremacy between East and West, some of the former colonies were punished or rewarded and their rulers retained power or were deposed according to whether they were judged to be assets or liabilities by the two global camps.
The effects of the contest between the East and West for spheres of influence must be borne in mind when observers today cite the centrifugal forces in the politics of many African states, point to the tension and actual armed conflicts that have broken out in places, and cite the low productivity of the economies of Africa and the low quality of life even where peace reigns. Bad analysis gives rise to bad policies. Given what African leaders had to contend with, that the continent has held up the way it has is itself a source of both wonder and satisfaction.
In view of the foregoing, what is most remarkable about Africa today is not the incidences of conflict but the rarity of the phenomenon. One can refer today to a half dozen or so conflicts on the continent. But this is on a continent of 54 countries.
Africa, like any other continent, is a product of its history. And from that history the leaders have learnt lessons that must guide them in plotting Africa's future. Perhaps the most fundamental lesson we have learnt is that the creative human spirit must be allowed the freedom to flourish if society is to develop.
In Africa, such flourishing of the human spirit was for long suppressed by the heavy hand of colonialism. In the immediate post independence period too, even some of the new African leaders themselves had the colonial experience still too vivid in their minds to allow the flowering of full human freedoms. That has now largely changed.
The Organisation of African Unity, created in May 1963 against the background of an Africa for centuries torn apart by vying oppressive colonial powers, must be viewed as one of Africa's historic achievements. The 3,0 pioneer heads of state who met in Addis Ababa in 1963 pledged, themselves, under a charter of their own formulation, to the unity of Africa, the recognition of the sovereignty of their states and non interference in their domestic affairs.
They further pledged adherence to the principles and charter of the United Nations as well as to nonalignment in their international relations. Because a number of countries, especially in the south had remained under colonialism the new organisation committed itself to their liberation and, indeed, established a liberation committee, which effectively assisted the liberation movements of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, Southern Rhodesia, South West Africa and South Africa until these countries became completely free and independent.
In a sense, even in countries where there is war and tension today, the situation is still better than under colonial rule because the terms of interaction, engagement and cohabitation are being negotiated, whereas under colonialism they were never recognised and went permanently muzzled.
It is our sincere belief that the ultimate custodian of democracy is the educated and informed citizen. To ensure a strong foundation for our democracy, Africa has greatly expanded educational facilities at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. There has also been a large increase in the print media and a more varied editorial and ideological slant since independence, to better educate, inform and entertain the reading public. But while in western democracy accent is put on the rights of the individual in society, African culture puts the accent on the community and its harmony rather than on the individual. Human rights to us must also include the collective rights of the community and not just those of the individual.
Economically, we have emphasised bringing all citizens into the national economy rather than preserving an economy that exploits all to serve only a few. This will not only give all citizens a stake in the economy and so ensure industrial and even political peace, but it will also greatly expand the internal market, giving rise to increased industrial growth and prosperity, leading to greater political stability.
Lack of fairness in the colonial economy led to disharmony and system instability. It also led to misplaced priorities, where there was a need to spend more on the police and other security agencies rather than on socio economic objectives to enable the colonial system to withstand the resistance of segments of the population to the discrimination and racial imbalances in the socio economic system. Many independent African countries have embarked on economic policies which operate fairly by redistributing land and economically empowering formerly disadvantaged sections of society, women among them.
While parastatals continue to play important roles in some strategic areas, in others private companies and individuals are taking over. The economic restructuring taking place involves both the commercialisation and privatisation of many enterprises, as well as a general economic liberalisation that allows private operators to play key roles in the economies of Africa.
TERMS of trade continue to be a major obstacle to progress in Africa despite the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Talks that led to the establishment of the World Trade Organisation [WTO], whose role obviously is of great interest to Africa.
The phenomenon of globalisation is posing a big challenge to Africa. By stressing the opening up of all markets while seeking to protect information and knowledge, especially intellectual property rights and technology in particular, WTO exposes Africans to exploitation and prevents their benefiting from the knowledge revolution. The social clauses in the WTO would need careful application if Africa is to avoid increasing marginalisation.
