Former President Jerry John Rawlings has ended a 6-day visit to the Republic of Namibia from 10th to 16th September, 2014. He was in Namibia at the invitation of the Pan Afrikan Centre of Namibia (PACON) and hosted by the Right Honourable Dr. Hage Geingob, the Prime Minister of Namibia. The former President delivered the Keynote Address at a seminar organized by the Centre of Namibia (PACON) on the theme, “Africa Rising”.
The seminar, which took place at the Windhoek Country Club and Resort on Friday, 12th September, 2014, was highly patronized with political leaders, academics, diplomats, civil society organizations, traditional rulers, students and the general public attending.
Former President Rawlings took his audience through a wide ranging exposé of the African condition and suggested that Africa must not remain silent in a unipolar world dominated by the US and the West. He mentioned the crisis in Ukraine and said Africa must side with President Putin of Russia. On the Israel-Palestine conflict, he highlighted the plight of the Palestinians, which he said must engage Africa more. He said that while current economic statistics showed that Africa was on the rise, the reality on the ground proved otherwise for which reason he called on African leaders with integrity not to remain silent in the face of oppression and injustice.
At the same seminar, Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was honoured with the PACON Posthumous Pan-African Icon Award for 2014. It was received on behalf of the Nkrumah family by His Excellency Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Harruna Attah, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the Republic of Namibia. Earlier laureates include: 2013 – Patrice Émery Lumumba the Congolese independence leader and the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, in 2013,
2012 – Stephen Bantu Biko the anti-apartheid activist of South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s;
2011 – Jackson Kaujeua a Namibian musician, composer and gospel singer, and a veteran of the Namibian war of independence.
In a short acceptance speech, the High Commissioner informed the audience that in a telephone conversation with Hon. Samia Nkrumah, the late President’s daughter regarding the Award she had expressed the family’s feeling of honour and pride, as well as confirmation of their late father’s status as an African, not only Ghanaian . He took the opportunity to thank the Namibian Government for naming an avenue after the Dr Kwame Nkrumah in Windhoek where the current Residency of Ghana High Commission is sited.
Former President Rawlings, who was accompanied by his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman -Rawlings and two of his children, paid courtesy calls on H. E President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, Dr. Hage Geingob and Founding President, Sam Nujoma of Namibia. He was also a guest of honour at the 90th birthday celebrations of Hon. Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, one of the most revered leaders of the Namibian struggle for Independence.
Attached is the full text of the Keynote Address:
ADDRESS BY H.E. FLT LT JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA ON THE OCCASION OF A SEMINAR THEMED “AFRICA RISING” HOSTED BY THE PAN AFRICAN CENTRE OF NAMIBIA – WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA
12 SEPTEMBER 2014
Right Honourable Hage Geingob, Prime Minister of Namibia,
Honourable Speaker of Parliament Theo-Ben Gurirab,
Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Marco Hausiku,
Chairperson of PACON, Comrade Victor Tonchi,
Comrade Nangolo Mbumba, General Secretary of SWAPO,
Comrade Maureen Hinda, Vice-Chairperson of PACON
Ministers of State present,
Comrades in the Struggle,
Members of the Diplomatic Corp,
Members of the Ghanaian Community,
Members of the media,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Allow me to express my gratitude to Prime Minister Hage Geingob and the government and people of Namibia as well as the organisers of this seminar, PACON, for the opportunity to visit your beautiful country again and to address this annual seminar dedicated to perpetuating the fire of Pan Africanism that swept through the continent decades ago.
Today’s event is especially significant as Namibia approaches her Silver Jubilee of Independence.
I also note with some sadness that today marks the birthday of Steve Biko, fighter for justice who paid the ultimate price in defence of truth, justice and freedom. It is significant that PACON celebrates every September the lives of both Biko and Ghana’s Dr Kwame Nkrumah. We should also be calling this day the day of truth.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
The theme for this seminar is “Africa Rising”. Is this a statement of fact or is it an expression of hope?
They say colonialism is dead, yet an unjust world economic order still puts Africa at a disadvantage.
African nations are independent and have the institutions of democracy – parliaments, elected representatives, judicial systems, etc. – yet to what extent are these mere facades which do not touch the lives of our people in a meaningful way?
African economies have grown, some of them at spectacular rates, yet the gap between rich and poor continues to widen. We are endowed with the highest percentage of untapped natural resources but our rural poor still live under abysmal conditions.
Many Africans have access to formal education yet the quality of that education varies widely from place to place and according to the social class of the child.
