A TAKE ON SOME SEEMINGLY FOREIGN PROMOTED ISSUES LIKE ABORTION, FGM, GAY/LESBIANISM AND WESTERN DEVELOPMENT MODELS (Version 02).
I ponder why African leaders sometimes don’t ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’. They always like to ignite unnecessary trouble with their people!!
For instance, why do they accept ban on female circumcision that has been practiced for centuries in many parts of Africa. They allow foreigners and their local agents to disrespectfully dubbed this traditional practice as female genetal mutilation (FGM). There has never been trouble with traditional female circumcision without outside foreign interference. Then suddenly beginning during the World Bank/IMF created economic crisis for the continent in the 1980s to present some foreign players, especially from the West, with their local agents without any iota of respect for Africa’s cultural life style came and started lecturing us in the continent that the act of female circumcision is barbaric and inhumane therefore dubbing it FGM!! They completely demonised the practice, beyond its benefits and what really it means as an African cultural value. One of the most ridiculous arguments in their anti-FGM thesis is that the practice degrade the African women’s health, sexual and reproductive performance, including the chances of child bearing, due to body wound scar and the use of unhygienic primitive instruments!! Am sure nobody complained about it to them; could it be our beggers parading the international arena in search of free money to steal? But contradictingly enough, the same people have asserted in many research study reports that African women have the highest fertility rate averaged at 6% in the world. How could this have been possible if Africans (men and women) with female circumcision are not enjoying sex and with poor reproductive performance? But either out ofignorance or desperate search for free money and job the African elite authorities and foreign agents are busy pushing down the throat of their people, using pittance incentives and coercive policies and laws.
Same thing for abortion. They say it’s good for the good health and human rights of the African woman disguised in the label ‘safe motherhood’. But what about the religious and moral aspect of it if not for which protection they the very promoters wouldn’t have been in existence. Who told these covert or overt operating foreigners and their local agents that safe motherhood practice has not been ongoing for centuries in most parts of Africa? For instance, in my Kuranko culture they use ‘preventive charm’ against unwanted pregnancy and ‘native herb’ to abort troublesome pregnancy, especially if assessed as a threat to the woman’s life. And modern form of abortion is optionally anonymously on-going but they say it’s unsafe and violate women’s rights.So it’s a lecture and legislation issue for the primitive Africans who don’t know what is good for themselves!!
The same goes for gay/lesbianism. It’s considered immoral and frown upon in most African cultures. But they promote gay/lesbianism among the African people who dislike it because it is not part of their life style. Why do they frown on polygamy that is an integral part of the African life style or don’t legally allow it in their own countries? Is this what is called human rights?
And why for all these ‘much less priority issues’ they are legislating and enforcing dangerous and harmful laws and policies for poor innocent African people in the guise of promoting rights? This is the reason I ponder why African elite leaders are igniting unnecessary trouble for themselves with their people. I strongly believe it’s sometimes better for them to ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’.
It’s the same story with Africa’s economic development. They (development partners – DFIs,Bi-laterals, Multi-laterals, INGOs etc ) are reluctant to support Africa’s productive infrastructure (irrigation, industrial water and electricity, ports, railways and roads, etc.) to kick-start our agricultural mechanisation and manufacturing industrialization as engine for economic growth, food self-sufficiency, job creation and prosperity. Instead they support ruinous policy reforms that destroy and further detiorate these crucial productive sectors.
But this is exactly the neocolonial conspiracy agenda trick at work in Africa. They always knowingly deliberately channel the African efforts in the wrong direction and prescribe wrong solution to African problem.
Now for the sake of God if they (foreign interests and local agents) say female circumcision and polygamy are bad but abortion and gay/lesbianism are good, but are they in tune with or have respect Africa’s cultural life style? A people’s culture is their identity. When lost they have lost identity. There is always the need to build upon and improve culture as the society’s civilization progresses with time. But it’s dangerous to destroy it and extinct your identity as a member of the human race. Why are they (foreign interests) preserving their own cultures but destroying ours in Africa? If they claim our African cultural practices are bad why not support us to improve upon them? Who told them improving female circumcision facilities and equipment to make the practice more safe is bad? Why can’t they support Africa to research and promote its tradional herbs to prevent and/or abort unwanted pregnancy and unsafe pregnancy? Simultaneously, they can assist to develop better safe abortion facilities in the communities where optional safe abortion can be done. Why can’t they leave alone and be quiet about gay/lesbianism as President Museveni is insisting for his own people but instead they insist to impose on Afrcans who frown upon it? Why don’t they promote a very powerful social problem solving polygamy that is largely practiced and appreciated in Africa? Why don’t they legally allow Africans to practice polygamy in their own countries if they are talking about rights when gay/lesbianism is resisted in Africa?
