The birth of the AU also sent to the dustbin of history, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the body that was founded 39 years ago to mainly spearhead the decolonisation process of the continent.

 

It is interesting to read through the comments made by people on the Birth of the AU. I believe all the comments and worries are based on the question as to whether AU  can leader Africa to prosperity, progress and development in this millennium? 

I share Saikss and Eddy's concerns and also understands Foroyaa's position when they said "History that will be the final judge"

 

The OAU before it was accused of slumping into what has been described commonly as a club of dictators who met for the annual orgy of lavish parties sponsored from the dry kitties of their already impoverished countries.

 

The organisation lost touch with realities after the founding Fathers such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Gamel Abdel Nasser and Julius Nyerere who lost their lives, political power or got overwhelmed by a fresh breed of leaders, most of whom came to power through the barrel of the gun and whose interests were more self centre red than nationalistic.

 

The OAU failed to shift focus in consonance with the new international order and allowed itself to be bogged down by bureaucracy, inertia and played to the selfish dictates of despots and corrupt leaders, some of whom proclaimed themselves Life Presidents and Emperors.

There came a time when the organisation existed only in name and many African leaders fear, to attend the annual summits because of possible coups back home.

 

It would be unfair to treat the OAU like a dog giving it a bad name and hanging it.  It played its decolonisation role quite effectively and today, from the original 32 members that constituted it, there are 53 members now who signed the protocol bringing the AU into existence.

 

Africans are not worried about the demise of the AOU, but about the unknown world that the AU is leading them.

 

The AU, according to its sponsors, is to do more action than talking, Shaped on the same lines as the European Union, the AU will see to the establishment of a Common Parliament, a Court of Justice and a Central Bank that will issue and manage a common currency.

 

One very important institution which is to bring more dynamism into the new body is the Peace and Security Council, which has the mandate to intervene in times of war crimes and genocide.

 

This is a clean departure from the AOU charter, which was quite unambiguous about the non-interference in member states’ internal affairs.

Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Burundi and Rwanda, to mention just few are all heritages of the past system which allowed wicked and despotic leaders to destroy their countries without any sense of guilt.

 

To show that they mean business the African leaders at their maiden summit in Durban, have agreed to the immediate establishment of this Council.

Other objectives of the AU include ensuring good governance, peace and stability, respect for the rule of law and intra regional cooperation in the areas of trade, security, economic, political and social integration.

 

These are noble objectives that cannot be attained without a firm democratic culture. That brings to the fore Africa’s preparedness to dump those leaders that are still living in the past and who do not want to relinquish power and open the valves for democracy to thrive in their countries.

 

 

The AU may have grandiose ideas but without the faith and commitment of the leaders it will in the long run become a paper tiger and I was glad that president Kafour of  Ghana in his interview last night stressed on good leadership as a way forward.

 

The celebration and the accompanying fanfare may still be reverberating in the dance halls an dining rooms in the various capitals, but the task ahead has just began It is important Africans marches not only to a new tune but also towards new directions.

As FOROYAA rightly pointed it out it is only history that will be the final judge but can we afford to mess up again? Can we afford fail our people again?

 

The Struggle Continues!!!

