Libya- Breaking the Silence

Muammar Gaddafi is facing a messy time right now. Never in his almost 42 year rule has he been shaken like he now is.

The North African Revolts

When the North African uprisings began in Tunisia, I followed it closely, step by step, day by day, right from December 2010 till today. An uprising was coming and all the progressives and Socialists were excited, and many Marxists, using scientific methods, had predicted the fall of Ben Ali as early as late December (the U.S and France realized that Ben Ali was going just three days before he left!)

As the regimes kept falling, Socialists all over the world had asked where the women of Tunisia were, and most importantly, where the workers were. Soon after, photos began circulating in the internet showing women leading in songs, and many of them participating in the demonstrations. Then we all knew that it was done when the workers from the mine fields, in the factories, the nurses, those in transportation, the street cleaners, the teachers, the doctors, the lawyers, the journalists and many other workers joined in. Ben Ali was ready to kill the unemployed youths, he had already killed many students but he couldn’t stop the combined force of the Unemployed Youths, University Students and the workers. He had to run, run very fast.

As this was happening in Tunisia, Youths across North Africa were now awakened, huge tensions were reported from Morocco to Algeria, from Sudan to Egypt, and small disturbances were also reported in Libya. Tensions also erupted in the Middle East, from Jordan to Syria, from Saudi to Kuwait, from Lebanon to Iran. I was so excited, excited that I was living in these historic times, (I actually wondered if this is how those who were alive in the mid 50s to the mid 60s felt: They witnessed the anti-colonial uprisings in Africa, they saw how each colonial state fell giving rise to liberated states, they witnessed the Cuban Revolution and its derivatives, the saw how the oppressed Black people in the U.S fearlessly organized and challenged the racist regimes, they witnessed how the revolutionary Vietnamese people rose against the most powerful country in the world and many other important events) I was also excited since I knew that these waves of change would soon blow Southwards, in a short time to come. The Tunisians had just written history (and they still are, they have the people’s committees, government officials are forced to resign by the day), history that will be studied and written about for years, and probably centuries to come. Tunisian reference will always be made with respect to the falling of the Kingdoms of the Middle East, Bahrain and Morocco. As we speak about Egypt, we will have to mention Tunisia. Tunisia will replace France as a reference point with respect to people’s uprisings.

But Gaddafi was a sad man, he was sad that his long time friend was being kicked out of power. He had even opened Libya’s borders so that unemployed Youths from Tunisia would go into Libya and get some jobs to do. When this failed, and it was clear that Ben Ali was going, it is believed that he was flown out of Tunisia aboard Libyan jets, into Saudi Arabia (after being denied access in Italy and France, where Ben Ali’s best friends, Nicholas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi run things.) Gaddafi then went ahead to mourn Ben Ali’s departure on Libyan state television, telling Tunisians that they had “lost the best president that they could ever have.” So when Africans and progressives were drinking to the people’s victory, Gaddafi was sad.

The martyrs and the revolutionary people of Tunisia had given hope to all the oppressed people in the world, and had instilled fear into all the oppressors and exploiters, and hence immediately after January 14^th, all eyes shifted to Morocco and the Middle East. Many people didn’t see any feasibility in Egypt, since Hosni Mubarak (Ben Ali’s look-a-like) headed one of the most repressive police states in Africa, and probably in the world. It was also reasoned that the U.S would not allow Egypt to fall, since it is of highest strategic importance with respect to the Fascist State of Israel, but the courageous people of Egypt were to prove the world wrong, and on January 25^th, all roads were leading to Tahrir Square.

In the meantime, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the whole U.S administration were unequivocally and unambiguously expressing support and solidarity to their long time puppet, just like they had earlier done in Tunisia. The Egyptian Police (totaling 300,000) was busy rounding up all the tweeps and facebook organizers, and killing many of them and torturing thousands. They were beating up the ground mobilisers, and arresting the Socialist organizers on the ground. And just like in Tunisia, the reactionary Workers’ Trade Union leadership supported Mubarak, even the usually militant Muslim Brotherhood distanced itself away from the uprising. But the people of Egypt, Young and Old, Men and Women (and children too) students and workers stood their ground, and vowed to fight on to the last man. It was at this point that Mubarak replaced the police with the Military (also over 300, 000 strong) in full combat gear, complete with tanks and jet fighters in order to beat (or kill?) the masses into submission. This too, failed, even after killing over 300 people, and thousands of people disappearing. All of us, the progressives, were in full solidarity with the Egyptian people, and encouraged them through the Social Networking sites, through articles in the internet, through prayers (for those who believe.)Fidel Castro was among the first people to conclusively predict the fall Mubarak, and by doing that, he pumped up the morale of the Egyptian people.

Mubarak, an Air Chief Marshal in the Egyptian Air force, and a President who had garnered 89% of the total votes cast in the last elections, was not to be budged by two million people in some liberation square,,,,so he came out on state television, and gave those protesting Egyptians a heavy tongue lash, and asked his supporters “to go out in their millions and defend the country.” The next thing we saw were plain clothed policemen on Camel backs whipping the civilians in Tahrir square, raping the women and causing utmost terror to the demonstrators. In the meantime, MuBarack Obama was quite proud of his guy, and was continuously urging him on. At was at this point that it was reported that the MB came and fought the police and their camels off (then tried to Islamize the revolt by shouting ‘Allah Akbar!’ chants, but they were overshadowed by chants of ‘Muslims, Christians, we are all Egyptians!’)

The Egyptian workers then stage a general strike, circumventing their union, and this marked the final blow to Mubarak. The country was losing money, the military was losing business and everything was at a standstill (except in Tahrir Square, where it was business as usual)

Then came 10^th February, when concerned people from all over the world were glued to their TVs and the internet, waiting for Mubarak to resign, he kept us waiting (past mid night, here in Kenya) and then appeared on TV, with a lot of anti-interference(anti-imperialist)talk, thinking that that would sway the African people to his side and giving the people his last lecture on how he still intended to buried in Egypt (he was so out of touch with the ground, that he seemingly didn’t realize that millions of Egyptians were actually ready to bury him…….in Egypt, or wherever else he wanted!)

And finally, Mubarak fell the following day. Mubarak’s fall was good not just for the Egyptians, but for the rest of Africans and for the colonized and occupied Palestinian people.

Revolts in Sub-Saharan Africa

We then went to square one again, wondering which country would be next. In the meantime, reactionaries in Kenya began saying that the upheavals in North Africa could not happen in sub-Saharan Africa, due tribalism. They further stated that the Islam religion is very strong, and it was what gave the North Africans the courage against threats of death. They had forgotten that just four weeks before the Egyptian uprising, there were fatal tensions between the Muslims and the Coptics, where churches were burnt, demonstrations held and curfews imposed: but during the uprising, they sang and chanted together, and even the Christians watched over their Muslim brothers as they did their Friday prayers. These reactionaries had also forgotten that the Muslims in Tunisia, Egypt and the Middle East have always been Muslims for the many years that Ben Ali, Mubarak and the Kings oppressed them.

What most people do not understand, is that we have revolutionary events, and revolutions. Revolutionary events are not brought about by tribes or religious beliefs. Revolutions do not respect borders, neither do they respect the Sahara. Sooner or later, they will happen throughout Africa, as long as oppression and exploitation continue to exist. Before the current revolts took place, there were several uprisings in both countries. Workers in Tunisian mines had on several occasions gone on system shaking strikes. The Tunisian jails were filled with members of the Tunisian Workers Communist Party, human rights activists and people from other progressive parties, who were a constant threat to the Ben Ali regime, and who were constantly organizing against the regime. Many Socialists and pro-people activists were either exiled, under close surveillance, in prisons or six feet under. In Egypt, there were big solidarity demos in support of the second Intifada, the same treatment used against the Socialists and anti government workers in Tunisia was used against them in Egypt, in the April 6^th of 2008, Egyptian had tried to remove the rotten system through the April 6^th movement, and again in the 6^th of April the following year, and small revolts continued throughout 2010, with severe consequences for the organizers. We have had intifadas in Bahrain, in Iraq and in Morocco. When people are under pressure, it always reaches a point where they have to blow out.

After 11^th April, It appeared as if the wave would jump into Algeria, Jordan, Bahrain or Iran. Then the shocker came. Libya was next.

Libya and Gaddafi

Gaddafi has been quite a controversial person. Taking over power at 27 is not a joke. Staying in power for over 40 years is serious stuff.

He has done some negative things, some which have made the people angry, and others which one just laughs off.

