By Dr. David Matsanga in London
This is one of my last articles this year on Peace in Africa. I have always insisted that peace is the only asset that humanity can enjoy even when there is plenty of poverty in Africa. It is true that Africa needs peace in order to grow its economy and eradicate poverty.
It is my pleasure as a conflict resolution expert to state that any form of dialogue in Africa that is not anchored on redemption strategy is bound to fail. You can ask any God and the answer will be the same.
On a number of occasions, I have been asked what it means. My humble explanation is that Redemption Strategy is a healing process that encompasses, truth telling, accountability, reconciliation, forgiveness, reparations, and restitution that leads to peace.
The bold truth is that one can’t go to table for dialogue when one is angry. One must first tell his or her heart that they are ready to forgive and move on. This forms what is called a redemption strategy which is always the hinge and cornerstone of any peace process in the world.
There is this hidden agenda of sponsoring opposition in Africa so as to create a peace process where biased international NGOs use humanitarian systems to subject African countries to further strangulation. These NGOs create jobs for the Western world through tedious negotiations which I don’t endorse at all.
The type cheap foreign diplomacy conducted by mainly USA after a dispute in African countries is the danger we must reject. If you frequently follow most.
Post elections violence in Africa you find that there are no political institutions to bring warring political parties to table.
This is a colonial design. It is colonial method to allow Africans to die first then come in when they have died to convene peace talks. To me that doctrine has been very dangerous toxins. It continues to divide African nations on the same reasons of the conflict.
Take the case of Nigeria where almost every institution has collapsed but USA and Britain are silent. The amount of internal strife in Nigeria is beyond is left to God to intervene.
Almost every part of Nigeria needs dialogue in order survive. The worst is South East where the killings have taken place for years.
Then these same nations in the Western world use their international humanitarian organizations that often contended with dilemmas to milk Africa more. The aid agencies we see in the West are somehow responsible for mess in Africa .
These types of strategies are the most useless in resolving conflicts in Africa. Most nations in Africa are historically ill-equipped to resolve conflicts.
There are countries in Africa where things fall apart every five years of during and after elections. This is because of cheap alien democracy whose alien values are not to African.
The Western world wants Africa to conduct democratic elections. Africa is just 67 years after political Independence. How will Africa that has no Social contract conduct free, fair and transparent elections?
Our elections cannot be compared to the ones in the metros of Europe which have nurtured their democracy for over 1000 years. That is why our still have violence. That is why ours have protests.
That is why ours create conflicts after every five years. I tell you that in most African nations it is difficult to have peace. This is why we have belligerent opposition leaderships that opposes every outcome of this sham concept of the so called-democracy in Africa.
The truth also, is that there are bad actors in the Western world that arm opposition in Africa with wrong political doctrines and principles. The like of Chamisa where George Soros OSF funds regime change in Zimbabwe.
Despite all the chaos there must be three elements in-humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. In most so-called democratic institutions in Africa the above tenets are missing-hence conflicts in Africa.
The current accountability practices within the international sponsored opposition systems tend to focus on the targets of human mass organizations rather than on those affected by unseen conflict. Look at what is happening in Darfur – and Sudan in General. It shows how the NGOs are killing Africa.
As an Expert of conflict resolution, I know that the processes that utilizes structured ethical decision-making frameworks can improve the decision-making capacity of any human organizations.
To mediate a such a conflict, you must ensure that critical factors that influence possible outcomes are considered. The case of dialogues done in Africa after disputed elections. If they don’t have the will to a redemption strategy, it always collapses.
This final note of the year requests both opposition and governments of Africa to respond to rejections of the colonial humanitarian doctrines and adapt an ethical decision-making process of accountability in their systems.
To avoid more bloodshed and waste of resources in Africa we must change the narrative and use a redemption strategy as core of our governance.
We must have the three tenets namely IMPARTIALITY, NEUTRALITY, INDEPENDENCE enshrined in our INSTITUTIONS.
Happy XMAS and New Year
Thanks
19.12.2023
London
The writer is a Pan Africanist based in London, Political scientist & International Relations expert, studied conflict Resolution, a member of Royal African Society (RAS) Founder /Chairman Pan African Forum (UK)Ltd @MatsangaDr