Ndey Jobarteh

>From: Momodou Camara <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: FOROYAA BURNING ISSUES - NO: 40/2002 11- 14 July, 2002 >Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 10:29:14 +0200 > >Gambia-l, >Here are the Burning Issues from FOROYAA NEWSPAPER NO: 40/2002 11 - 14 July, >2002 > >The topics in this issue are: > >1. The African union The Future Or A Dream? >2. What Is Action Aid's Future In The Gambia? >3. Nation-wide Vaccination Campaign: Who Should Or Should Not Be Vaccinated? >4. Focus On The Gambia's Economic Situation > > > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Editorial > >The African union The Future Or A Dream? >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >The meeting in Durban, South Africa which is going to witness the transformation of the >Organisation of African Unity into a the African Union marks the beginning of the end of an >era, the era of narrow nationalist politics. As the African leaders meet in Durban they should >look back at the days of the establishment of the OAU in 1963. > >It was Nkrumah who said during the celebration of the independence of Ghana in 1957 that >Ghana's independence was meaningless unless it was linked to the total liberation of the >African continent. Nkrumah saw political liberation as the conquering of state power from >the colonial masters as the first step of enabling the African people to take charge of their >destiny. This is why he uttered that Africans must seek the political kingdom and all the >rest shall come. This statement has been misconstrued to mean that once countries attain >political independence they should also solve all their economic problems. What Nkrumah >meant was simple. He felt that if each African country becomes politically independent the >leaders will form one African Union government, Central Bank, Security Force with a >continental plan for African development. > >Nkrumah felt that no African country can do it alone against the United States or USSR's >domination of world politics at the time. When heads of state met in 1963 most of them >rejected the idea of a union. > >They advocated for each nation to maintain its own sovereign government and regional >communities to be set up like ECOWAS to encourage gradual regional integration. The >OAU became an organisation which enables African heads of state and their ministers of >Foreign Affairs to agree or to disagree on any fundamental issues regarding Africa's >development. > >The 21st century marks the beginning of the realisation that Africa cannot come out of it's >current dependency, poverty and indebtedness without continental initiative. All leaders are >now convinced that none of the them can do it alone. >This is why the African Union has gone beyond the confines of the OAU to call for an >assembly, executive council, Pan-African parliament, court of justice, Central Bank, African >monetary fund and African investment bank. After the >Durban meeting the African people should watch very closely whether the lessons are >committed to a union or are simply paying lip service for it. > >This attitude will determine whether the union is the future of Africa or a mere dream. >History will be the final judge. > > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >What Is Action Aid's Future In The Gambia? >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >Information has reached FOROYAA that the awareness campaign by the Action Aid the >Gambia has been stopped by the Government. > >Sources close to the Action Aid have indicated that the Department of State for Local >Government had written to the Action Aid Country Director to stop the civic education >programme and accuse them of conducting party politics in the country. > >Information has also reached the FOROYAA that the Action Aid has been given an >ultimatum to leave the country if they do not stop their paralegal training programme >immediately. A telephone from the province to FOROYAA also indicated that Action Aid >has stopped its programmes in the Gambia. Many people are highly alarmed by this >rumours noting that it would be a serious negative impact on the poor farming communities >in URD and NBD, who are depending on Action Aid for seasonal loans to purchase seed >nuts and fertiliser etc. > >FOROYAA contacted the Action Aid Headquarters for confirmation of the rumours but are >told that Action Aid would in due course send a press release to the press that would >explain or clarify the situation. > >We hope the state too would come out with an explanation on this matter as it is a general >concern. > >An alarm has been sounded that the organisation may suspend it's activities in the Gambia. > >ACTION AID is one of those NGOs which operates by giving direct assistance to the >education and productive sectors of the rural economy and finally went into advocy and >civic education come to realize that their efforts have not generally >led to the eradication of poverty. Some have seen the provocation of fair trade and the >empowerment of the people. > >This is a view that development is not done for people but is done by people; those who >wish to assist countries should the people to realize their development potentials. At the >moment. FOROYAA could not get much from the action Aid or the Gambian authorities. >There is the possibility that the two are still engaged in negotiation to settle their >differences. In FOROYAA's view it is necessary for the Gambia government to bear in mind >the achievements of our own development. Wer have better things to do than send NGOs >packing. They will simply go to other countries. There is no doubt that NGOs bring >substantial amount of foreign exchange into the country and do provide gainful employment >to many Gambians. Many international aid organizations are moved by the advocacy of well >established NGO's. Development has many angles. Government should