It was bad when he lectured Tunisians for overthrowing Ben Ali. His threats for a civil war (and saying that Libya, unlike Egypt, is made up of tribes) were very irresponsible comments coming from a leader. When he said that Nigeria should be divided along religious lines, I was saddened. When he thinks that the best way to bring African unity is by creating some Kings, and him becoming their king, I question his strategy. When he makes a deal with the Italians, to arrest Africans and prevent them from entering Italy illegally, I am disappointed (Not that those Africans should be allowed to go to Italy, but it should be Italy’s business to stop them from entering Italy, not Libya working harder to prevent them from leaving Libya.….. but I have never understood why some Africans risk their lives so much, to get  European citizenships)

He is also suspected of having trained Charles Taylor in the late 80s. Taylor ended up making a bloody battle in Liberia, and he is now in the ICC for war crime charges in Sierra Leone. But the propagandists who bring this story up, never tell us that in the 80s, Samuel Doe was a brutal Liberian dictator, and any idea of removing him would pass as noble. They also ‘forget’ to tell us that the current Liberian president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was one of the main funders of Taylor’s war (NPFL), and she raised most of the money in the U.S. Ellen Sirleaf, at the TRC, said that she  “apologized for being fooled into supporting Taylor.” I agree with her, many people were fooled into supporting Taylor, against Samuel Doe, the only difference is that unlike Gaddafi and the rest, Johnson was fooled several years into the bloody war, even when she was well aware that child soldiers were being used.

Assuming that the late John Garang became a brutal dictator of Southern Sudan, would we blame Gaddafi for supporting him? When Yoweri Museveni misrules Uganda, do we blame Gaddafi for supporting him? If Gaddafi supported a leader to liberate the people of Saharawi or Palestine, and then that leader fucks up, would we blame Gaddafi?

Unlike the U.S and France, who support rebels in Africa countries to topple good African leaders (when they do not succeed in assassinating them), Gaddafi’s support to Taylor was different. It was to topple a murderous dictator, by a seemingly good Liberian.

Some claim that Gaddafi is bad, since Libya was secretly developing Weapons of Mass Destruction, which Gaddafi abandoned in 2003. We all agree, that Nuclear weapons, and all these other weapons used to kill people are bad, but who said that the U.S, Russia, France and a handful of other countries(Including Israel) have the unquestionable right to own these weapons?

On the more positive side, Libya under Gaddafi, has the highest Human Development Index in Africa, and ranks highly in the world. This means that in Africa, Libyans have the highest quality of life. This is how COSATU, while condemning the Libyan government, said of Libyan living standards:

“COSATU appreciates that Libya…….has a far better record in promoting prosperity among its 6.6 million people than other North African countries where there have been popular revolts.

It has the lowest infant mortality rate in Africa -- 18 per thousand, compared to South Africa's 44 per thousand, and the highest life expectancy in Africa -- 74 years compared to South Africa's 49 years. The literacy rate is 90%. Less than 5% of the population is undernourished, and in response to the rising food prices around the world, the government of Libya abolished all taxes on food on January 12, 2011.

Libya has the highest gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita of all of African countries -- around US$13,000 relative to South Africa's $10,000. A lower percentage of people (7%) live below the poverty line than in the Netherlands. The South African figure is about 50%......”

This high literacy rate was not achieved through some magic, it was due to deliberate efforts by the Libyan leadership, by building schools, training teachers and making education free, upto the university level. These Libyans are not only literate, but have schooled to tertiary levels. The U.S, which is the richest country in the world, and the world’s superpower, has over 40 million totally illiterate adults, people who cannot decipher words written on a piece of paper. It has another 50 million adults who have basic literacy. I have to add here something that I always say: These oppressed Americans need global solidarity in order to liberate themselves from the control of greedy capital. The American people are always kept in ignorance, especially through their powerful media, so that they may not rise against this oppressive Capitalist system. We have seen in the past that once the ordinary American gets the right information, they will always fight for the oppressed. They rose against slavery, they rose against the Vietnam War, they rose against the Iraqi invasion and they should be helped to rise against their system, after which most of the problems in the world will be solved.

When it comes to health, Libya has well equipped hospitals, and all health care is free. Food is cheap, and most of it is grown by the Libyan state. Libya has invested a lot in pumping water from the sea, to irrigate some of these farms.

Unemployment is low, and that’s why when the uprisings erupted in Tunisia, he went ahead to open up the borders so that Tunisian Youths could be employed in Libya.

Planting trees and taking care of the environment is one task that Gaddafi has ensured throughout his rule in this desert climate country.

Gaddafi has surely made Libya to be one of the best countries in Africa, and one of the best in the world.

Some people say that Gaddafi has done nothing, and the Oil has done everything. But the question I pose to them is, if Oil is everything, why don’t we have the same HDI in Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Sudan or Egypt? If they argue that Libya has a small population of 6.5million, what about Equatorial Guinea, with a population of 0.5million and is on Africa’s top seven Oil producer list? Hasn’t oil and other resources always brought misery and war in many African regions? Had a leader like Gaddafi taken over the DR Congo in 1969, would it be in the condition that it is in today? Wouldn’t Congo be a developed country in the world?

Gaddafi has also been a courageous world leader, and he was among the first (and few) leaders to say that Bush should be tried for war crimes in Iraq. He has courageously pushed for a one state solution in Palestine. He has openly criticized Obama for getting it wrong on the Palestinian question.

Gaddafi, despite living in a country where the most of the citizenry live in good houses, he resides in a tent, something that the western media depicts as shady, absurd and backwards. Gaddafi, despite being a Muslim, a religion that segregates women to second class citizens, has always had female body guards in a male dominated field.

African Unity

But for me, the greatest respect that I have for Gaddafi lies in his push for African Unity. From my days in primary school, it is Gaddafi’s sole voice that has been calling for the Unity of Africa. Those of my generation might not know of great and vocal pan-Africanist leaders like Kwame Nkurmah, Sekou Toure, Julius Nyerere, Abdel Nasser and the rest, but they surely know, and identify African Unity with Muammar Gaddafi.

It was Gaddafi who inspired the formation of the African Union, which is a great improvement from the O.A.U. Gaddafi /Libya is one of the biggest funders of the A.U, and also heavily funds the ADB and many other A.U functions.

Libya as a government has invested heavily, without conditionalities, across all of Africa, and has always offers aid to disaster stricken countries throughout Africa. Libya’s Nasser University is an international institution dedicated to poor African students, so they may get the knowledge and the skills they need to transform their countries. Most students in this institution are on full scholarships.

Should Africa lose Gaddafi today (through the uprising, assassination or natural death), won’t it be a big blow to African Unity?

I would expect the A.U to vehemently and militantly oppose foreign attack on African soil, but instead, they are doing what they like to do best, dilly-dallying. I would also expect our government to come out clearly, and support Libya against the Imperialist Invasion. I expected the many people who have been praising Gaddafi, and receiving goodies from him, to come out and make a clear statement. Where is Raila Odinga? Where is Mwai Kibaki? Where is Kalonzo Musyoka? Where is Njuri Njeke? Where is the Luo council of elders? Where are the students who’ve benefited from Libya? Where are all these Libyan beneficiaries? Other people can sit back and watch, but these people have to make a stand, in favor, or out of favor with Gaddafi. They cannot sit on the fence.

Hugo Chavez’s Proposal

They could have at least support Hugo Chavez’s idea, which forms the best way forward, in averting the imminent invasion. Chavez even proposed that former U.S president jimmy Carter could chair the talks! Why are they quiet? This just shows the hypocrisy of our Kenyan leaders and the parasitic nature of the Africans beneficiaries.

Many people have done the analysis, and I have also written about the implications of African Unity to the African people, and to humanity at large, from ending of poverty, to ending of food problems, to the use and exportation of cheap and very clean energy, to the ending of wars and misery among many things which I won’t point out here. Once Africa unites, then it will be much easier to fight oppression and exploitation. In fact, this problem of having leaders for life would come to an end, since African will be one, with common systems and structures. Africa would become extremely powerful, and she shall export African values of hospitality, generosity, and free nature to the rest of the world.

Rebel Flag-A return of the Monarchy?

The first question that came up during the start of the uprising was why the rebels were using some other flag, rather than the green Libyan flag/  In Tunisia, the masses were proud of their beautiful Red flag. In Egypt, the masses carried their country’s flag, and also carried the Tunisian flag with them. But why were the Libyans not carrying their flag with them?

Libya has had three flags in the recent past, one of the Monarch (used by King Idris Al-Sanusi from 1951), another used after the overthrow of the monarch in September 1969, and the current green one used since 1977. The flag that the rebels are carrying around is the monarchy flag. Some people have been calling them revolutionaries, but since when did a revolution take a society back to the Kings? The people in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and other countries are struggling to remove monarchies, yet the Libyans are using the King’s flag! If they hated Gaddafi’s flags, they should have created a new flag, or better still, use the Tunisian and Egyptian flags!

In a book called ‘Libya and Gaddafi’ written by Don Lawson (who is very anti Gaddafi,) he states:

“Today (1987) there are some 50,000 Libyans living outside the country. Among these Libyan expatriates are many former business and political associates of King Idris whom Gaddafi deposed. Many of these exiles in Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Great Britain still have close ties with friends in Libya. Although these exiled members of the former elite could scarcely hope for a return of the monarchy, it is quite conceivable that they may support a military coup that would enable them to return to Libya under a new regime”

The fact that these rebels are using this flag leaves one suspecting that the above analysis is actually taking place in Libya today.