African countries have also begun to take measures to strengthen their own economic cooperation. Already much progress has been made in that direction in the form of sub regional co operation. The Organisation of African Unity itself has the Lagos Plan of Action and its Final Act, as well as the Treaty of Abuja, to guide the process at the continental level, while different sub regional co operation arrangements have also been put in place.
In the latter case, we have the Maghreb Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Common Market of East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as the sub regional organisations that seek to bring African countries into closer economic co operation.
It is expected, as time unfolds, that these sub regional associations will establish organic links with the OAU in order to acquire the true status of building blocks for the envisaged African Common Market, whose target date is the year 2030. In these institutions lies the embryonic form of the community Africa seeks to achieve through political and economic integration.
We are aware that it has taken no less than 40 years for the European Economic Community (EEC), with all the greater resources and capacity for convergence at its disposal, to become the present European Union, which itself still has some way to go in the process of reaching final integration.
A major priority in Africa today is to create durable democracies in which pluralism is fully entrenched. This is, furthermore, linked to our determination to bring to an end the post Cold War conflicts that have erupted in a number of countries. I am, however, happy to note, in this regard that Africans are taking measures, at both the OAU and sub regional levels, to create mechanisms that will play key roles in bringing about the peace and stability that we all desire.
The OAU has established a mechanism for conflict prevention and management on the continent which is known as the Central Organ of the OAU Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution. This is because Africans have come to realise that peace and stability are the sine qua non of the socio economic development programmes of their continent. It is this organ of 17 members, of which Zimbabwe is one, that is now scheduled to meet in Lome, Togo, on March 26th to discuss the whole question of the conflict in Zaire. In the Southern African region, SADC states took the initiative in 1996 to establish an Organ on Politics, Defence and Security in order to prevent and manage conflicts at a regional level. Zimbabwe is at present honoured to chair this organ; it is also host to the Regional Centre for Peacekeeping Studies.
As peace initiatives succeed, the environment for investment and development in Africa will naturally improve significantly. I am convinced that Africa is poised to become the new region of opportunity in the world, especially as African countries are also seeking to diversify their economic and other ties with other regions. No doubt Africas traditional ties with the developed countries of the North will remain important, although there remains an increasing need for dialogue in order to base the present co operation on firmer ground.
In its search for newer socioeconomic ties, Africa is also looking more to other developing countries. Africa, after all, is situated, we would like to believe, at the very centre of the world, where it lies between two great water masses of the vast Atlantic and Indian oceans, linking it to the Americas and Asia, respectively, quite apart from the fact that the continent also stretches across the tropics curiously known as Capricorn and Cancer and is linked to Europe across the Mediterranean.
Just as we believe inequality and unfairness can engender political instability at the domestic level, so do we view inequality and unfairness at the international level as making for instability and injustice in international relations. It was for that reason Africa became a strong member of the non aligned movement during the Cold War and continues to be so to this day.
It is also for that reason that today we take very seriously the need to make the United Nations more democratic, particularly by including in the Security Council countries from regions such as Africa and Latin America which have hitherto not been among its permanent members.
Finally, I would like to share with you my strong conviction that Africa is now poised for a great future. The continent has, with few exceptions, embraced democracy and the creative genius of its people is once again being unleashed.
Its arms are open to its brothers and sisters across the seven continents, inviting them to come and Join it in shaping a future of mutual prosperity based on the sharing of new political, economic, social and moral values. It is appealing for new technology, higher skills, knowledge, experience and, above all, capital resources.
Its own natural resources remain abundant and substantially undeveloped. Its nightmare of instability has begun to be seriously addressed. Most of its governments are becoming more and more accountable to the people. It can already see an era of peace on the horizon and with it the flourishing of the human spirit.
The people of Africa have resolved never again to remain the object of history but to transform themselves into its subject. They it is who shall determine the destiny of their continent and co operate with others as equal partners. They were their own political liberators. They are sure to become their own economic liberators. Long live Africa! God bless Africa!