cooperate with any >group which can add something to the Gambian people if this help to identify priorities and >motivate NGO's to adopt such programmes. The mission statemen is cooperation not >dictation. > >We hope that the matter will be settled without delay. > > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Nation-wide Vaccination Campaign: Who Should Or Should Not Be Vaccinated? >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >The Department of State for Health has launched a nation wide vaccination campaign at the >home village of the president in Kanilai on the 4th of July 2002. On Monday the 8th July >2002, teams started the nation wide exercise in all health facilities. A Foroyaa reporter went >to the Poly Clinic in Banjul where hundreds of people lined up to be vaccinated. Upon >arrival, this reporter talked to some elders who were at the poly clinic. The first to be talked >to was one Assan Faye. He was asked why he was at the poly clinic. He said he had come >to answer to the call of the health department in order to be vaccinated against what he >called the killer disease meningitis. Mr. Faye used the opportunity to call on all elders to >make sure that all their family members make themselves available at the vaccination >centres. He took the opportunity to remind his fellow citizens of very serious out breaks of >the disease in early 60s in which the nation lost thousands of lives. > >EPI's Explanation and Advice: This reporter then spoke to Alpha Njie, National Programme >Manager for the Expanded Immunisation Programmes. When asked about the reasons for >the vaccination campaign Mr. Njie said the objective was to prevent >any future outbreak. On whether there are any reports of out breaks any where in the >country, Mr. Njie replied in the negative. Further asked the targeted age groups, he said >from one year upwards. He added that their aim is to exclude >pregnant women and those below one year. When finally asked if teams would visit >schools, Mr. Njie answered in the positive but further went to say that not in all schools but >that teams will go in to the wider society at community levels. >He stressed that they will visit all village bantabas and other community centres nation- >wide. He called on all family and house heads to make sure that all their members within >the stipulated age groups are vaccinated. He said the exercise will close on the 23rd July >2002. > > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Focus On The Gambia's Economic Situation > >Continued from last issue >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >We have been focusing on the Gambian economy and of late, we have been looking into the >'Gambia Human Development report, 2000" which has an indeptht analysis of the Gambian >economy as well as accurate statistical date which can be very >useful to all of us especially students of economics. > >In the last issue, we have published what the report said about "The Liberalization >Experience in The Gambia" as well as the Privatization Experience which had followed. The >report however, did not speak favorably of both experiences. It says the original objective of >the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) was for the Gambian economy to be open up >to international >trade, barriers to be removed for foreign investment, corporate regulations and taxes to be >reduced as well as other disincentives to be reduced to economic activities, but as the >report asserted these objectives have not been fully >attained. It says the SAPs of the 80s and 90s have been implemented with these goals in >mind. It also says for the Gambia to participate in the global economy, the Gambia >government have affected trade policy measures that could, to some >extend be termed liberal in order to create the required environment for a truly open >economy. > >The report however asserted that the Gambia has moved towards liberal and free market >policies driven by the private sector under the World Bank Supported Economic Recovery >Programme (ERP) in 1985. this, it says; has caused agricultural subsides to be removed, >the GPMB to be sold which was responsible for the purchasing, processing and marketing >of groundnut. The report went on to say that the ERP programme required that no restriction >should be on the quality of goods imported into the Gambia or exported from the Gambia; >that foreign exchange transactions have also been liberalized since the floating of the >Dalasi in 1985. > >According to the reports' findings, in the aftermath of liberalization, and in the face of rapid >population growth, poverty has increased by36 percentage points (from 33 percent of the >population in 1992/93 to 69 percent in 1998). It says social conditions deteriorated, >weakening the foundation for Human Development. It says in fact mortality rate has also >increased from 92 percent per 1000 for both sexes in 1993 to 144 and 122 per 1000 for >male and female respectively in 1998. > >In this issue, we will focus on the questions raised by the readers after which we would >move further to deal with the international economy to see how Gambia is faring in what is >termed "Globalization". > > > >Dear Editors, > > I am an economic student and I am very much interested in your "Focus on >Gambia's Economic Situation" section because it is very interesting. > >One thing that baffles my mind is that most of what I read from the focus makes a lot of >economic sense to me because it is all backed by scientific analysis and statistiscal facts; >but as I said, it sort of contradicts what I am learning >from my economy class, in the sense that my teachers do not appreciate government or >what you call the public sector to do investment in the productive sectors of our economy. >They tend to suggest the contrary. > >However, what I would like you to dwell on now is an argument which has propped up >between me and