SAPA (Johannesburg) 4 Sept.2002
Africans should accept some responsibility for the past wrongs, such as
slavery and colonialism, and present ones, like endangering private
property rights, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni said on Tuesday.
"It is not enough for Africans to blame foreigners," he said at a round-
table discussion at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development.
According to Museveni Europeans had used internal weaknesses to colonise
Africans. "We still have internal weaknesses now and that is holding us
back." For instance, he asked: "Why don't we control the erosion of our
currency by inflation?"
Another weakness related to the protection of private property.
He cited the example of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin who expelled
Indians from the country in 1965, although they were black people. At the
time, Uganda's development was not far behind South Korea's.
"If you endanger private property, investors will not come into the
country."
"These weaknesses must stop."
Predictable, stable policies were needed so that investors knew they could
come into a country and know what to expect. However, sometimes
institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund came and
destabilised these policies by prescribing new directions, he said.
In a speech that included various references to the Bible, and which had
his audience in stitches at times, Museveni said Africans could not preach
the Christian religion to Americans and Europeans.
"When you're weak you can't negotiate."
Negotiating meant giving and taking in different measures.
"We don't have that capacity. We are luring Americans and Europeans to make
mistakes.
"Weakness elicits mistakes and contempt on the other side."
Museveni referred to the Lord's Prayer which asks: "Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil."
He said: "We should not tempt the Americans and the Europeans. We need to
deliver the Americans from temptation.
"If you are too weak, you tempt somebody to make mistakes."
On globalisation, Museveni pointed out that African people were found in
various places in the world.
"Africans have been globalised for five centuries ... So what's new?"
However, that had been parasitic globalisation, Museveni said.
"The only globalisation I want to hear of now is mutually beneficial
globalisation."
He said one could not right old wrongs now, but added: "We can right
present wrongs and prevent future wrongs."
According to him, it was after all the fault of Africans to be enslaved.
African chiefs were part of the process of enslavement.
"If you are foolish enough to be enslaved, it is your fault."
One could not globalise oranges, dance or food, Museveni said.
"We all eat macaroni..."
"What I want us to globalise first is the markets."
Alluding to the US and Russia that together account for 53% of the world's
greenhouse gases, but have shown reluctance to concede to international
targets to reduce them, he asked: "What are we going to do to these
countries?"
"Certain people are too arrogant."
Museveni referred to the story of the Tower of Babel in the Bible, saying
it was "maybe something like the World Trade Centre".
When it became too tall, it collapsed under its weight, and that was when
people started speaking different languages.
"That is why I didn't understand the Chinese premier when he was speaking."
Western countries were engaged in building a tower of Babel, he said.
"When that tower collapses it will affect all of us."
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From the official site of the Jo'burg Summit
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