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John O'Shea, July 10th 2005, News of the World
In 28 years of travelling throughout Africa, in my role as Chief
Executive of GOAL, I have seen my share of starvation and deprivation.
Many millions have died during this period from lack of food –
in a world of plenty.
Curiously I have never seen a hungry soldier. Africa is awash with
prodigiously large armies. All well armed – and especially
well fed.
Some nations, among the poorest on the continent, can boast of
having more than 1 million men in uniform.
The fact that soldiers are invariably first to benefit from the
gift of donor food aid tells me something about the governance of
Third World nations.
So who benefits from the debt relief being agreed by the G8 at
Gleneagles? It certainly will not be the poorest of the poor –
the group who is most deserving.
The major beneficiaries are likely to be Swiss bankers and arms
dealers, the bulk of whom are based in the G8 nations.
It must surely be a cause of deep concern that at a meeting of
African leaders in Libya on Tuesday, those present made a series
of demands of the West, but steadfastly refused to support any moves
to improve governance on the continent.
In their joined statement the African leaders (many of whom are
among the biggest despots on the planet) requested total debt relief……a
fair trading system……donor nations to increase aid to
0.7% of their GDP by 2015.
Hardly surprisingly there was not a mention of President Mugabe’s
shameful treatment of his citizens in Harare…..nor of the
massacre on the streets of Addis Ababa last month by the Ethiopian
armed forces…..or of the Sudan’s Government’s
role of the deaths of 400,000 innocent people in Darfur.
Don’t be surprised if over the coming weeks if stories emerge
of large arms orders being placed with the G8 nations by corrupt
Third World Governments.
Now that they have additional funds at their disposal, the corrupt
tyrants will be quick to do what they do best – purchase arms
and train them on their own people and on their neighbours.
The mind boggles at the sheer stupidity of international community
in respect of their attitude towards the corruption problem which
is endemic in the Third World.
Consider this; corruption robs the people of the Third World each
year of a staggering $150 billion – yes, $150 billion.
That sort of money in honest hands could have saved many thousands
of vulnerable women and children.
But the West is not prepared to tackle the corruption problem.
Nor is the West prepared to take the other measures which would
unquestionably alleviate the suffering of the poor.
What’s needed most at the moment for the crying, pitiful
people of Northern Uganda, Congo and especially Darfur is protection
from the marauding killers.
The millions under threat here need UN soldiers to shield them
from the brutality and savagery of their own armies or from invading
sources.
In Northern Uganda 2 million lives are at risk; in the Congo 5
million have already died and 30,000 die every day, while in Darfur
the death toll has passed the 400,000 mark.
Because the Security Council cannot agree, peace keepers will not
be sent to Darfur for fear of hurting the feelings of China and
Russia.
Of course if the G8 were serious about making poverty history,
they would force the Swiss banks to reveal how many billions have
been stashed away in their vaults from Third World dictators. Tax
payer’s money which should have been used to brighten the
lives of the forgotten.
The G8 should also be prepared to trade fairly with the poor of
the Third World and to ban all arms sales.
But these are tough decisions and the G8 hasn’t the stomach
for such activity.
Instead the great leaders of the Western world, took the easy option
– relief of debt. The message going out to rank and file people
throughout the world who care is that by relieving the debt there
will be an immediate benefit to the poor.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Unless good honest governance
is in place, cash donations, however large, will have no meaningful
impact on the daily lives of people with nothing.
My fervent hope is that the Irish Government will one day find
the moral courage to end of government – government where
it is clear that the benefiting Third World Government is corrupt.
We let ourselves down badly as a nation recently when our Government
did not condemn unequivocally the shameful actions of the Ethiopian
armed forces on the streets of Addis.
Protestors who felt that the Presidential elections were rigged
took to the streets only to be met by an army prepared to shoot
them down in cold blood. 36 marches died and thousands were imprisoned.
Yet the Government which ordered this massacre will receive in
excess of €30 million of Irish tax payer’s cash this
year.
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