some fellow students as to whether government can or cannot print more >money to eradicate the poverty of the people. Is it wise to print more money sometimes or >would that create a problem for the Gambia? > >Thank you very much for your question. This is a very healthy situation because one of the >objectives of the topic is to create awareness and debates on issues of the economy. One >would think that this question is frivolous but it is a very >important question. > >In the earlier face of Africa's independence, dictators who have no idea of economics such >as Idi Amin, Bokassa etc use to think that printing more money would simply increase >wealth in a country, but this is far from the reality. > >In reality the amount of money printed in a country should commensurate or be equal to the >total value of the products produced in a country. This is not an easy matter but if we know >the estimated value of goods and services, we would >be able to have an idea as to whether our gross national product has risen up or down. If we >know that it has gone up, we should be able to estimate as well how much percentage it >has gone up or down. We would then be able to calculate the >estimated value of products produced in that year and print the estimated amount in >currency terms as the case may be, or discard the estimated amount. > >One may ask, why should we discard our money, well the idea is that if we do not discard >it, it means that we are in fact in a way printing more money which does not commensurate >to or is not equal to the value of the wealth in our country. >In that case, this would tantamount to what is called inflation. And inflation is one of the >undesirable situations we should do everything to avoid. > >However, the need for revenue may lead a desperate government to increase the money >supply even though they may be aware that the resulting increase in inflation erodes the >real value of all financial assets with the exception of those that are fully indexed. This >creates what is called inflation Tax. In this case debtors gain and creditors lose. > >In other countries such as the United States which are considered credit markets, financial >assets that pay tax, such as bonds are likely to have a yield to compensate for any erosion >in their real value which is of course caused by the foreseeable inflation. Apart from bonds >being indexed, any sudden or unexpected increase in inflation is likely to be compensated >for by high nominal interest rates and even such holders of bonds can suffer from erosion of >the real value of their assets. > >In most cases, it is governments who are the main issuers of bonds and the main holders >are usually the domestic private sector, any sudden increase in inflation would reduce real >value of government debt. In such countries, the effect of inflation amounts to levying a tax >on bonds and using the revenue to pay debts. > >But as I said, this is rarely the principle use to get financing in this country and can yield >hardly any tax as a response to a sudden rise in inflation. > >However some governments without the economic foresight do increase the money supply >at a rate far greater than that would maximize real public revenue, because they are >motivated by the desire for government's immediate need for cash to pay its bills such as >salary arrears etc. the banks which are the immediate recipients of the reduction in the real >value of checking accounts since as it is said, it appears as liabilities on their balance >sheets, and when taxes are increased it is the government which acquires the gains and >prevent the banks from profiting unduly from the inflation caused. > >Studies however had proven that to use inflation to raise taxes has serious disadvantages >because that can distort relative prices and generate uncertainty as well as cause serious >loss to those low income holders of cash. > >Studies have also shown that inflation can as well erode other kinds of government revenue >because the possibility of having difficulty in collecting taxes is there and delays in the >adjustment of some tax rates to rising prices can mean that the real revenues of >government to fall as inflation increases. > >According to some researchers, the situation can in fact out weigh any possible gains of >government with such high inflation rate. The fact however remains that governments stands >to gain more if inflation is low and prices are relatively stable, because the possibility of >raising substantial amounts of revenue is there and that stability can of course make a >currency attractive to foreigners who may have unstable economies or whose country's >economies are riddled with inflation. > >This is why many rich people in our country and in the third world generally are motivated to >save their monies in countries whose currencies are deemed to be stable. > >Whether we know it or not, many people are having illegally holdings of foreign currencies >because of their rising value rather than keeping the Dalasi. It can enable our banks to even >import capital at a lower cost than now. That is the >benefit of a stable financial system which can be guaranteed only by revamping the >productive base of our economy with a view to create sufficient 'made in Gambia" products >that would be able to compete in the national and international markets, not by printing or >increasing the money supply indiscriminately. > >In the next issue we will answer more questions before starting a discourse on the >international economy. > >See next issue for more comments. > >----------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Source: FOROYAA (Freedom) NO: 40/2002 11 - 14 July, 2002 ISSN: 0796- 08573 >Address: FOROYAA, P.O.Box 2306, Serrekunda, The Gambia, West Africa >Telephone: (220) 393177 Fax: (220) 393177 >Email address: [log in to unmask] >------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~