Corruption continues to drain our national economies at all levels. Money, which should be used to help our rural farmers to become more productive or to provide decent shelter and basic infrastructure for our urban poor, leaks and bleeds into the pockets and bank accounts of the greedy and undeserving.
With the attainment of independence, the energy with which we fought against an external enemy is all too often diverted to internal conflict between ethnic groups, religions or rival political groups. And significantly many of such conflicts are instigated, influenced and fuelled by external forces that feed money and weapons in their quest to monopolise and manipulate our resources to their selfish benefit.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I could continue with this depressing litany of all the negative factors, which erode the advances, which Africa has undoubtedly made. But what would that achieve?
Perhaps we can take a long look at the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, who grew up and practiced law in Africa before he returned to India to lead the struggle for self-government in that sub-continent.
His slogan of swaraj means two things. First, it has the obvious meaning of self-government or independence from colonial rule. But it also means government of the individual’s self, in other words, self-discipline or the control of selfish desires.
It is the natural wish of any human being to be able to provide for his or her family and live in peace and security. To this extent, we are all selfish to some degree. But whilst nobody should begrudge another’s wealth earned by honest work and endeavour, it is wrong for individuals to advance their own interests at the cost of the rights of others and to the detriment of society.
Distinguished participants:
All the ingredients, which are necessary for Africa to truly rise – governance, prudent management, accountability, efficient administration, sustainable development, etc. – depend on trust. And trust can only be earned by integrity.
Ladies and gentlemen:
I know that we have men and women of proven integrity of the highest order and I am sure that the great majority of our people are not inherently corrupt.
However, when corruption has infiltrated our society, it requires courage and determination on the part of individuals with credibility to avoid being drowned in the abyss.
Is it possible to have a moral revolution?
It is certainly not easy, but it must be our aim if all the good things about Africa and all the progress we have made, are not to be eroded.
I have said at various forums that the wholesale importation of the Western form of democracy has impacted rather negatively on our culture and society and created a competitive political structure that is alien to us.
The primary challenge for democracies in Africa is our failure to acknowledge the inherent flaws of Western Democracy and encourage a system of democracy on our continent that is dynamic, home grown and imbued with the socio-cultural backgrounds of individual African states.
Many of our societies still look up to traditional authority for moral fortitude while our ‘imported’ democratic and secular leadership is seen unfortunately as synonymous to immorality and corruption. With such perceptions how do we expect our emerging democracies to evolve?
One of the biggest misconceptions in embracing Western multi-party democracy is the argument that it comes with economic progress.
Africa cannot rise if we ignore the historical and cultural dynamics we evolved from. I believe strongly in change as well as the need to modify some of our cultural attitudes but that perception equally applies to Western democracy when adapted to our continent.
I am happy that institutions such as PACON are keeping the fire of Pan Africanism burning. Do not allow it to become an exercise in futility.
It was a tragedy when in May 2013, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the pillars of the anti-Apartheid struggle, announced he was no longer going to vote for the ANC because of inequality, violence and corruption. He sadly questioned the capacity of the ANC to manage South Africa.
What Archbishop Tutu said was a reflection of the way multi-party democracy is working in some parts of Africa. Our continent has and continues to be plagued by instability, violence, intolerance and a host of other unfortunate incidents.
As new as South Africa was in gaining her independence, seeing where she was coming from and what had become of those of us who had gained independence earlier and what she was going to inherit – a country that had most of all the infrastructure in place and was virtually economically independent – It seemed too obvious that they will be the ones to offer a glimmer of hope, to rekindle and re-teach the rest of us how to manage multi-party democracy without the huge challenges that some of us had encountered elsewhere on the continent. Archbishop Tutu’s verdict sounded a death toll on how we had adopted the multi-party process without customizing it for our purposes – adapting it to fit into our socio-cultural and socio-political settings.
Institutions such as PACON have a moral responsibility to remain the beacon that not only remembers the struggle and perpetuates that memory but also serves as a think tank that guides the political leadership and the people, so Namibia carves a path of progress.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
One of my biggest heartbreaks is the failure of the African continent to carry a unified voice on global issues.
It is quite refreshing to note the resolve of most of the regional bodies such as ECOWAS and SADC to rapidly tackle problems that crop up in member countries.
The dictates of globalization means we cannot extricate ourselves from happenings elsewhere. When war and misfortune affect countries, the economic fallout spreads across the world and usually Africa with its frail economy, is hardest hit.
Developments in Ukraine since the removal of Viktor Yanukovych as President in February this year after the West supported protests over his refusal to join the EU, have exposed the dangerous precipice the unipolar control of the world by the West has taken us to.
