Obama is right, Africa should be responsible of its development

By Kilemi Mwiria

As a graduate student in the US, I was once very cross with a fellow student who, during a discussion on third world underdevelopment, asserted that Africa was only good at destroying and not building.

He meant that we were destroying the development made the colonial powers. As you would imagine, radical African students were up in arms accusing him of being an apologist for European colonialism.

That was during the era of Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa when most African political economists blamed colonialism for Africa’s woes. Many of these scholars are now more moderate since decades of independence have failed to make a big positive difference for the majority of the continent’s population. In fact, African countries have only experienced retrogression.

Although not as common as in the 1960s and 1970s, there are still some African leaders who hide behind the colonial card. There is no doubt that colonialism is largely responsible for many of the ethnic divisions of today; a culture of cash crop export that neglects traditional subsistence crops more suited to our climate; unfavorable terms of trade between us and the west; slavery that robbed the continent of some of our best human resources; gradual extinction of key African values in governance, religion and education; and propping up dictators and corrupt leaders who sang the tune of the colonial master and conduct business in their interest.

Moreover, colonial powers did not leave behind political structures that were suited to post-colonial governance challenges. But why should one expect otherwise if colonialism was first and foremost about African exploitation?

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Nevertheless, it is no use to continue looking back. This is especially because many of our first post independence leaders are responsible for what some have termed a "false start in Africa", which differentiated us from the take off the Asian countries Obama cites experienced in the 1970s. These leaders took over countries on the right development path but killed that positive drive, more concerned as they were with looting as much of the national resources as they could.

Blame same forces

Such leaders often used their tribe to justify their thirst for power and looting of national treasures. Most civil wars in Africa have been propelled by greed for oil, gold, diamonds and land resources, and rarely the national good. The same politicians blame Western powers for ethnic strife in Africa while conveniently ignoring the fact that this happens because there are many willing African accomplices.

We are also quick to blame the same forces for poor advice with regard to investment choices in sectors such as education, trade and agriculture. Again, this is possible because we accept to be dictated to and to be advised by Western consultants instead of looking up to countries, such as South Korea, that have pursued working homebred development strategies.

One can never tire of repeating how Africa’s development has been further curtailed by corruption and inefficiency in the management of national affairs. In Africa, sometimes involvement in corruption makes some leaders even more eligible for leadership positions as they have more money to buy and retain power. In some of the emerging Asian economies, the very corrupt are either executed or commit suicide out of shame. How many African politicians would you say have a moral conscience?

In Kenya we have proved that we can do without foreign aid, which accounts for less than 10 per cent of our national budget. Rwanda has demonstrated how focused leadership can bring progress to a country damaged by colonialism and ethnic welfare.

Malawi is a good example of how the courage to fight corruption and focused planning can reverse years of poverty to a food surplus economy. African countries need to exploit this potential instead of forever wailing about the past.

—The writer ([email protected]) is an Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology and MP for Tigania West.