Post by mbanbo on Sept 9, 2005 10:29:00 GMT
A BED MADE OF PURE GOLD DOES NOT MEAN YOUR CONSCIOUS WILL LET YOU HAVE A PEACEFUL AND RESTFUL SLEEP!
My observations does not only relate to Kenya but Africa on a whole.
Since independence in the sixties, Africa has performed poorly in most areas because of bad leadership and bad policies, not because of weak genes. Most countries on the continent won independence by 1968. Yet, an entire generation later, they have little to show for all those years they have ruled themselves. No one expects a country to develop in 40 or 50 years. But no one expects it to do nothing either. There is no excuse for the kind of economic retardation that has taken place in most countries across Africa since independence. A generation is not a week. When compared to other parts of the developing world, Africa has performed miserably in every conceivable way. And statistics tell the story, a sad story.
In 1965, Nigeria was richer than Indonesia, and Ghana richer than Thailand. Today Indonesia is three times richer than Nigeria, and Thailand five times richer than Ghana. In 1965, Uganda was richer than South Korea. And in 1967, Zambia also was richer than South Korea. Zambia had a per capita income of $200, and South Korea, $120. After 30 years, South Korea's gross domestic product per person was more than $10,000 in 1998, and Zambia's $400 Yet, by African standards, Zambia is considered to be one of the richest countries on the African continent in spite of all the misery, hunger and starvation ravaging this country endowed with abundant minerals and arable land more than enough to feed its entire population.
And all African countries combined have a smaller gross domestic product than that of Belgium, a country of only 10 million people, and one of the smallest in the world. By contrast, Africa's population is more than 700 million, on a continent endowed with abundant natural resources. The gross domestic product of African countries is not only smaller but a mere fraction of Belgium's. What is even more depressing is that Indonesia, a developing country which in 1965 was poorer than Nigeria, has a bigger gross domestic product than that of all the African countries combined. Yet, Indonesia itself was a colony, like the African countries, and won independence roughly around the same time that African countries did during the post-World War II era.
It is just as sad, probably even more so, when we look at the dismal performance of Africa from another perspective. There are 40 African countries out of 53 on the entire continent which includes the island nations of Madagascar, Mauritius, the Comoros, and the Seychelles, all on the Indian Ocean; Cape Verde, and Sao Tome & Principe on the Atlantic. More than half of the gross domestic product of the African countries is contributed by only two countries: South Africa and Nigeria. That means a total of 38 African countries - almost the entire sub-Saharan region - have a combined gross domestic product which is only about a third of Indonesia's. And the devastating impact of AIDS, civil wars and corruption makes things worse, much worse, with no relief in sight. Now, an increasing number of people are turning to churches calling for divine intervention to alleviate their plight. Which will not solve our problems?
Something is wrong, terribly wrong. But unlike in the past when it was fashionable for many Africans to blame colonialism and imperialism for almost all the problems our countries faced after we won independence, an increasing number of them today, especially those of the younger generation, insist on accountability within Africa itself, as they apportion guilt accordingly; instead of blaming colonialists and imperialists for the perpetual misery - thanks to tyranny, corruption, poverty and disease - hundreds of millions of Africans have to endure all their lives.
To these millions, independence has remained an abstract ideal without any concrete benefits in their lives, as they remain trapped in poverty and continue to be ravaged by disease, while billions of dollars in foreign aid, and taxes paid by the toiling masses, are being stolen and squandered by unscrupulous politicians and bureaucrats, together with their cronies and mistresses. It is clear where the problem lies. It lies within, not without. And the African people are fed up. They are speaking up more and more against corrupt leaders, even risking their lives by doing so.
Millions of dollars are stashed away by corrupt leaders, their families and cronies....The message is the same in Zaire, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, etc. Development in Africa has stagnated over the years due to turncoat politicians and soldiers who have perpetuated themselves in office by manipulating the system.
We find ourselves asking: Where did all the good people in Africa go? What happened to the foreign exchange and the loans given for development projects? Some of these funds find their way right back in donor countries, stashed in coded accounts from our corrupt leaders.
Who do you call in Africa when you see waste and embezzlement? Nobody! Our courts are under the thumbs of the leaders. So what is the solution? Maybe we should all start to look around and ask questions about why there have been no additional hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, jobs or any change in our economic lives over the last two or three decades.
Should we look at Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and all these countries that were just like us not too long ago? What are they doing, or better put, what did they do, to change things? What did their governments do to achieve all these successes?
In Africa, the average Joe goes into politics by any means possible to steal as much as he can. We've reached a point where the people can no longer be aloof.... (But) today, well-meaning citizens stand and watch because intimidation has become too real and life-threatening.
One of the strange paradoxes about Africa is that some of the richest countries on the continent are also among the poorest. Therefore most of the poverty in those countries cannot be attributed to lack of natural resources but to bad leadership, wrong economic policies, rampant corruption, and sheer waste and mismanagement including well-meaning incompetence. And no case better illustrates the utter waste of such potential than that of Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, under Mobutu Sese Seko, one of the most brutal, and most corrupt, dictators on the entire continent. He ruled a vast country endowed with an abundance of minerals and other natural resources including enormous agricultural potential, making it potentially one of the richest countries in the world. In fact, in terms of mineral wealth, it is the richest country in Africa, richer than South Africa. But the government did nothing with all that enormous wealth through the decades to help its own people when it was led by Mobutu - who inspired coinage of the term ‘kleptocrat’; an indictment equally applicable to most of the other African countries.
Kenya was also one of the most prosperous countries in Africa. But after years of corruption, mismanagement, and dictatorship also ignited and fanned ethnic conflicts to perpetuate itself and the cronies in power, the economy was utterly ruined; and the country has became one of the poorest and most unstable on the entire continent.