Ministers turn into “revolutionaries” overnight

The other extremely disturbing thing is the leadership of the uprising. In Tunisia, no government official would dare near the revolutionaries. They could not do so in Egypt. In Tunisia, they are still telling the RCD remnants to leave. Same in Egypt. But in Libya, it is the same old fellows who have now become “Revolutionaries” and want to overthrow the “Bad” dictator. Which moral ground does Mustafa Abdul Jalil have, for him to head the National Transitional Council? For heaven’s sake, the fellow resigned from the government just a few days ago!

Misconception-All killings are made by Gaddafi forces

Less than one week into the uprising, it was reported that Gaddafi’s Military Jets were bombing civilians and that two pilots flew their jets to Malta and defected. Within this time, the rebels had taken over several cities in the east, including Benghazi. It was then reported that Gaddafi had killed around 1000 civilians. What these media report assumed was that all the people who died were killed by Gaddafi. Does it mean that these rebels, who were armed with guns, took all these cities peacefully? How many Gaddafi soldiers have been killed by these rebels? How many civilians have fallen to the rebel bullet? How many? Though I may not know a lot about Jets throwing bombs in civilian populated areas, i think bombs dropped at civilian populations would have killed more than a thousand people, unless those pilots decided to voluntarily miss their targets. It is because of this that I believed Gaddafi when in the first instance he said that no bomb had been thrown at civilians. The Russians confirmed that no bombs were dropped at that first instance. These monarchists, together with the international media were just taking advantage of Gaddafi’s son threat of a civil war, and a fight to the last man.

In Tunisia and in Egypt, the civilians were unarmed. It had reached a point where the police and the military could not kill any other protester, since their conscious was haunting them, and the whole world was watching. In Libya, the rebels attacked police stations and armed themselves. The defecting soldiers came with more weapons, experience and tactics. They even have anti-air artillery. With these weapons, they are taking one town after another. This to me is war. For us who love peace, we can only hope that it somehow ends, but as long as it continues, let us stop blaming one side, for killing the other side in a war. We can at best blame both sides or keep quite.

The International Criminal Court

The ICC is constantly losing any goodwill that it currently has in Africa. It is being perceived as an imperialist tool at a very fast rate. People have not forgotten that Bush and Blair should be seated somewhere in The Hague listening to their cases, but that is not the issue here. The issue here is, why is Moreno Ocampo threatening Gaddafi with arrests when he did not do the same for Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak? Why is he not taking action on the Bahrain King who is butchering people by the hour, including sick people in the hospitals? Why Gaddafi? Don’t we have foreign armies in Bahrain killing innocent unarmed civilians unabated? Are the lives of Bahrain people not as important as those of the Libyans? Why is the ICC condemning what the Imperialists have condemned, and keeping quite where the imperialists have remained mum?

Xenophobia and “Where are the workers?” Question

In the Tunisian and the Egyptian analysis, we had seen the active participation of women and workers, and hence the success in these two countries. In Libya, I have no idea on where the women are, but I surely know where the workers are.

Of the 6.5 million people living in Libya, 1.5 million are immigrant workers, with the majority coming from other African countries, notably Nigeria, Ghana, Niger, Cameroon, Guinea Chad and Sudan. Unlike the Tunisian and the Egyptian revolts which were inspired by love, love for human life, love for all people, the Libyan revolt is inspired by hate, hate for Africans from other countries, hate for “darker” people. Some people will claim that these xenophobic acts came about after Gaddafi hired some Black mercenaries. This is an absolute lie. As I noted earlier, it is the tensions that simmer from below that blow up. Cases of selected xenophobia (selected since it only affects Blacks, not Brown, not white)have been reported on several occasions in the past, and I will quote the one that happened in October 2000, where it was alleged that a football match “sparked” wide spread violence against black immigrants. Human rights organisations reported that 500 immigrants were killed in the skirmishes, but the official reports gave 50-100 as the number. Many immigrants fled to their countries of origin and reported of the harrowing experiences that they had, which include the slaughters, beatings, robbery and burning down of their homes.

A Ghanain Worker-Victim of Xenophibia

With this kind of background, it is obvious that those rebels hate Gaddafi because of opening Libya up for other Africans. It is not true that they attacked the Blacks because of the mercenary story. In the Libyan army, some of the officials are pretty dark. And even If it was true, then they would have attacked Italians and Serbians too (whites,) this is because it was reported that alongside those mercenaries from other African countries (just call them blacks, we won’t be offended) there were white ones, probably Italians. It was also reported that some of the pilots who were bombing civilians were Serbians. Furthermore, why would anyone burn houses belonging to black immigrants, just because Black mercenaries are in town? Are these the people that “progressives” are supporting? Is the removal of Gaddafi so important, that nobody minds when “a few” black people are killed? I say SHAME on any progressive who has had the stupidity to call say that pointing out to these killings is “a diversionary tactic by supporters of Gaddafi.”

Some analysts are busy saying that the reason as to why the “revolution” in Libya may not succeed is because the working class is not organised, due to Gaddafi’s repressiveness. This is a very narrow minded view. They must know that the working class was the first to be attacked by the monarchists, and that those refugee camps are filled with working class, and not just African working class, but working people from all over the southern hemisphere.

Imperialist invasion, Africom and Isreal

Unlike in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain where the U.S said that everything was okay, and continued changing their foreign policies by the hour until when they said that ‘the people’s will should be followed,’ the U.S did not waste time in Libya, no sooner had the monarchists arisen, than the USS Ponce and USS Kearsage (which are nuclear carrying battleships) were sent to the Mediterranean. Britain even sent its elite military personnel to “evacuate” its citizens (and they telling us about mercenaries!)The enthusiasm with which our former colonialists, France and Britain are supporting this no-fly zone shit cannot go unquestioned. Even the usually quite Canada and Germany were pushing for an attack.

Arab Union has finally gotten the chance to settle their score with Gaddafi. In their statement, they said that they opposed any foreign intervention, and then said that a no-fly zone should be put in place……this just proves how these Arab Kings are empty headed! It is as if a no-fly zone is a non-foreign intervention! No wonder our comrades in the Middle East want these buggers out! These same suckers have invaded Bahrain, and they are having a killing orgy in that country. Last week, the Saudi royal family announced that anybody who dares raise a finger against the monarch, the finger will be cut off, (which can be extended to mean that any head raised, will also be chopped off)and here they are, saying that Gaddafi is killing the armed rebels.

The U.S has for a long time wanted to set up AFRICOM posts in strategic corners of this continent, but the idea has been strongly opposed by the African people. They have now think that they have found the perfect occasion to set it up. After losing their puppets in Tunisia and especially in Egypt, fascist Israel has been exposed, Bahrain will not stay for long, it will definitely fall and probably the U.S 5^th fleet will have to move to another base, imperialism will have to be taken to another level. The U.S government takes people for fools. Gaddafi was very clear, in his speech tonight, that an attack to Libya, which is a sovereign state, will mean a full scale war. There will be no peace in the Mediterranean. I would like to state here that I fully support this statement.  Just because Libya is an African country does not mean that her sovereignty should be played around with. The imperialist plan is to attack Libya from the air, just like they did in Iraq and in Afghanistan, then find some other excuse for a full scale invasion.

What we must not forget is that Moroccans will also rise, and so will Algeria, and in these uprisings, just like in Tunisia and Egypt, blood will be shed, the question is: What will prevent Colonialist France, Colonialist Britain and the U.S from imposing the no-fly zones, and eventually invading and occupying these African countries? And since the revolts will move downwards, what will stop these imperialist dogs from coming southwards too?

We will not sit back!

What everyone must not forget, what our fathers and grandmothers have not forgotten, is the terror that these colonialists caused unto this great continent in the last five centuries. Millions of innocent lives were lost due to Slavery, forced hard labor, random killings, group rapes and unspeakable torture. Millions more lost their lives defending mother Africa, fighting for land and freedom. Just because we do not speak about these things does not mean that we have forgotten them. Just because we are quite does not mean that we will just sit back and watch them attack our continent. A few hours from now, the UN Security Council will vote on the invasion. Russia and China will oppose it, but the allied forces will just do what it did in Iraq. But this is not Iraq, this is not Afghanistan: This is Africa. Gaddafi does not need to pay Africans to fight for Africa, no, this was a duty passed down to us by our forefathers, it will be a duty that I have to do for my grandchildren.

The spirit of Kimathi Waciuri and the MauMau will cry, the moment those imperialists set foot in Africa. The spirit of Che Guevara will be with those who are ready to defend our motherland. Frantz Fanon will urge us forward, Amilcar Cabral will be will us, Oliver Tambo will show us the way, Thomas Sankara will be with us and Julius Nyerere will be our guiding wisdom. So let us meet, and organise.

Down with the Monarchists!

Down with the Arab Union!!

Down with the imminent invasion!!!

Long live Africa!!!!