It’s also similar thing for our economic development. Why Western Governments with their controlled international development partners (DFIs like WB/IMF etc.) are reluctant to invest in Africa’s productive infrastructure to kick-start agricultural mechanisation and industrialization as engine for growth, job and prosperity? If they do reluctantly invest, the investments are mostly microprojects that never get completed or if completed with very limited outreach and impact!! Instead they miseducate and misdirect Africans for the wrong things!!
Look for example in 2000/2001 when doing my first postgraduate program in Europe, one day a professor of an international reputation in development economics lectured our class on ‘population and development in Africa’. His key summary message was ‘overpopulation/rapid population growth cause underdevelopment in Africa and the solution is population control’. I was opportune to counter his population-underdevelopment thesis. I supported my argument with Africa’s share of less than 800 million people out of the 6 billion population of the world in 2000/2001. I further drew attention to Netherlands’ total land area of 13, 000 square miles with 16 million people and GDP of USD 432 billion compared to Sierra Leone’s total land area 28,000 square miles with 5 million people and GDP of USD 1 billion in 2000/2001. So I emphasized Africa’s underdevelopment must be due to some root-causes like the lack of agricultural mechanisation and industrialization. And that with these fixed growth, job and prosperity will set in to wipe out the superficial problems like population, hunger, health, education, environment etc. The astonished learned professor mumbled his response to my counter thesis but he became one of my closest academic friends until his recent demise (RIP) in 2023.
Again, I was in 2008 at INTAN, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a short professional course (during the regime of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi while the present Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was in detention) during which program my eyes were opened to the great transformative work of the immediate past legendary Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad who transformed Malaysia to what it’s today. I was excited that Tun Mahathir Mohamad (a medical doctor by profession) never religiously followed the the prescriptive Western Development Models (particularly from the Bretton Wood Institutions – WB/IMF etc.). He rather innovated and religiously followed a home-grown Hybrid Development Model in tune with Malaysia’s culture and development needs and aspirations done by the country’s National Development Institute in close collaboration with all sector MDAs.They produced 5-Year Development Plans subject to period annual reviews depending on changing circumstances. Policies and laws that support the strict implementation of the development plans are put in place and strictly monitored and enforced under the close watch of the charismatic visionary Prime Minister Tun Mahathir. Any partner development assistance (in whatever form or kind) that’s not in tandem with the country’s development needs and aspirations as outlined in the national development plans is either fine-tune to to fit-in or politely rejected with no confrontation.This made Malaysia one of five Asian Tigers. During our INTAN program cohort’s course completion farewell courtesy visit to the Prime Minister’s (Badawi) Office in Putrayaya (Government City) where we were given lectures with opportunity to ask questions or make contributions. I boldly asked the Prime Minister directly ‘How does the government deals with development partners (WB/IMF, Bi-laterals,Multi-laterals, INGOs, CSs etc.)?. And his answer was very short and clear ‘We encourage and work with those that bring true development but reject and ask out of our country the fake and trouble makers’.
So can our African leaders have the gut to adopt similar progressive nationalistic development approach/model against the odds of too much external dependency, stealing, tempting brown envelope and fear of regime change?
The answer is a double edge one. It is ‘No’ on one hand due to the lack of visionary leaderships, too much stealing, too much tempting brown envelope, and fear of regime change. On the other hand its ‘Yes’ as for a less than handful examplery visionary leaderships in the continent who are boldly taking control of their resources, cutting off the chain of too much external dependency, seriously combating state stealing, resisting tempting brown envelope, and shedding off the fear of regime change.
But if African leaders cannot pursue progressive development then they must at least ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’ on issues that put them in conflict with their people, especially if they are of less priorities. There is no need for African leaders to be igniting unnecessary conflicts with their populations over less priority issues such as abortion, female circumcision, gay/lesbianism etc. in the guise of rights protection.If encouraged they would one day ask us to slaughter all our elders as aid conditionality or something more serious than that. There are more urgent priority areas to channel efforts than the issues of abortion, FGM, and gay/lesbianism etc. African leaders must learn to feel confident to be bold enough to say no to any development partner assistance (in whatever form or kind) that doesn’t fit-in with their peoples’ culture, needs and development aspirations.
I.B. Kandeh
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