What would I change? It is obvious WHAT?
allafrica.com/stories/200509070872.html
My observations does not only relate to Kenya but Africa on a whole.
Since independence in the sixties, Africa has performed poorly in most areas because of bad leadership and bad policies, not because of weak genes. Most countries on the continent won independence by 1968. Yet, an entire generation later, they have little to show for all those years they have ruled themselves. No one expects a country to develop in 40 or 50 years. But no one expects it to do nothing either. There is no excuse for the kind of economic retardation that has taken place in most countries across Africa since independence. A generation is not a week. When compared to other parts of the developing world, Africa has performed miserably in every conceivable way. And statistics tell the story, a sad story.
In 1965, Nigeria was richer than Indonesia, and Ghana richer than Thailand. Today Indonesia is three times richer than Nigeria, and Thailand five times richer than Ghana. In 1965, Uganda was richer than South Korea. And in 1967, Zambia also was richer than South Korea. Zambia had a per capita income of $200, and South Korea, $120. After 30 years, South Korea's gross domestic product per person was more than $10,000 in 1998, and Zambia's $400 Yet, by African standards, Zambia is considered to be one of the richest countries on the African continent in spite of all the misery, hunger and starvation ravaging this country endowed with abundant minerals and arable land more than enough to feed its entire population.
And all African countries combined have a smaller gross domestic product than that of Belgium, a country of only 10 million people, and one of the smallest in the world. By contrast, Africa's population is more than 700 million, on a continent endowed with abundant natural resources. The gross domestic product of African countries is not only smaller but a mere fraction of Belgium's. What is even more depressing is that Indonesia, a developing country which in 1965 was poorer than Nigeria, has a bigger gross domestic product than that of all the African countries combined. Yet, Indonesia itself was a colony, like the African countries, and won independence roughly around the same time that African countries did during the post-World War II era.
It is just as sad, probably even more so, when we look at the dismal performance of Africa from another perspective. There are 40 African countries out of 53 on the entire continent which includes the island nations of Madagascar, Mauritius, the Comoros, and the Seychelles, all on the Indian Ocean; Cape Verde, and Sao Tome & Principe on the Atlantic. More than half of the gross domestic product of the African countries is contributed by only two countries: South Africa and Nigeria. That means a total of 38 African countries - almost the entire sub-Saharan region - have a combined gross domestic product which is only about a third of Indonesia's. And the devastating impact of AIDS, civil wars and corruption makes things worse, much worse, with no relief in sight. Now, an increasing number of people are turning to churches calling for divine intervention to alleviate their plight. Which will not solve our problems?
Something is wrong, terribly wrong. But unlike in the past when it was fashionable for many Africans to blame colonialism and imperialism for almost all the problems our countries faced after we won independence, an increasing number of them today, especially those of the younger generation, insist on accountability within Africa itself, as they apportion guilt accordingly; instead of blaming colonialists and imperialists for the perpetual misery - thanks to tyranny, corruption, poverty and disease - hundreds of millions of Africans have to endure all their lives.
To these millions, independence has remained an abstract ideal without any concrete benefits in their lives, as they remain trapped in poverty and continue to be ravaged by disease, while billions of dollars in foreign aid, and taxes paid by the toiling masses, are being stolen and squandered by unscrupulous politicians and bureaucrats, together with their cronies and mistresses. It is clear where the problem lies. It lies within, not without. And the African people are fed up. They are speaking up more and more against corrupt leaders, even risking their lives by doing so.
Millions of dollars are stashed away by corrupt leaders, their families and cronies....The message is the same in Zaire, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, etc. Development in Africa has stagnated over the years due to turncoat politicians and soldiers who have perpetuated themselves in office by manipulating the system.
We find ourselves asking: Where did all the good people in Africa go? What happened to the foreign exchange and the loans given for development projects? Some of these funds find their way right back in donor countries, stashed in coded accounts from our corrupt leaders.
Who do you call in Africa when you see waste and embezzlement? Nobody! Our courts are under the thumbs of the leaders. So what is the solution? Maybe we should all start to look around and ask questions about why there have been no additional hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, jobs or any change in our economic lives over the last two or three decades.
Should we look at Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and all these countries that were just like us not too long ago? What are they doing, or better put, what did they do, to change things? What did their governments do to achieve all these successes?
In Africa, the average Joe goes into politics by any means possible to steal as much as he can. We've reached a point where the people can no longer be aloof.... (But) today, well-meaning citizens stand and watch because intimidation has become too real and life-threatening.
One of the strange paradoxes about Africa is that some of the richest countries on the continent are also among the poorest. Therefore most of the poverty in those countries cannot be attributed to lack of natural resources but to bad leadership, wrong economic policies, rampant corruption, and sheer waste and mismanagement including well-meaning incompetence. And no case better illustrates the utter waste of such potential than that of Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, under Mobutu Sese Seko, one of the most brutal, and most corrupt, dictators on the entire continent. He ruled a vast country endowed with an abundance of minerals and other natural resources including enormous agricultural potential, making it potentially one of the richest countries in the world. In fact, in terms of mineral wealth, it is the richest country in Africa, richer than South Africa. But the government did nothing with all that enormous wealth through the decades to help its own people when it was led by Mobutu - who inspired coinage of the term ‘kleptocrat’; an indictment equally applicable to most of the other African countries.
Kenya was also one of the most prosperous countries in Africa. But after years of corruption, mismanagement, and dictatorship also ignited and fanned ethnic conflicts to perpetuate itself and the cronies in power, the economy was utterly ruined; and the country has became one of the poorest and most unstable on the entire continent.
What would I change? It is obvious WHAT?
allafrica.com/stories/200509070872.html