Benedict Wachira

18^th March 2011

01:55am

Chairperson, Bureau of Young Social Democrats

Secretary, Kenya Cuba friendship Society

Member, Revolutionary Committees Movement

To all the fathers out there

He never saw his father

For the father was killed, when dad was in the womb

For fighting for freedom, he was sent to the tomb

But he became a good dad

Giving us, what he never had

I grew up with him

The mother was light, Odhiambo was dark

He never knew his dad

He never ask about him

She never spoke about him

When she later died

He was still a child

His life was destroyed

They sold everything, that the mother owned

Then they came for him, took him from our house

And said that his mother, had appeared in a dream

And told them that, he must go to Nyanza

And live with those, that he never knew

All this because, he never had a father

Young man, don’t you have a conscience?

Even a bull, is better than you

If it had a choice, it would have raised its seed

For all you did was sire, and you never father

You are a coward, a disgrace to mankind

Go raise it, go back to your child

For the young woman, might be kind

And actually, accept you back!

Benedict Wachira

28^th February 2011

11:03am

A date with Kenyan Revolutionary Anti-Colonial War Heroes

I arrived at Kencom Bus stop at 7:00am, 30 minutes late and found most of the people that we were supposed to travel with had not arrived. The elegant National Youth Service (NYS) bus was more than half empty, and only the front seats were occupied by some Kenyan Rastafarians. Luckily for me, Macharia Mukua, a good friend of mine, had already arrived, so we found ourselves some seats, and began analyzing Kenyan politics, as projected by the dailies.

One hour later, the bus was full, and we slowly took off for Nyeri, some 250km from Nairobi, to attend the 54^th Anniversary of the execution of Field Marshall Dedan kimathi Waciuri by the British Army. The program was that we plant a tree at Kahiga-ini, where Kimathi was shot and captured by the British, and then proceed to Kimathi University College where we would have the official ceremony.

Along the way, we admired the Thika road expansion project, on which the Chinese are doing remarkably well on it: They are placing over 6 inch thick tarmac, tarmac which is placed on 4 inch thick concrete, concrete which stands on meters thick hard core. But we wondered whether the construction would end within the stipulated period. We then discussed about the Chinese journey to this prominence, and talked about the Chinese revolution and the massive input of Mao Tsetsung and the Communist leadership into the Chinese industrialization process.

We began talking about the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, from the formation days when Bildad Kaggia’s and Fred Kubai’s began organizing together with members of Anake a 40. I did not hesitate to tell him that my father’s father, was one of the earliest Mau Mau leaders, who had even taken a photo with Jomo Kenyatta (when he was still considered progressive) as he (Kenyatta) was going abroad for the last time before incarceration. I also let him know that he was among the first people to be murdered, immediately the emergency was declared. He died without seeing his last born son, my father, who was born a few months after his death. Macharia, not wanting to be left out of the Mau Mau glory, told me about his father’s brother, whose nom de guerre was Shotgun Murage, who would give the colonialists in Nyandarua sleepless nights. He told me that Shotgun would shave off his dreadlocks in 1989, after becoming a born again Christian. I criticized the church for encouraging the shaving of the Dreadlocks, and its role in making the Mau Mau people feel like they had done the wrong thing in the liberation war. This behavior was especially conducted during operation pipeline, where a liberation fighter had to accept Christ, or lose his life, literally. But Macharia thinks that his conversion to Christianity helped bring his uncle to the reality that the war was over, and that Kenya and the government had forgotten them.>>>The Catholic Church played a major counter revolutionary role, by encouraging and sponsoring the homeguards movement. The homeguards would rape women left at home by the fighters, they would steal cows and goats belonging to the fighters, they would terrorize anyone suspected of belonging to the KLFA and they helped kill many freedom fighters. Some of the homeguards are still alive today, and they are running the country, using riches acquired during that period. Mr. Michuki, the current minister of environment, is one of them<<<

We talked about how the War veterans were quickly dying out, while nobody was documenting their stories, especially the stories of the Rank and Files Guerillas to whom Kenya and Africa should be greatly indebted to. We also talked about the big lie that the Mau Mau struggle ended in 1957, with the death of its great leader, Dedan Kimathi. Here, I told Mash about how at independence, Kenyatta asked the British army not to leave, because the fighters who had remained in the forest, together with those who had left earlier, had vowed to continue with their struggle, if they didn’t get their land back, and if they were not conscripted into Kenya’s Military. Land consolidation had taken place three years before independence, when most of the Fighters were still in the forest, and many others were in the “rehabilitation” camps, which were located in Kenya’s desert regions. Kenyatta’s excuse for not allowing the experienced and self made soldiers into the army and the government was that they were illiterate. This is despite the fact that some of these people were in the frontlines of the Second world war, this is notwithstanding the fact that these soldiers, using mostly homemade guns and Pangas, whooped the asses of the world acclaimed British army, who had superior weapons that included tanks and Air support (Liberator Bombers and Harvard Trainers), and here we have Kenyatta calling them illiterate. Unlike the other liberation Armies across Africa, it was only the Mau Mau who didn’t have any external support whatsoever, it was the Mau Mau who made the Colonialists realize that they could not sustain colonization of Africa, it was the Mau Mau who would later inspire great leaders like Mandela and Malcom X, it was the Mau Mau who sparked the winds of change across all of Africa, and here we have Kenyatta, asking the British Army to remain behind to check them.

I also told him about General Mwariama and Field Marshall Baimungi who demanded that Kenyatta addresses them in ruring’u stadium, rather than them going to Uhuru Park (Kenyatta would later send Waiyaki to calm them down. Baimungi was later killed on Kenyatta’s orders. I remembered the famous video clip taken several days after independence, of Mwariama holding Kenyatta, with Mwariama donning a General’s Coat, with long dreads and looking somewhat confused.

Along the way, as we entered Nyeri town, a gentleman who was seated next to us Joked about how Nyeri women “Seat” on their husbands, something that would never happen in western where he comes from. We all laughed, then Macharia told him not to joke with those women, because they have the militant Mau Mau blood in them, and many women from the region passed through the war trenches, I added that we even had General Muthoni, who managed to reach the highest rank, in a male dominated field.

This Chinese made NYS bus that we were travelling was very comfortable and very modern, with air condition, several TV screens, very good lighting and a toilet too. But it was damn slow (or rather, the driver was). We thus arrived four hours later, and no sooner than we approached Kahiga-ini did we turn around and head for Kimathi University College. Those who were ahead of us had already planted a tree several meters from where Kimathi was shot. I have to note here that they would have loved to plant it at the exact spot where Kimathi was shot, but nothing grows at that spot, not even grass! The place is actually surrounded by Tea plantations, but nothing has ever grown on that spot (and its circumference) for the last 54 years.

We arrived at Kimathi University, which has many buildings under construction and we were welcomed by a group of traditional Kikuyu dancers. There were two tents, one was small, empty and in it were cushioned seats. There other one was big, partially filled, and had the usual plastic seats. Mr. Wambugu, who was one of the organizers of this event, told Macharia and I to seat in the small tent, since we were in the guests of honor list. I hesitated and told Macharia that we just seat with the Wazees in the big tent. I later joked with him telling him that we might seat on that side, and find ourselves being asked to create space for other guests who carry more honor and who usually arrive late. (After some time, most of those who were seated in the small tent, including the DOs and DC had to give their seats to other important people from Nairobi.) We then realized that these Wazees seated around us were Mau Mau war veterans, and they would arrive one by one and great each other enthusiastically. The one who was seated directly in front of me had some cool looking dreadlocks and Macharia told me that going by his dreads, the guy could be some Captain or some high ranking Mau Mau officer. We would look around us and wonder if some of them were imposters……There was this particular one who had a big Rosary around his neck….

Then an old but strong woman arrived, wearing a dark green dress, a head scarf, some socks (similar to the ones worn by Primary school pupils) and rubber shoes. All the veterans stood up to greet her, and they were treating her with a lot of reverence. By this time, all the seats were occupied, then two men offered her their seats, and as she sat on one of them, she was still waving to some veterans seated at the far ends. I wondered aloud who this woman could be, and Macharia told me that she might be the General Muthoni I was talking about. I told him that that was not possible, since Muthoni is obviously passed on by now.

Guests continued to arrive; with Mwangi Thuita causing a stir when he arrived donned in full traditional Kikuyu elder’s regalia. He was closely followed TJRC Commissioner Margaret Chava, who drove in together with Mukami Kimathi. We were all very excited and everyone was raising their necks to catch a glimpse of Mukami, Kimathi’s widow. The atmosphere was just exhilarating. Then the PS ministry of culture arrived, and finally the last guests, Chris Murungaru and Paul Muite pulled in. All of them took the front row seats of the small tent.

The MC, a young well dressed fellow (a Divisional Officer, I’m not quite sure) invited the women Traditional dancers, who were followed by Mwomboko dancers >>with time, I have come to appreciate the skill in this traditional Kikuyu dance, it is more sophisticated and smoother than the Waltz<<<

Just as the speeches were about to begin, some guys came over to our tent, and asked the woman in green to move to the smaller tent, as that is where she was supposed to seat. We now really wanted to know who this woman was.

