The past week has been witnessed, howbeit from an espying public eye of scrutiny, the trend in Africa today in regards to world's perceptive.
Africa is no longer the dark continent reeking with pestilence and wallowing in the vicious cycle of poverty and corruption. It is the El-Dorado of neo-capitalistic investors who have taken a renewed breath in food production and agro-economic strategies to increase their capital gains.
The past week has not eluded, not the conscious anyway, our most often divided attention and easily red herringed concentration. The riots to have hit the Nairobi's down town between irate garage-gangs allegedly plying their trade on a private property and the police agents, has no doubt left many people enraged.However, at the epicenter of this dispute is probably the cause for concern not only for the nearly 2,000 second hand auto spares dealers but the continent at large.
In 2008, the massive land sell out to foreign investors started in earnest. The most promising of these loaded financiers were the Arabs from the Arab worlds and the Middle East.Many African governments fell prey to major leaseholds of their arable lands to these corporates and individuals without proper acknowledgment of the rightful owners, who happen to the custodians of the land, the citizenry themselves. In a continent where land is abundantly found yet archaic farming techniques and funding constraints for implements and equipment affords close to 3 Billion people to go without a meal daily. These governments probably thought that they were doing their respective nations a huge favor. Besides, the money would go into far more pressing needs like Anti-Retro viral Drugs to keep the HIV/AIDS pandemic in check or buy weapons to wade away any insurrectionist resistance from the masses they rule with iron fists.
The Grogan riots were a reflection of this, a tip of the ice berg, come to think of it might as well be the whole of Antarctica by the looks of things that underline it. Brewing is xenophobia, and no one is to blame here,creeping among Kenyans who earlier on were swollen up with overoptimism and goodwill.Kenya is by fate and geographical convenience located within a region where conflict has been the main stay and continues to ravage the neighboring countries. This fact has brought about a staggering influx of aliens seeking asylum within it haven-like borders. These foreigners bring along their distinct and variegated culture and lifestyles.Recently the government passed to law the issuance of refugee Identity cards giving these people equal rights to own property, work and school in Kenya without any prejudice, coercion or hindrances means they enjoy subtle citizen privileges although they can't participate in any national electoral processes like the referendum, by or General elections. Apart from this technicality they are as Kenyan as the term has many definitions.
Of course, the international community has its part to play in safeguarding rights in cases of human conflict and reimbursement of the same since its only fair in return for the spoils of war.It sponsors these refugees heftily for them to make something out their lives in the countries of amnesty. These funds no doubt find their way into stable economies or at least stable in comparison, like Kenya's.The Grogan riots sparked to minds the extend by which one can take a mile from the given inch. The investor allegedly from the blues,twenty plus years showed up and claimed the source of livelihood of Kenyan already trying to pick up the pieces of a rough year since last. This would have been acceptable before the mechanics eyes were it that a Kenyan was claiming ownership although I doubt they would have let it go easily.You must have guessed it by now that a foreigner is the storm in the tea cup and his guise doesn't help much to quell the phobias that are inbound today.Many ordered out the premises claim to have earned advance right of ownership as stipulated in the Land laws and ordinances of Kenya. The alleged developer wants to build a mosque there and has even marshaled the Islamic leaders and organization to his side to make sure that his plans fulfills scenario is not unique to Kenya alone even though the Grogan land dispute seems to touch a nerve,despite a further 4000 hectares along the Tana river delta leased to Qatar for farming sugar cane last year.Uganda has sold enough to Egypt and Tanzania of all the African countries has heaved off tracks to the Chinese. Ethiopia has the Saudis to thank and Madagascar's controversial deal viewed as a tussled bone between South Korean company Daewoo, provided the best catalyst for the presidential take over that shocked the Indian ocean island only this year.Sudan has probably sold the most land to foreigners than the East African countries put together have.
Africans bear a natural bond with their land and only death can separate it from them actually walking on it and becoming part of it. Land is a very sensitive matter and touches a chord of many leaders who having come to power dish out tracks reserved for administrative purposes as appreciatory token to loyalists.This does not nonetheless underplay the the fact that due to this irregular allocations of lands, Africa stands at the vague of acute desertification due to dwindling water catchment areas and irregular rainfall. Consequently because of the trees coverage destructions Africa has 2% of forest cover remaining as we speak, this means two trees remain where were had a hundred.
Coupled with all these problems Africa cannot afford to lease land to capitalist corporations even if it is to revert the dangers of hunger and malnutrition while thinking of an utopia-like win win scenario as the world leading economies are seriously restructuring from fossil oils to bio-fuels at the same time reaching out to fill the own food baskets. Africa cannot just sit back and get re-colonized all over again!We have seen the re-emergence of more or less of the scramble for Africa of 1800s by the Arabs,The Chinese and the Europeans threatening to repeat itself echoing these prophetic words "Africa will never be free.." We are not advocating racial hatred, war neither nor any form of oppression.
But.
The question now at hand is; will we just stick it out and fight later on when our backs are against the wall?
References and links:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/land-grab-the-race-for-the-worlds-farmland-1677852.html
Photograph link:
www.spraguephoto.com
Posts
