Obama and the farce of "Young African leaders"

Obama and the farce of "Young African leaders"

It would seem the participants were, if not overwhelmed by the occasion, all too grateful to be in America and talking to one of the most powerful men in the world and would do anything to stroke his plumage.
What the world saw then were sycophants parading as representatives of African youths, whom no African youth worth the name could really entrust with any mandate.
The Herald

By Tichaona Zindoga
Last week, United States President Barack Obama hosted over 100 youths from across Africa in what was dubbed the President's Forum with Young African Leaders.
The youths, derived from civil society, development, business and faith groups included Zimbabweans Sydney Chisi, Cleopatra Ndlovu and Masimba Nyamanhindi.
Chisi is the spokesperson of the Crisis Coalition of Zimbabwe and leader of Youth Initiative for Democracy Zimbabwe and Nyamanhindi is the director of the Students Solidarity Trust while Ndlovu is former director of an outfit called Women in Politics Support Unit.
The forum was to all intents and purposes to be a momentous occasion, knowing the charisma and the phenomenon that the US leader has been on his road to becoming the first black president of a country that has seen all the evil of racism. The meeting underscored Obama's pledge to proactively engage Africa "as a fundamental part of our interconnected world", which he made on his maiden visit to Africa as US leader last year.
Obama has unquestionably become also, for better or worse, something like a pop idol. Chisi, arguably the most notable of the Zimbabwe trio, could not hide his joy at the prospect of meeting Obama. He told American government journal, America.gov, that first of all he "would congratulate him (Obama) for making sure that his presidency is centered on young people . . . (and) really congratulate him in terms of having seen what most people have not yet seen: depending on young people."
Interestingly, asked what he expected out of meeting Obama, Chisi pledged to "demystify the rhetoric that has been presented to the world, especially by the former ruling Zanu-PF, about US foreign policy on Africa and Zimbabwe". "The last decade has been characterised by lack of democracy and lack of respect for human rights.
"We need to tell the Zimbabwean story, not only to the Americans, but also to African countries that have fallen victim to that rhetoric and propaganda. We need to bring out issues of building up the capacity of other young people to build synergies from the things we are doing here in Zimbabwe, but also to safeguard and direct our programming so that it is in line with the international community's views on Zimbabwe. And to bring the true story of what is happening in Zimbabwe.
"We have witnessed over time that people in the ruling class in Zimbabwe have made a living out of the crisis, what I would call crisis entrepreneurs. They have benefited from that and would not want to let go. There has been a wide gap in terms of leadership; so going into the United States for this process will also capacitate me to make sure that we also bring out and bridge the gap the leadership vacuum that has been created by the old guard that is not willing to deal with the succession debate, and not willing to leave power to bring young people into the debate."
During the forum last Tuesday, Obama, with his powerful oratory and charisma, told the "born frees" of the last 50 years that the future belonged to them. He said in his address: "So once again, Africa finds itself at a moment of extraordinary promise . . . while today's challenges may lack some of the drama of 20th century liberation struggles, they ultimately may be even more meaningful, for it will be up to you, young people full of talent and imagination, to build Africa for the next 50 years."
He pledged American support in areas such as food security, health, youth development, education, among other initiatives. When he later entertained some contributions from the audience he emphasised that Africans should determine their own destiny. He said: "I've always said, the destiny of Africa is going to be determined by Africans.
"It's not going to be determined by me; it's not going to be determined by people outside of the continent. It's going to be determined by you. All we can do is make sure that your voices are heard and - and you're able to rise up and take hold of these opportunities. If you do that, I think that there are going to be a lot of people who, even if they're educated abroad, want to come home - to make their mark."
Thus the American leader was as eloquent as ever and obviously carving a very moral figure of himself and his country. But one could not help but feel so disappointed by the so-called "young leaders" from Africa none of whom managed to pose even a single challenging question that would engage Obama out of his narrative of American eternal goodness.
Some of the contributions were nothing more than statements to lead Obama to harp on with his glossy ideals, sweetened by anecdotes, but that were essentially bereft of anything to take an oppressed continent forward.
It would seem the participants were, if not overwhelmed by the occasion, all too grateful to be in America and talking to one of the most powerful men in the world and would do anything to stroke his plumage.
What the world saw then were sycophants parading as representatives of African youths, whom no African youth worth the name could really entrust with any mandate.
Of course, the youths were oblivious to the fact that, in fact, America has been the chief nemesis of the liberation movements and the rights of African people over the last 50 years.