Professor Kioni, the principal of KUC invited all visitors to the college, briefly spoke of the achievements and the aspirations of the University, and noted that one of Kimathi’s grandsons is on a full engineering scholarship at the University.

Then the first shocker came, General Karari Njama, the secretary of the Mau Mau war veterans association was invited to make the first speech! For a long time I had thought that Karari njama had long passed on, until just the other day when my friend Mwandawiro Mghanga told me that they were together at Peter Young Kihara’s burial in Kiambu (even Mwandawiro was at that time shocked to know wa Njama was alive, and we agreed that we would organise to visit him in Nyeri.) Karari Njama was Kimathi’s personal secretary in the forest, and a well known fighter too. Unlike in the brown and white videos shown by KBC on national holidays where Karari has a few white hairs, thick spectacles and an upright and tall posture, here he was very old, with white hair and long white beards, still in a sharp suit, but without the spectacles. He had a written down speech, done in very good English, which he comfortably read in the blazing sun. In his speech, he recognized the economic achievements of Kibaki’s government and he decried the living conditions of the war veterans. His speech was full of patriotism.

According to the MC, the next person to address the meeting was supposed to be Mukami Kimathi, but Mukami said that the Chairman of the Veterans association had something to say. The MC was very hesitant, and then blurted out that he would give the chair just a minute to greet the people. The Chair stood up and sarcastically said that he would follow the MCs orders, and the crowd laughed. He was General Bahati. Bahati was his nom de guerre. This was a very exciting moment for me, just seeing these people whose stories we read in history books was just moving. Unlike General Karari Njama, General Bahati looked stronger, had no written speech, and addressed the meeting in kikuyu. General Bahati’s speech was tough, and he castigated the current leaders of forgetting the Mau Mau. He demanded that those who have not gotten some land must be given the land before they pass on. He said that it is sad that many years after getting our independence, Kenya could still have an IDP situation. He asked the government to solve their plight immediately. At this point, the MC, who either did not understand who general Bahati was, or might have been retarded, stood next to the General, asking him to wind up. At this point the goonship in me came out, and I began shouting from our tent that the MC must allow him to continue, since this was their day. A few Veterans joined me, and in Kikuyu, said that he should be allowed to continue. The stupid MC went back to his seat, but after a minute or so, he was standing there again. General Bahati wound up and the MC invited Mukami, to address the people. I was so worked up by the MCs behavior, and began telling Macharia that the MC is timing the freedom fighters, whereas I was sure he would not time the politicians and the government officers. I was right.

We enthusiastically welcomed Kimathi’s widow with makofi ya kilo. She began by recognizing the presence of all the dignitaries, and proceeded to speak to us in Kiswahili. She was not as energetic as Bahati, her address was more like that of Karari Njama, only that it was not written. She was grateful that the government had erected her husband’s monument in Nairobi. She also thanked the principal of kimathi University College for accepting to educate her grandson for free. (She made people laugh when she asked Prof. Kioni to stand, it went something like this: “Bwana headmaster, simama” then Kioni hesitated a little, and she went on “Nimekuambia usimame” then he stood up, “haya sasa kuja hapa,” “kuja unisalimie”The good professor had no options other than to obey!) She then narrated how she had approached him for the scholarship assistance, and that she didn’t know what she would have done were it not for him. She then asked the youth not to lose their brains in Alcohol and drugs, and told the youth that they should find some hustle to do. She asked husbands to be responsible to their families (and the women ululated) and then asked the Women to take care of their husbands, since finding a husband is no easy task (and the men cheered.) She also spoke well of Kenyatta (many Mau Mau veterans speak well of Kenyatta, even after he neglected them, I have never understood why. Probably the indoctrination in praise of Kenyatta before independence was too deep and strong, that it stuck into their subconscious) she also congratulated Murungaru, for repealing a section in the Kenyan laws in 2003 that still referred to the Mau Mau as terrorists. She also spoke of the hardships that she went through during the emergency years, especially since she had a very young child with her. She said that there were some war heroes who are still landless, and the government must settle them, then, she called the woman in green who went and stood near her, and said that it was a pity that even her (the woman in green ) was never given land by the state. She then finished by reminding the people what each color on the Kenyan flag stands for.

Then the daft MC stood up and said the most outrageous thing, he went something like “let us clap for Mukami as she goes to her seat. Now, time is not on our side, so I think we will now go to the main program, but there is a woman here called Field Marshall Muthoni, who they are saying that she must speak, but time is not on our side………okay…….i will give you just a minute, one minute Muthoni.” The burger didn’t even have the courtesy to hide his stupidity from us, how could Kimathi’s wife, and two generals address the people, then deny the Field Marshall a chance? How? In the Mau Mau struggle, there were several generals, and three field Marshalls, and this MC, who is probably a DO is trying to deny the only surviving field Marshall a chance to speak to us! For me, the shock that Muthoni was alive was actually transcended by the shock that this fellow thought that giving her a chance to speak was some kind of favor…on Kimathi day!

Field Marshall muthoni wa Kirima.

So the woman in green was actually Field Marshall Muthoni! What a pleasure it was to see her. I had read some short stuff about her two or three years ago, as I was studying the history of Mau Mau. At that time, I had read some negative post-1963 story about her on Wikipedia (the story is no longer there). Wikipedia’s report on Kimathi today also tends to make him look like some small time pick pocket rather than an international hero (but I’m am planning to change the info on that stud)

Field Marshall Muthoni took the microphone and began signing a Mau Mau war time song, the rest of the veterans around us stood up and sang along with her. Call it a grand entrance. She then told them to take their seats, and said that she would address the meeting in Kikuyu, saying that that is the language that she can best speak in, and that she doesn’t know English or good Swahili, because when others were in school learning, she was in the forest fighting(we excitedly clapped.)

She is a tough one this woman. She reproached the government where it was doing wrong (lack of jobs for the youth, the IDP issues, the landless freedom fighters), and praised it where it was doing well (free primary school education, recognition of the heroes through Mashujaa day.) At some point she spoke in very difficult Kikuyu, and I sought for some translation from the Macharia, but he also told me that he understood nothing. (Macharia was born and raised in Nyandarua). She said that she was saddened that land in Kenyan was being sold to foreigners, instead of being rented to them on short leases, or the government utilizing the land itself (I think she was talking about the Qataris at the Tana Delta.) She then praised Murungaru for removing them from the terrorist list, and asked what Paul Muite, a big Kenyan lawyer, had done for the Mau Mau veterans. (She had asked in a snobbish manner, so the crowd laughed while Muite covered his face smiling)…then the MC came and stood behind her, as if wanting to grab the microphone from her, again, forgetting my decorum, I began shouting that she be allowed to continue, but the seemingly unintelligent MC did not budge. She continued for some few minutes and gave the MC the mike. The Mc retorted that there are many people who would have wanted to speak, but time was not on our side, and that there would be another day for veterans them to talk! Talk of downright thickness!

He then invited the District Commissioner, who invited Murungaru to speak. He spoke for well over 30 minutes, without anybody hurrying him up. The DC invited Muite, who had Muthoni’s case to answer. Muite was modest, speaking for around 5 minutes, in Kikuyu, first by clearing his name, and stating that he was the lead counsel in the case put forward in Britain by Kenya National Human Rights Commission, where they are pushing for an official apology from the British government, Compensation, and for information on where they buried Dedan Kimathi, and adding that he is the one who helped Murungaru, the then Internal Security minister to write the gazette notice that removed the Mau Mau from the terrorist list.

The TJRC commissioner, Chava, spoke about the need for unearthing the truth, and documenting it, she spoke about the Wagalla massacre and the IDP issue. In fact, she expressed some very powerful points, very good points. Unfortunately, the intended audience was not listening, because she was speaking in very refined English. (I later realized that maybe her intended audience was not the Veterans, but the TV guys.) She spoke for quite some time, so the most of the guys in our tents began talking among themselves; I have to say that these Mau Mau people had very good stories, full of humor, that I was sad when she completed her speech. She invited Wafula Buke, who spoke (in Kiswahili) of how heroes of Kenya are always mistreated. He remembered of how he was once arrested during the Moi days, when they went for a procession to honor the freedom fighters.

As some other speeches continued, General Muthoni began walking away from the tent, and Mash and I went over to her. It was great honor shaking her hand, and I actually told her that I had thought she was dead. I asked her about life as a forest-based fighter, about Mathenge and Kimathi, her opinion on General China’s confessions, whether she could still make a homemade gun, among other questions. She told us of how she was among those who were never caught, and came out of the forest after independence in 1963. I then asked her how come I didn’t know that, whereas I knew of Field Marshall Baimungi and General Mwariama. She told me it was because she had met with the Nationalists before coming out in Ruring’u, and she was cleaned up, and given modern clothes, unlike the others who were still in their jungle animal skin clothes, which distinguished them and attracted a lot of attention to them.

