aths of more than 1 million Ethiopians from
starvation
and famine. Eventually, he fled to Zimbabwe.
2. If General Siad Barre had been willing to step aside in 1991,
SOMALIA
would have been saved. But he stayed on, causing the destruction of the
country and the deaths of more than 2 million Somalis from war,
starvation
and famine. Eventually, he fled to Nigeria where he died in exile.
3. If General Juvenal Habryimana had been willing to step aside in
1993,
RWANDA would have been saved. But he stayed on, causing the destruction
of
the country and the deaths of more than 1 million Rwandese from the
genocide.
4. If General Pierre Buyoya been willing to step aside in 1993, BURUNDI
would have been saved. But he stayed on, causing the destruction of the
country and the deaths of hundreds of thousands Burundians.
5.If General Mobutu Sese Seko had been willing to step aside in 1996,
ZAIRE
would have been saved. But he stayed on, causing the destruction of the
country and the deaths of more than 4 million Congolese from conflict
and
war-related diseases. Eventually, he fled to Morocco where he died in
exile.
6. If General Samuel Doe had been willing to step aside in 1995,
LIBERIA
would have been saved. But he stayed on, causing the destruction of the
country and the deaths of more than 1 million Liberians from war,
starvation
and famine. Eventually, his ears were cut off for being hard at hearing
and
he bled to death.
7. If General Joseph Momoh had been willing to step aside in 1994,
SIERRA
LEONE would have been saved. But he stayed on, causing the destruction
of
the country and the deaths of at least 1 million Sierra Leonians from
starvation and famine. Eventually, he fled to Gambia.
8. If Col. Omar el Bashir had been willing to step aside in 1999, SUDAN
would have been saved. But he stayed on, causing the destruction of the
country and the deaths of more than 3 million Sudanese from war,
starvation
and famine. That coconut is still in power.
Need more examples?
9. If Mugabe had been willing to step aside in 1998, ZIMBABWE . . .
10. If Bongo of Gabon had been . . .
11. If Bozize of Central African Republic
12. If dos Santos of Angola . . .
13. If Idriss Deby of Chad . . .
14. If Conte of Guinea . . .
15. If Comparaore of Burkina Faso . . .
Let’s add up the LOSS of lives caused by the obstinacy of just the
first 6
leaders. It is 13 million and compare that to the 10 million people
Africa
lost through the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. In other words, these 6
leaders
alone have caused the deaths of MORE Africans than were taken out as
slaves.
Racists would gloat over these numbers.
The modern leadership is a despicable disgrace to black Africa and
Mugabe is
one of them because they REINFORCE racist notions about Africa. I am
angry
because Africa’s traditional rulers offered better leadership than
these
so-called “modern” leaders.
The traditional rulers built states, kingdoms and empires, some of
which
lasted for centuries and still exist. The Ghana Empire, for example,
lasted
for 800 years.
We know who the true and real leaders of black Africa are and they
ain’t the
modern leaders. The latter are a disgrace to black people.
George Ayittey,
Washington, DC
Post published in: News