The recent escalation of violence in Gaza is another sad reflection of the gross inequalities that still persist at global level. I spoke extensively on these issues at the University of Education in Ghana last month and I will reiterate much of what I said here.
Historically, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the brutality by the Apartheid South African government remained a blot on the conscience of the international community for a considerable period.
We cannot and should never forget that Mandela was not rescued by an American President or government, a British Prime Minister, monarchy or government. Long before Mandela’s release Africa and humanity the world over had been condemning the apartheid regime and calling for the release of Mandela and others.
Mandela, the freedom fighter and an advocate for racial equality had been branded a communist and a terrorist by the US government and was to remain incarcerated and may well have remained so, in spite of the global changes that were taking place perceptively towards a more democratic and just world.
No amount of international appeal the world over was going to affect any change in the American and British governments’ attitude.
However, the catalyst that triggered events leading up to the release of Nelson Mandela was when the citizens in the United States of America began to take to the streets in New York. Then and only then did President Reagan decide to pre-empt what could have turned out to be one of the biggest demonstrations that America and the UK were going to witness in relation to a foreign personality and some aspects of their own foreign policy.
President Mandela had by then and subsequently become the great international voice of conscience whose moral authority could galvanise people enough to override the authority of their own governments especially the Western governments responsible for his incarceration.
While Madiba was alive and a healthy President and I was also in office, President Zuma who was by then in charge of South Africa’s intelligence called on me. In a very sombre and sober moment I spoke to him about the need for us to do everything possible to protect President Mandela’s, African voice of conscience that spoke for humanity. The “savagery of capitalism” to quote Pope John Paul; the savagery of the emerging global economic impunity was going to feel threatened by that noble voice of freedom and justice.
Several years down the line as my wife Nana and I sat with Madiba during one of our visits, I suggested to him the need to put together a group of very bold and outspoken statesmen and women of conscience to project his voice and what we all stand for.
Today the world is being made to believe that the American public is finally beginning to change its opinions on the brutal treatment of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis in their conflict. Since history has demonstrated that the voice of the world cannot change America’s position on this issue, can we expect that the voice of American citizens will bring enough pressure to bear on their government to bring true freedom and justice to the Palestinians as they did with Apartheid South Africa?
Several weeks ago when President Obama was speaking at his usual White House press briefing on developments in Ukraine and Gaza he expressed so much sympathy for those who lost their lives in the Malaysian air crash in Ukraine and yet within that same breath he made mention of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and not a word for all the innocent women and children who were being killed and injured in the Gaza. I watched in dismay.
This was the same Obama that not only America but also the world welcomed with such warmth and comfort. In those days some of us felt that if he did not utilize his national and international strength and popularity to contain Israel’s grip on America then no one else could.
The collective voice of Africa and the one time strong voice of the Non-Aligned Movement have also gone silent on some of these international developments and injustices. Western Europe whose voice could also have been heard in these unjust international developments could only utter a muted response to the Snowden revelation of spying on world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Where is that voice of sobriety that could keep issues in a balanced perspective?
The Western governments and their media simply couldn’t exercise any restraint in the outrageous charges being levelled against Russia, Putin and the Ukrainian separatists. There was a daily barrage of these charges and all kinds of absurd accusations, clearly designed to make Putin and his country look evil. This tragedy took place in a war zone. The stresses of war and security alertness, creates an opening for men to indulge in excesses. I do not however believe that either side in the Ukrainian conflict would deliberately attempt to bring down a civilian airliner.
A few years ago, the US Navy fired a missile at an Iranian civilian airliner in the Persian Gulf, in a non-war zone, killing all 290 passengers on board – men, women and children.
Just like the Malaysian airliner, I do not believe that the US navy would knowingly down the civilian airliner.
It was unfortunate though that the Western media and governments were somewhat mute about that Iran Air incident until a Jewish–American reporter Ted Koppel exposed it.
Recently, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour true to her political nature and modus operandi recounts the downing of a South Korean passenger airliner by the Soviet Air Force. What she however isn’t saying is that on that September 11, 2001 on the day when the two airliners were flown into the Twin Towers by hijackers, the US Air Force was also given instructions to down any airliner that breached the rapidly created no-fly zones in Washington and New York. What she is also not saying is that the South Korean airliner had flown into Soviet airspace and had defied the instructions of the Soviet Air Force.
