Did lady luck forsake Africa? The African continent over the past few years has been deemed to be the continent with the most ‘potential’ in the world. However, a number of factors such as lack of development, poverty, undemocratic regimes, political unrest and misguided leadership have led to the stagnant economic growth of the continent. In southern Africa alone where a lot seems to have changed in the case of the socioeconomic structures, one would not be judged for posing these questions: “Is there a jinx, is lady luck not on our side or perhaps Africa is just a cursed continent?” I nevertheless refuse to believe our everyday challenges cannot be met. Failed leadership can pave the way for new and fresh ideas and Africa can stand on its own two feet just like any forward-looking continent. The evaluation of most southern African countries is that after two decades into independence, the countries begin to slowly fail their society, non-governmental organisations and the civil society begin to be silenced. A variety of examples can be drawn from countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo who seem to be going in the same direction. The common denominator in the case of all these countries mentioned above, besides Zambia, is that all these countries have been ruled by the same political parties since independence.
The southern tip of the continent of Africa is still being ruled by one-party state with a very slim chance of any opposition parties taking over the reins anytime soon. Another question that can be asked is: “Is this the reason why Africa is struggling to keep pace with the rest of the world?” The jinx does not apply to the three countries Mauritius, Botswana and Namibia which are amongst Africa’s most peaceful nations. The contrary sadly finds Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo amongst the poorest countries on the continent. The jinx has hopes of coming back in the case of South Africa whose economy is rapidly crumbling and misguided leadership with scandals like the Nkandla matter, repeatedly popping up. The tough reality that we have to face as Africans is that we have incompetent leaders and that our ruling elite are good at policy formulation but that they perform dismally at policy implementation. They draft the best of policies and put in the worst of performance.
Is it fate for African countries to deteriorate after some 60-odd years after Sudan and Ghana’s independence? Some will argue that even after we Africans got freedom from the colonial powers we still do not have power over our means of production which is sadly true regardless of how fierce we can choose to deny the evidence. Regardless of the colonial powers which we keep blaming for the ills that we face decades after independence, it is about time we look at ourselves and see what we as Africans are doing wrong.
Is it a syndrome that Africans are fond of voting the wrong men into the right places? Is there a memo sent out to African presidents on how not fulfill the promises they make before they get into office? The irony in all this is that even as a liberation struggle party or an opposition party, the reality remains that the civil society in Africa still suffers. African leaders say they fought against oppression but yet they come back and oppress the same people they fought with, and for.
Politics of the belly is something that we Africans should never accept and it must be brought to a premature end if we are to succeed. We claim to live on a continent with the most potential yet from Bangui to Kinshasa and now to Libreville, war, corruption and famine are the order of the day. Is there a way to change to this? Or is it something that we have to accept that no matter how many years after independence, that we as Africans shall never control the means of production and the fate and stature of our economies.
Yes, there may be or they may not be a jinx but I believe that a jinx can be stopped and the African continent can pick itself up and head towards the direction of self-reliance.
*Farai Munoriarwa is a fourth year student studying towards a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Political and Media Studies (Honours) at the University of Namibia.