We talked at length, even as it drizzled, and we exchanged contacts, and I promised to visit her soon.

We then went and had a chit chat with General Karari Njama, and held some brief talk with Mukami kimathi, and exchanged contacts with them too.

As we took our journey back to Nairobi, I wondered how things would be, if Nelson Mandela, during his visit to Kenya after his release from prison, had not sent the Government on a helter skelter by asking on the whereabouts of Kimathi’s widow.

Benedict Wachira

23^rd February 2011

7:03pm

Mr.Nicholas Sarkozy: KEEP OFF FROM IVORY COAST KEEP OFF AFRICA!

Mr.Nicholas Sarkozy: KEEP OFF FROM IVORY COAST KEEP OFF AFRICA!

Nicholas Sarkozy, the president of France(a member country of the EU), is set to attend the African Union heads of states meeting in Addis from 30^th January, 2011, as a special guest. His program includes attending the main heads of state session, and meeting various African leaders in between and after the meeting(s).

Since this is the first time a French head of state is attending an African Union meeting, questions must be raised as to the real aim of Sarkozy: Is it that he wants to be economical with air fuel, that he cannot pick some dates to visit the “various” heads of states in their respective countries hence his attending the AU summit? Could it be that he wants to learn how the AU sittings work, so that he may propose the good aspects of it to the EU? Or could it be that he just wanted to take a Safari and couldn’t find a better place to do that, than the AU summit/

Currently, there is an uprising in Africa. The people of Tunisia, a former French colony, kicked out Ben Ali, a long time dictator-friend and ally of the French, and a personal friend of Sarkozy from the reins of power through a popular uprising. A few days before the toppling of Ben Ali, France had, according to Foreign Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie,”offered the world-renowned know-how of France’s security forces” to Ben Ali, to counter the Revolution. The aid was in form of Riot Gear, which included bullet proof vests, Tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. At around the same time, Algeria, another former French colony, was (and still is) facing a similar uprising, and the French are in full support of the sitting government (..I wonder why..) The people of Cairo are quickly taking cue from the Revolutionary people of Tunisia; needless to say, Hosni Mubarak is one of the biggest and most strategic allies of the west in Africa and in the Arab world.

Ivory Coast

But could these revolts be the reason for Sarkozy’s self-invitation to the AU summit? The answer is no. It is obvious that the main issue on the table will be Ivory Coast, another former French colony, and a military outpost of the French army.

It is obvious again that Sarkozy wants to pressure request the African leaders to support the Ouster of Gbagbo, and install Ouattara as the president of Ivory Coast, through whatever means. I can imagine him speaking to strategic African presidents, offering loans, grants and other deals (both National and personal) in order for them to support the Installation of Ouattara. I can also see him lecturing them on the need to embrace democracy and the rule of law, since that is the only way that Africa will know peace and development, and it is only through democracy that France, the E.U, and the west will give more aid to Africa. I then see him offering some millions of Euros to the AU and the AU commission (which will of course be given gradually, depending on whether the AU follows the advice given.)

The African Union Commission

The AU has on its side been doing something about Ivory Coast. Immediately after the announcement of the elections, it recognised Ouattara as the President, and days later suspended Ivory Coast from the AU. All this was done, despite the fact that Ouattara had not been announced president, and also despite the fact that observers from the AU observer mission, the EU observers, the Convention of Ivorian Civil Societies and CEPECA described the election as full of malpractices, and irregularities, especially in the regions of the north, (where Rebel leader, Ouattara comes from) in their preliminary reports.

The commission went ahead to appoint former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, to mediate between the two sides. This they did because Mbeki has had a wide experience with the Ivorian Issue and also with Gbagbo and Ouattara when he was the chief mediator during and after the civil war in Ivory Coast.

The commission then secretly sent former Nigerian President Olusegun Obassanjo to Ivory Coast, with no fruits coming out of it.

An invisible hand in the AU

All this time, the Commission’s efforts appeared somehow genuine and clean; that was until the appointed Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga as the new chief mediator in the Ivorian crisis. This was a clear sign of mischief from the AU, and an indicator that there was/is some interest from elsewhere that was running the show. There are two reasons for this:

First, Raila Odinga was among the very first people to state that Gbagbo must step down. Raila was again among the very first persons to support the idea of a Military intervention, and idea that was first raised by William Fitzgerald, who is the Deputy Assistant US Secretary of State for African Affairs. Even after his appointment as AU’s chief Mediator, Raila was very clear of his intentions; to ask Gbagbo to step down.

How on earth then did the AU decide to appoint him as the chief mediator? It is common knowledge that a mediator should be neutral (are at least show that they are.) Either Jean Ping and his team had gone nuts, or they had just found the perfect person to do their dirty job.

The second reason is precedence. In the past African conflicts mediators between countries have always being appointed as heads of higher regional organisations or heads of AU itself, in other instances, the appointments are given to highly experienced individuals, who have in the past dealt with similar situations. Raila Odinga falls in none of the above.

 Just recently when we had a post elections crisis in Kenya, the AU sent in Cecil Ramaphosa, an experienced mediator from South Africa, they later sent in John Koufur, not only was he the president of Ghana at the time, but he was also the chairman of African Union itself, finally Koffi Annan, a respected African leader and a former head of the United Nations was sent in and brokered a peace deal.

In Zimbabwe, the Chief mediator was the then South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was also the head of SADC, and had a wide knowledge of the issues in Zimbabwe, Mbeki also mediated in Ivory Coast when he was still the president of SA, and the Chair of the African Union, and the examples go on and on. Going by this trend, one would have expected the AU to send the Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika immediately the crisis grew out of hand, the other option would have been Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan, the current head of ECOWAS.

What is even yet to be made clear is the reason as to why Thabo Mbeki was removed from the mediation team in the first place.

The rational that was used to select Raila, who has no experience in conflict resolutions, and who doesn’t represent any higher organisation in Africa, is very questionable. Even Gbagbo accepting such a person in the first place was quite irrational.

But the question remains; In who’s interest was the AU acting for?

ECOWAS

ECOWAS, is a 15 member states organisation. Of these 15 countries, it is only a small minority that is maintaining that Gbagbo lost the elections, and that Ouattara is the president, and they further insist that a military intervention (as stated by William Fitzgerald) is the best route in solving the Ivorian crisis. Ghana has since come out openly and declared that it cannot support a military invasion in Ivory Coast. The member states that are supporting the invasion are busy lobbying for Dollars, military hardware and other takings from the imperialists, so that they can facilitate the “African” Invasion.

Blaise Compaore, the President of Burkina Faso, is the loudest of these West African Clowns. He wants to appear as a neutral party, and an African statesman, who has a deep respect for democracy. This he does, when everyone knows that Burkina Faso (thanks to him) is part of the Ivorian problem, and that he has always supported the Northern Rebels. There are even video clips of him, together with Ouattara plotting a coup d’état against Gbagbo during the Ivorian ceasefire period.

Blaise Compaore himself came onto power in 1987, through a military coup sponsored by France (and with help from Houphouet-Boigny, the then dictator of Ivory Coast), where they killed our Revolutionary and most Visionary leader, Thomas Sankara. He did not bother to hide his reasons for toppling Sankara, according to him “Sankara had to go since he had jeopardised foreign relations with former colonial power France and neighbouring Ivory Coast.”

The “International Community”

The ‘International community’ (meaning the United States and France/Britain) have also raised their concerns, and are pushing for the overthrowal of president Gbagbo. But everyone knows that the imperialists raise their voices only when they want to protect/promote their selfish interests. So, what are their interests in Ivory Coast? Why are they floating this idea of military intervention with so much zeal?

Ivory Coast is the world’s largest Cocoa producer, producing close to a half of the world’s Cocoa. The U.S is the world’s largest producer of Chocolate. France is one of the biggest exporters of Chocolate in the world. Ivory Coast exports coffee too. Ivory Coast is also rich in Gold and Diamond, which are found mostly in the North (an area controlled by the rebels) but only benefit the Rebel leaders like Ouattara and ex-president Henri Konan Bedie. Furthermore, France owns more than 500 businesses that control all the major sectors of the economy.

But is this what the heat is all about? Just like it was in Angola, it is in Congo, in Guinea and all over the world, it is all about the resources.

What we are not being told

It is well known that Ivory Coast is an Oil exporting country, with most of the oil being exported via Total, a French multinational Oil company.

But what is being hidden from the world is the fact some time ago, vast oil deposits were discovered in Ivory Coast. It is estimated that once the mining begins, Ivory Coast will be the second highest Oil Producer in Africa, and what’s more, there are enough deposits to last for well over 100 years!

Now we know what all this is all about. Nothing new, just the Oil.

But why not allow democracy to take its own course, and then deal with whichever leader that comes?