She is also reticent about the fact that prior to that tragedy, the US raised tensions in Eastern Europe by attempting to deploy intercontinental ballistic missiles in the then West Germany, targeting strategic targets within the Soviet Union. However, they ran into massive demonstrations by the German public and were therefore forced to abandon that exercise. Interestingly soon after the Korean Airliner incident the United States deployed the Intercontinental missiles and there was hardly any public protest from Germany because the Soviet Union was made to look evil by that unfortunate incident.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
The world is not unaware of the support offered by the West in ousting the previous President of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych in their aggressive bid to ensure that Ukraine joined the EU. We are also not oblivious to the fact that the West was keen to get rid of Yanukovych because of his association with the Kremlin.
Such conflicts come with condemnable but sometimes unavoidable collateral damage. Civilians are always victims of such conflicts hence our constant quest to check upheavals through negotiation, peace enforcement and peacekeeping. The lives of all citizens across the globe are invaluable. Even during wartime situations it is criminal to shoot down civilian aircraft and the perpetrators must be brought to book.
The current conflict between Pro-Western Ukraine and Pro-Russia Ukraine has led to hundreds of deaths. The government in Kiev has over the past few months mounted heavy attacks on the Pro-Russia side leading to severe civilian casualties. Is it not such a contradiction that the Pro-Western media has been muted on details of the heavy civilian casualties that have arisen from the Ukraine conflict since the onslaught by Kiev?
It is indeed a pity that Russia’s attempt to convey relief items to Ukraine was met with negativity from Kiev and the West, branding it as a ploy to transport weapons to secessionist groups. That was the most inhumane and criminally insensitive posture the West could have taken. When Russia suggested a ceasefire in Donetsk in early August she was rebuffed and accused of using the request as a pretext to invade that territory.
With the support of its unapologetic media the West has managed to criminalise all quests for freedom across the globe as long as such desires are not in its favour. Genuine freedom fighting is also now equated to cold-blooded acts of terrorism.
We cannot overlook the huge collateral damage caused by drone strikes for instance. A widely circulated UK report confirmed that, as at January there had been over 390 drone strikes over the past five years with 2400 casualties. The West refers to it as war on terrorism but the question is how does one justify the hundreds of civilian deaths that have arisen as a result of such strikes?
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza led to over 2100 deaths, 11,100 wounded and more than 300,000 displaced persons. Whole families were wiped out but not once did the United States or its allies seek to treat Israel’s disproportionate response to Hamaz’s rocket strikes as an act of unbridled aggression and terror.
United States is a great nation with many credits to its name but its reticence over Israel, has been costly not just in terms of lives but to America’s image.
The situation in Iraq has deteriorated over the past few months and there is no doubt that the intervention by the West only created a superficial sense of order that was bound to disintegrate with time. The situation in Afghanistan is not any better.
The first signal of the real nature of those who were being financed to overthrow Syria’s Assad was when we saw video footage in May 2013 of one of these men cutting open another man’s chest, pulling out his heart and appearing to eat it! The barbaric acts, which we are witness to today, are simply an escalation of what was already inherently in the making.
The unipolar authority created by the collapse of the Soviet Union brought in its wake a sense of hope that the absence of tensions between the United States and Soviet Union will bring peace and sanity into world affairs. The West has failed miserably and directed us into a dangerous curve.
President Carter, the former President of the United States of America has himself indicted his country when he said America has abandoned the moral high ground.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
America has done a lot for mankind. A lot more will be required of her but she will first and foremost have to seize and regain the moral high ground that won it respect across the globe.
The innate sense of global right and wrong suffered a severe blow during the Iraq invasion by Bush and Blair.
In one fell swoop, the right of might was made to supersede and almost destroy the sacred might of right.
No one must be allowed to forget that was a pivotal moment – the moment of the unipolar power being audaciously exerted and we in Africa suffered the consequences most harshly as some of our governments on the continent decided to take the cue from America’s behaviour.
Prior to the invasion of Iraq, Dick Cheney who was then Secretary of Defence in Bush Snr’s government said: “America’s interests supersede issues of morality.”
As individual countries they have preserved the essence of moral values but in their dealings in other countries their interests are what count not the morals of greater society.
Did it have to take President Carter’s words of the USA losing its moral high ground to give credence to this reality? We have known it all along, we have lived it, but it appears that our words have little value, so let us use his words.
There are glaring examples of the callousness of certain developed countries.
In trying to contain Gadhafi’s threat, NATO had ‘degraded’ Gadhafi’s forces enough to have pushed for a political solution on his country that could have included him within or outside of a new political or administrative structure, but no! He had to be flushed out, to be killed like a dog; dehumanized by his haters.
The ousting of Saddam Hussein subsequently ended up looking more like an occupation rather than a force for freedom. The number of innocent people, who were killed as well as the subsequent hanging of Saddam and the way it was done, looked more like a case of vengeance rather than the pursuit of justice. And talking about justice, when America decided to pursue those perceived to be responsible for September 11, the language of justice suddenly disappeared from the mouths of Western statesmen and women.