This arguably started with the CIA-assisted overthrow of Africa's founding father and Ghanaian first president Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s, through the atrocities and destabilisation in Zaire, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Angola and Somalia, among others. America was one of the few countries that overtly and covertly supported the apartheid system that haunted the black people of South Africa until 1994. But the country has not relented, as it is along with other Western nations being linked to ongoing crises in Somalia, DRC and Sudan.
Zimbabwe has also witnessed the destructive meddling of America through its attempt to defeat the will of the Zimbabwean people. Various initiatives, groupings and activities have been sponsored to this end leading to the worst crisis since independence in 1980. This makes what Zimbabwean representative Chisi said and led Obama to say at the forum, particularly absurd if not downright preposterous and daft.
According to the transcript, Chisi says: "Currently our government is in a transition between the former ruling party, Zanu-PF, and the Movement for Democratic Change. And within this same context, Zimbabwe is currently under restrictive measures, especially for those who are partly in line with Robert Mugabe and of the Zidera Act.
"How has been the success of Zidera forced the formation of the inclusive Government? Because within Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe is still using the rhetoric of sanctions, racist, property rights abuse, human rights abuse in violation to the rule of law. How has been the success of that towards the implementation - the success of the growth of young people?"
Obama replies: "Well, you probably have a better answer than me. (Soft laughter.) So you should be sharing with our team what you think would make the most sense." There are a number of significant observations one can make from the above exchange, where Chisi rather mumbled and drivelled in leading Obama to make pronouncements on Zimbabwe.
The first is, of course, Chisi's acknowledgement of the existence of sanctions and how they were intended to alter the politics of Zimbabwe to the disadvantage of President Mugabe. He attributes the formation of the inclusive Government between Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations to the sanctions' pressure on President Mugabe.
Since it is known that the inclusive Government was born of the necessity to ease the unprecedented social, political and economic ills, it can be concluded that, from Chisi's statement, that Zidera was responsible for the same ills. This is largely true.
Second, Chisi rubberstamps the allegations of human rights abuses, property rights, rule of law, etc to legitimise American charges against Zimbabwe. It will be noted that the civil society organisations in Zimbabwe, which are barely known beyond their city offices, were created and funded by America both as pressure groups and as mirrors of American perception of Zimbabwe.
In which case, members of these groups have been feted and celebrated in America and other Western capitals for their treasonous role back home. Thanks to Chisi's puffery of America's involvement in Zimbabwe, Obama does not really find it hard to continue with his usual rhetoric on Zimbabwe and America's institutionalised hate of President Mugabe.
Yet he fails to explain why the sanctions have been hard to sell to the world, from the region to the United Nations Security Council. He just comes short of saying that the suffering of Zimbabweans and the "counter-production" in America's quest to remove President Mugabe is collateral damage.
He acknowledges that the sanctions on Zimbabwe have been something close to "punish the people for the abuses of a leader". Obama says he "would love nothing more than to be able to open up greater diplomatic relationships and economic and commercial relationships with Zimbabwe". Yet no one followed that up with the question as to why, after he promised a new era of US relations, his country continued to snub and vilify Zimbabwe when the country had generally asserted its willingness to make friends than enemies.
In a word, that was the bane of Obama's meeting with the so-called "Young African Leaders". For all their achievements in the various fields, including academia, they made a mockery of the continent they purported to represent. For all there is to know, they were just intellectually bankrupt and unable to tell their left from right. In fact, if Africa is going to have the next generation of leaders like these, then it is but the end of the quest for self-determination that began 50 years ago.
We have also seen Sydney Chisi opposing the legitimate sale of Zimbabwe diamonds, on the frivolous American-inspired basis that they are "blood diamonds" mined in a conflict situation.
This was even against the professional observations and recommendations of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme's founding chair Abbey Chikane.
The American-funded civil society movement represented by Chisi and his ilk casts a pall on the future of the continent. The "Crisis Coalition Zimbabwe" name says it all. Academic and newspaper columnist Dr Tafataona Mahoso had such a premonition. When Chisi appeared on national television purporting to represent Zimbabweans Dr Mahoso unpacked the meaning and intent of the organisation and people behind it.
"The name evokes the essence of illegal regime change," he noted. "Crisis means emergency, disaster, catastrophe, calamity, meltdown, dire straits, tipping point. "The closest words to crisis in Shona are ndere, shangwa, nhamo and ndondo. The "crisis", Chisi refers to is the sanctions-imploded economy that has had to be tied to a life support machine of the Western powers that imposed the sanctions.
The "life support machine" is the equivalent of Obama's crocodile tears that he shed for Zimbabwe and told the world how "heartbroken" he was.
Only the "Young African Leaders" were such a bad joke to notice.