The answer to this is simple, we are in the 21^st Century, and with China’s hunger for Oil, the west is not ready to gamble with this very important mineral. They want to be sure that they will get it, but the likes of Gbagbo don’t provide this assurance. Professor Gbagbo is an intellectual, with a trade Union background, and quite a courageous man, as was seen during the days of Dictator Houphouet-Boigny, and later during Robert Guei’s time, and that’s probably why they cannot trust him. But what about Alassane Ouattara, can they bank on Him?

Alassane Ouattara

Ouattara holds a Bsc from Drexel University, Pennsylvania, and a doctorate in Economics, from University of Pennsylvania, and he has worked as an economist for the IMF from 1968 to 1973. He has also worked for the French controlled Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) from 1973 to 1984.

From 1984 up to 1988 he went back to IMF, as the Director of the African Department at the IMF, and as the Counsellor to the Managing Director of the IMF. In 1988, he was appointed as Governor of the BCEAO. He again served as the Deputy Managing Director of IMF, 1994, to 1999.

Performance at the IMF and the BCEAO

It was during Ouattara’s tenure as Director of African Dept at the IMF that the Structural Adjustment Programs took real effect. The SAPs were introduced to “help” third world countries develop faster, but, this is actually what happened (summary from Structural Adjustment Participatory Review International Network (SAPRIN):

“Firstly, trade and financial sector reforms destroyed domestic manufacturing leading to massive unemployment of workers and small producers.

Secondly, agricultural, trade and mining reforms reduced the incomes of small farms and poor rural communities as well as their food security.

Thirdly, labour market flexibilization measures and privatizations caused mass layoffs of workers and resulted in lower wages, less secure employment, fewer benefits and “an erosion of workers’ rights and bargaining power.” Privatization of major national assets and essential services allowed/is allowing multinational corporations to remove resources and profits from countries as well as increase rates for water and electricity which hit the poor the hardest.

Fourthly, the cutting of health and education spending under SAPs and the introduction of user fees for these services, when combined with higher utility rates, has resulted in “a severe increase in the number of poor as well as a deepening of poverty.”

This was the period when things like Cotton and Sisal farming died in Kenya, together with KIKOMI, RIVATEX and many others. This was the period when the Kenyan government retrenched thousands of Civil Servants, giving them less than 100,000 each. It was during the implementation of these IMF conditions that the almost free education was scrapped off in Kenya, University students were denied their “Boom” and were even required to buy their own food etc.

All this happened all over Africa, under the mis-leadership of Ouattara.

There is a lot to be said about BCEAO, as Dr Gary K Busch puts it “The creation and maintenance of the French domination of the francophone African economies is the product of a long period of French colonialism and the learned dependence of the African states. For most of francophone Africa there are only limited powers allocated to their central banks. These are economies whose vulnerability to an increasingly globalised economy expands daily. There can be no trade policy without reference to currency; there can be no investment without reference to reserves. The African politicians and parties elected to promote growth, reform, changes in trade and fiscal policies are made irrelevant except with the consent of the French Treasury which rations their funds.”

Ouattara and Dictator Houphouet-Boigny

In between working for the IMF and BCEAO, Ouattara served as Dictator Houphouet-Boigny’s Prime Minister from 1990 to 1993.

Professor Horace Campbell describes Houphouet-Boigny as follows:

“After independence in 1960, Cote d'Ivoire became the cockpit of imperial machinations in West Africa for over 50 years Félix Houphouët-Boigny and his political organization allied with France to dominate the spaces of economic, social, political and cultural interactions. Boigny had matured from the class of rich cocoa plantation owners to enter politics during the dying days of colonialism. Prior to the decline of France in the wake of German occupation, the racism of France excluded even rich plantation owners from political spaces, so this exploiter of migrant workers made common cause with the working people by organizing the Syndicate Agricole Africain (SAA), a union that defended farm workers and planters’ interests. In 1945, Boigny rose to political prominence when he was elected as the Ivory Coast’s deputy to the French Constituent Assembly.

Riding on the wave of anti-colonialism immediately after WWII, Houphouet-Boigny used the base of the nationalist movement of the (SAA) to be a moving force in Côte d’Ivoire’s first independent political party, Parti Démocratique de la Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI). The PDCI became part of a larger network of French-speaking West African political parties, known as the Rassemblement Démoctratique Africain (RDA). Supported by the French, this RDA opposed Pan Africanism and undermined efforts aimed at transcending the Berlin borders and the divisions between Francophone and Anglophone Africa. This former supporter of the rights of agricultural workers supported French military oppression in Algeria and Vietnam and with this new orientation became a darling of the economic interests of France in West Africa. France identified Africa as the source as its contention to remain as an international force in the global economy and the domination of West Africa was key to the post war posture of the France to maintain a ‘sphere of influence.’ In the face of the militant nationalism of leaders such as Sekou Toure and Felix-Roland Moumie, the planter class in Côte d’Ivoire was identified as reliable allies for French imperial plans as France maintained troops in the ex-colonies in order to intervene to support the plunder of human and natural resources. With its principal allies in Abidjan, investments poured in from Western Europe and North America and the capital city of Abidjan became a hub for Air France and for anti-colonial planning in Africa. The very spatial organization of this growing urban space articulated the hierarchy of the apartheid conditions with Cocody reserved for Europeans, Plateau for the Lebanese traders and Treichville for the mass of African workers. City planning carried a clear French cultural identity with the public buildings and bridges given names of French leaders, with the bridge named after Charles de Gaulle holding pride of place in the developed infrastructure to ferry the rulers between places of exploitation and leisure.

Houphouet-Boigny was rewarded for his alliance with France against African nationalism in the tense period when France deployed troops across Africa. Before France was exposed for its alliance with the genocidaires in Rwanda, the mantra of France was that it was providing peace keeping for Africa. The real purpose of France in its multiple military interventions has been fully documented in the book France, Soldiers and Africa. These interventions postponed democratic transformations and supported the most conservative elements in Africa. These activities of France provide a cautionary tale to those who would support the logic of the US who have established AFRICOM to replace France as the dominant military force in the repression of the African poor.

French soldiers were garrisoned in Cote d’Ivoire and Boigny opted for a form of relationship with France that ensured that the French franc remained the currency, French teachers remained in the schools of the rich, French food dominated in the restaurants and French soldiers were deployed to defend the interests of France. It was easier to make a telephone call to Paris than to call a neighboring African society. French commercial companies ensured that bottled water was imported by running a poor water supply system. It was this kind of relationship that gave rise to the use of the term neo-colonialism to describe the connections between France and the West African former colonies after these societies became independent in 1960. During these years, the African ruling elite served as the conduit for the export of wealth accumulated from the sweat and brow of the working poor. In the process of taking their cut as junior partners in the chain of exploitation, French nationals poured in as the society was branded as a sea of stability and growth. It was in this period of increased foreign investments that the society became the number one cocoa producer in the world and millions of migrant workers were attracted into the society to work on cocoa, coffee and banana farms. By the end of the 20th century the children of these migrant workers from Liberia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Sierra Leone had contributed greatly to the increased wealth of the planters and the Lebanese merchants. As a planter himself, Boigny understood the importance of these workers for the wealth of the society and tolerated these workers as long as they did not become activists in trade union movements.

Accumulating a personal fortune that was estimated to be above $10 billion, Boigny supported an administration that oppressed workers at home while becoming the godfather of other oppressors such as Mobutu. Along with Mobutu, Boigny became a staunch ally of the apartheid regime in South Africa supporting dialogue with the apartheid leaders, when the African freedom fighters and the frontline societies were calling for increased sanctions. Jonas Savimbi found a base for his activities in this society and diamonds from Angola were mixed with diamonds from Sierra Leone as the buildings in Plateau changed character. With new sources of wealth, elements from within the ruling classes of this society became staunch anti-communist allies of France and the United States. These were the forces that benefited from the destabilization of West Africa and the assassination of Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso. Hence, from even before the death of Boigny in 1993, the ruling elements of this society that were the number one producer of cocoa was profiting from war and misery in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. During his last years as leader millions of scarce foreign exchange were spent on the building of the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, his home community. This was designated the largest cathedral outside of the Vatican, assigning a cultural and political identity for that section of the ruling elite who were members of the Roman Catholic Church.”

That is the person that Alassane Ouattara worked under, for four years, till his death. It was Ouattara who announced Houphouet-Boigny’s death to the nation, saying that "Côte d'Ivoire is orphaned."

The North South Divide

Many dynamics took place after the death of the “father” of the nation, till the civil war erupted in 2002, after a failed coup to topple Gbagbo, and the country was divided into two, the Rebel controlled North and the Government controlled South. Between them is a buffer zone put up and manned by the French army. In the north, the rebels rule by the gun, they collect illegal taxes, they mine the Gold and diamonds, but nothing goes into infrastructure, or back to the people in any way.

Talks were held between the rebels (New Forces) and the government, and it was agreed that there would be a Unity Government, with all rebel leaders included, till the elections are held. The elections were postponed for five years, due to disagreements in the government of National Unity.

