I Am My Brother’s Keeper

I WRITE this piece in light of the tragic crisis at the Horn of Africa that has descended into one the most embarrassing and threatening problems in terms of image-damage faced by the African continent. Somalia is one of the most dangerous and lawless places in the world, it is a country that has not had effective government since 1991, when President Mohamed Siad Barre was over¬thrown in a coup.

The country is in turmoil and is mostly governed by militia and warlords who have no apparent regard for the lives of their fellow Somalis. The most troubling thing about the crisis is not the mass deaths as a result of starvation and war, it is not the state of anarchy, it is not the dangerous domination of seas by warlords and pirates off the coast of the country, it is not the intense suffering that the peo¬ple of that country are subjected to. It is the relative passivity and lack of importance that the crisis and the country has been given on the African and world stage.

While crises in Zimbabwe, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan have been given premium focus in the media and at major world leadership conferences, Somalia has only recently been given attention due to the surge in the hijacking of ships off the coast of the country that has seen ships from various countries captured and held to ransom. Thabo Mbeki enjoyed praise across this continent mainly due to his initiation of the African Renaissance, which was founded on the premise of placing more emphasis on Africa helping itself and a broader scope being placed on inter-regional trade and development. Where is that concern with regards to a fellow African state in dire need of assistance? Apart from a failed American humanitarian mission in 1993, there have been no attempts to save Somalia from the tribalism and ethnic factionalism that have torn the country apart and thrown innocent people into the jaws of starvation and chaos.

There is a disease of dependence that plagues this continent: it is a dependence on Western powers to solve our own issues. When Kenya went into crisis last year, the strongest criticism came from the West and initial steps to negotiating a settlement were taken by America before Kofi Annan stepped in and helped to reach a settlement. When Zimbabwe began its land invasions and Mugabe stepped up his vitriolic rhetoric campaign against white landowners and people in general, the strongest condemnations and punitive measures came from the West. There is an arcane belief in Africa that the problems experienced by a fellow African state are the affairs of the people in that state. This is a belief that may have been acceptable and prudent years ago but when children and people are dying of starvation and being subjected to heinous acts we must feel a common obligation to do something. What else is the point of the AU or the African community? Albert Camus once said, “Perhaps this is a world in which children suffer, but we can lessen the number of suffering children; if you do not do this, who will do this?”

Thus African people and countries must do all they can to rein in the terror and violence that continues to engulf Somalia and neighboring Sudan and live up to the Latin saying that goes e pluribus Unum: “out of many, one.” This saying sums up the attitude that African people and states should take towards their fellow continent-dwellers: after all we are one continent, and by implication, one people.

Written by Tatenda Goredema

Tatenda Goredema is the Deputy Editor of Varsity Newspaper