From President Bush right across to Mrs Clinton, the language was “we will hunt and kill” not “hunt and bring to justice.”
In some parts of the world where the institutions and administration of justice are so weak, this was an open licence to continue to kill or to continue killing, and my country was no exception.
During that suspenseful moment of the display of power as they entered Iraq, Bush and Blair literally gave marching orders to two West African Presidents to visit Zimbabwe and literally ask the President to abdicate his office. But the heads of the SADC region walked them out.
Having failed to achieve the objective against President Mugabe, Charles Taylor who was then living in Nigeria with President Obasanjo became the next convenient target.
Africa also sat and watched France misuse UN troops to oust a patriot out of Ivory Coast.
Ladies and gentlemen:
All Africa is asking for, is the boldness to defy that, which is wrong and is an affront to our sovereign African right and authority. Unfortunately, a few too many of us on this continent have allowed the West, with their double standards to intimidate us. If they were intimidating us from a position of right, that would be easier to tolerate. There is a loss of international morality and values. There is a monetization of morality.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We seem to have forgotten so soon, that countries such as Soviet Union and China were the ones who assisted us the most in the liberation struggles. We have by virtue of some perceived common wealth tied ourselves to the economies of the same colonial masters in a very disadvantageous relationship. And yet the Soviet Union and China were the very countries who trained so many of our medical doctors, engineers, pilots, teachers and other professionals.
Surely, at a time like this Africa’s voice should be heard in support of Russia. I would like to emphasize that this is not a case of blind loyalty, but rather offering solidarity to a country that is now suffering at the hands of the same unethical and immoral unipolar world order.
Russia is doing exactly what they the West have done, securing her geographical and security related entities and the lives of her citizens. What extent will America not go to bring her power to bear in the protection of her citizens?
Did Putin offend the United States because of his position on Snowden when one of the fundamental pillars to our freedom is the right of privacy? None of the Western countries who were aware what the US did was wrong and were actually victims of the breach of sovereign privacy, was able to stand up in defence of what is right on the Snowden issue. It was Russia who stood up to and refused to submit to the bullying antics of the United States.
Africa has been so badly disempowered! Corporate entities have assimilated us and while they may have so much power that power does not override the political authorities of their respective countries. And they cannot because the people’s power in those countries are intact and very capable of expressing outrage. But our political power is being subordinated to the extent that we cannot make our voices heard when glaring acts of injustice are being perpetrated by our Western friends.
We have a massive responsibility to restore morality in those superpowers lest they become completely unconscionable. Our governments and leaders’ silence threatens to entrench this new order of moral decay and injustice. The silence over issues of ethics and immorality will allow the situation to percolate to our citizenry who will then tragically perceive these wrongs as a norm.
Let us examine what we are describing as democracy or what we expect to see in the practice of democracy and whether true and genuine democracy is not under threat. America cannot be right or wrong only when she says so.
No Western president should position himself as to summon African leaders. International rules of diplomatic and political engagement are unambiguous about sovereign nations being one amongst equals, irrespective of how powerful or weak they may be.
I commend the Namibian political leadership for the way they have maintained a high level of integrity. That places on you the bigger responsibility to speak out.
Africa also has an opportunity to rise to the occasion. We have an opportunity to affect global developments if we can simply clean up our act and restore the core values of our societies – The values that preceded the advent of colonialism and the current neo-colonialism that has morphed into an insidious virus collapsing our foundations as a people.
Ladies and gentlemen, according to the statistics, Africa is rising, but while the figures may look good the wealth (and overall well being) is not evenly distributed. The rich are getting richer with no morals whilst the dignified live with their morals in poverty.
A rising continent looks after her own and we have an obligation to put in place structures that will ensure that the wealth does not trickle down but flows into the hands of the citizenry.
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentleman:
So long as the quest and the disease of human domination remains with us, so long should the human spirit also continue to defy wrongdoing and ill justice. The triumph of evil has had its way for too long.
I wish to say a hearty thank you to PACON for inviting me to address this occasion. It has been an honour and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
I also take this opportunity to offer belated birthday wishes to Herman Andimba Toivo ya Toivo who turned 90 last month. Congratulations comrade!
Before I conclude, my family expresses its sincere sympathies to the family of Aaron Mushimba who was laid to rest earlier today. We will pay our final respects to him before we depart Namibia. May the soul of our departed hero rest in peace.
Thank you and God bless you all.