Finally the elections are held

The elections were finally held in November, under very tense conditions, and Gbagbo garnered 38%, followed by Outtara with 32% and Henry Konan Bedie getting 25% of the votes.

As per the CONSTIUTION of the Ivory Coast, Gbagbo could not be declared president, since one has to garner over 50% of the total votes. So they proceeded to a run off.

Article 36

The election of the President of the Republic is acquired by an absolute majority of the suffrage expressed. If this is not obtained, it proceeds to a second round, fifteen days after the proclamation of the results of the first round. Only the two candidates having received the greatest number of votes in the first round can present themselves. The convocation of the electors is made by decree in the Council of Ministers. The first round of the ballot takes place in the course of the month of October of the fifth year of the mandate of the President of the Republic.

The Gbagbo-Ouattara Run off

The elections run off was held on 28^th November 2010, after which the results were supposed to be released within three days, but this was done on the fourth day, where the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced the results as Ouattara having garnered 54.1% against Gbagbo’s 45.9%.

During the announcement, tensions were so high that one of the IEC officials stood, grabbed the results from Youssouf Bakayoko(the Commission chair) and tore it up in protest.

The results were finally announced from Ouattara’s Hotel, and not the IEC buildings, as was done in the first round, and as was expected in the second.

Gbagbo later protested the results, and the Constitutional council, after looking into the matter, announced Gbagbo as the winner, having garnered 51.45% against Ouattara’s 48.55%.

It is said that the IEC is constituted largely by Ouattara’s men (20-2), while the Constitutional Council is dominated by Gbagbo’s people.

Gbagbo’s complaint was that there were districts in the North where votes surpassed 100% (up to 130% in some areas), voters in the North were voting under the barrels of the guns, and there was general voter intimidation. He took his complain to the Constitutional Council.

The African Union Observer mission had this in their report: http://documents.fileave.com/UA%20observer%20mission%20in%20Ivory%20Coast.pdf

But since we had two results, who then is the winner?

According to Ivory Coast constitution:

Article 32

The people exercise their sovereignty by way of referendum and by their elected representatives. The conditions of recourse to the referendum and of designation of the representatives of the people are determined by this Constitution and by an organic law. The Constitutional Council controls the regularity of the operations of the referendum and of the election of the representatives of the people. The organization and supervision of the referendum and of the elections is assured by an Independent Commission within the conditions provided by the law.

It goes further:

Article 88

The Constitutional Council is [the] judge of the constitutionality of the law. It is the regulating organ of the functioning of the public powers.

And:

Article 94

The Constitutional Council controls the regularity of the operations of the referendum and proclaims the results. The Council decides [statuer] on:

— the eligibility of the candidates to the presidential and legislative elections;

— the disputes concerning the election of the President of the Republic and of the Deputies.

The Constitutional Council proclaims the definitive results of the presidential elections.

From the above, it is very clear who proclaims the final results of the presidential elections.

Furthermore:

Article 98

The decisions of the Constitutional Council are not susceptible to any recourse. The [are] imposed on the public powers, on every administrative, jurisdictional, [and] military authority and on every physical and moral person.

But it doesn’t end with the proclamation of the final results, no. An individual becomes president after:

Article 39

The powers of the President of the Republic in office expire at the date of the taking of office of the President-elect, which occurs at the taking of the oath. Within forty-eight hours of the definitive proclamation of the results, the President of the Republic-elect takes the oath before the Constitutional Council meeting in solemn audience. The wording [formule] of the oath is:

“Before the sovereign people of Cote d’Ivoire, I solemnly swear and on my honor to respect and faithfully defend the Constitution, to protect the Rights and Freedoms of the citizens, to conscientiously fulfill the duties entrusted to me in the superior interest of the Nation. May the people withdraw their confidence in me and may I be submitted to the rigor of the laws, if I betray my oath”.

So, the big question is asked again, who won the elections, and who is the President of Ivory Coast?

And the simple answer is Laurent Koudou Gbagbo.

The role of the IEC

All over the world, the electoral bodies do not announce the president, what they announce are the results. It is other bodies that announce who the president becomes. This is why it is sad when some African presidents, who knowing this very well, behave as if that is not the case in their own countries.

What is even worse is the behaviour by the United States government, the so called beckon of democracy, the land of constitutionalism and justice, through President Barrack Obama himself, and repeatedly through Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claim that Gbagbo should accept defeat, and that he should step down, and that they recognise Ouattara only.

U.S elections in year 2000

In the year 2000, the American elections also had a close call, where people had claimed (actually slept knowing) that Al Gore had won the election, and then woke up to here Bush being declared winner!

The case went to the U.S Supreme court, where Bush was confirmed winner. Not everyone understood what happened, to many, it didn’t even make sense, but the whole world accepted that. Weeks later, as per the constitution of the U.S, he was sworn in as the president.

As for Al Gore, he went into the conservation world, where seven years later, he won the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize (while Bush was working hard to ruin world peace)

Why is it then that the U.S, is trying to undermine the constitution of the African people of Ivory Coast? Is it that they cannot read, read the Ivorian constitution which i have copy-pasted from the U.S government website? Or they just think that the Ivorian people are just kids to be pushed around.

The way forward

Ivory Coast and Africa in general, has witnessed enough bloodshed. In 2002, over one million civilians had to flee, and over 3000 civilians died in the Ivorian civil war.

Today, close to 200 people have already been killed, and tens of thousands displaced.

Some blood thirsty fools are asking for more bloodshed in this highly tensed country. Some “Leaders” are asking for forceful eviction of President Gbagbo, which really means intervening militarily.

The Ivorian military is fully behind their president, which is in line with the Ivory Coast constitution. Gbagbo has the Young patriots behind him, which is basically an armed militia. Ouattara has the armed rebels behind him, and in the case of an invasion, foreign militaries will back him up. The big question is, who will back up the innocent voters of Ivory Coast? Who will back up the children and the mothers of Ivory Coast? Who will back up the youth of Ivory Coast?

The International media has tried to portray Gbagbo as the one who is refusing to dialogue, whereas since the crisis began, he has always called for talks, saying that that is the African way of solving conflicts.

Gbagbo has even called for a recount of the votes or another re-run. He is the legitimate president, but for the sake of peace, he is asking for a re run.

On January 5^th 2011, during a live interview of France24, Ouattara was asked whether he would accept a re-run, and he gave a definite no, adding that that is Gbagbo tactics of staying in power, and that he has been buying time since 4^th December. That was on 5^th January. A proper run off would at most take 20 days to organise and conduct. 22 days have already passed, since that interview.

The way forward is for the ECOWAS, and the AU to organise for a re-run in Ivory Coast, where AU officials together with independent Ivorian officials can conduct the elections afresh, and whoever wins takes the seat.

The cost of even a one-day invasion will be hundreds of time more that it will cost to do a re-run. The number of people who will die, the number of women who will be rapped, the number of people who will be maimed will be unimaginable.

If Ouattara doesn’t fear the run off, then by now he must have realised that Gbagbo has “bought” enough time, and he is probably going to buy more and hence accept the re-run offer.

In this article, i might have portrayed Gbagbo as a very good person, of which he is not, talking about his excesses would fill several pages, but on this specific matter, if we do not stick to what the constitution states, a constitution that was passed by the people of Ivory Coast in the year 2000 through a referendum, then what precedence are we setting?

We wouldn’t want a situation where the best thief is announced winner, this must be discouraged, and it is even an abuse to this bourgeoisie democracy itself.

But the will of the Ivorian people, through their ballot, their representatives and their constitution should be respected.

Conclusion

It is always said that African problems need African solutions.

Nicholas Sarkozy should know that we will provide African Solutions to these French-made problems.

Barrack Obama should know that we will provide African Solutions to these American-made problems.

The “International Community” should know that we will provide African Solutions to these Imperialist-made problems.

Benedict Wachira

27^th January 2011

22:48pm

References

Constitution of Ivory Coast (English) http://abidjan.usembassy.gov/ivoirian_constitution2.html

Analysis,Dr Gary K Busch http://www.saharareporters.com/article/france-and-ivory-coast-empire-strikes-back

Analysis by AllwestAfrica.com http://www.allwestafrica.com/150120118220.html

The map showing the North-South Divide http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11681134

Report by the government of ivory coast http://africandiplomacy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=427:election-in-ivory-coast-the-official-position-of-gbagbo-government&catid=137:politics&Itemid=88&lang=en

Statement of AU observer mission to ivory coast http://documents.fileave.com/UA%20observer%20mission%20in%20Ivory%20Coast.pdf

Obama congratulates Ouattara http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jEP7BuHVR6mqgVBAn0TVG19cDR2A?docId=CNG.2a8de8a8d715bbf5472f2a7f29d9a3be.ca1

In defence of Ata Mills http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=202006

About ECOWAS http://www.comm.ecowas.int/sec/index.php?id=member&lang=en

Alassane Ouattara http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alassane_Ouattara

Laurent Gbagbo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Gbagbo

Thomas Sankara http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara