Africans, manage your resources with dignity

Mmegi Editor | Thursday April 28, 2016 10:27

The list is endless as it includes unfair trade practices with developed countries, aid that usually has strings attached, and constant economic threats by international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, World Trade Organisation, and others that hold world economic power. It is a fact that Africa cannot be isolated from the international community and she has to enter into international agreements, has to follow international practices, and has to comply with international law.

However, it baffles the mind sometimes to read how some of our African brothers would go an extra mile to contradict their position on international issues. Just a few months ago, the African Union (AU) was at loggerheads with the International Criminal Court (ICC) after two of its sitting presidents Omar Al Bashir and Uhuru Kenyatta were indicted for charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kenyatta’s charges were in connection with the 2007 post election violence that claimed around 1,000 lives and displacing thousands of others.

At its Summit in 2014, the AU resolved to suspend its membership from the ICC on grounds that the court was only targeting African presidents. They ignored the fact that it was the African presidents who voluntarily appended their signatures to the Roman Statute that established the court. Later, in April 2016, the charges against Kenyatta were withdrawn, which is welcome.

However, it boggles the mind that some African countries, including, Kenya and, have pledged to burn their ivory stockpiles, perhaps to prove to the world that they do not condone elephant poaching and to send a clear message to poachers. It is unfortunate that the people from which land these elephants originate live in extreme poverty in the name of conservation. A good example is our beloved Botswana where people in elephant populated areas are poor and even unable to produce food for themselves. The Okavango and Chobe areas, for instance, are home to large herds of elephants, but the people are poor. It is our view that ivory, confiscated from poachers, or collected in the wild as a result of natural death should be sold to the right consumers, through proper channels.

The revenue collected should be reinvested in uplifting the lives of the people who co-exist with these animals. Such could be paying for their education, availing resources for them to intensify their conservation skills and other endeavours. It is against this background that we feel the burning of elephant tasks by the three countries was ill advised and that there were other options that could have benefitted the very people who co-existed with these animals for centuries. Developed countries benefit from their technological advances and we should benefit from our conservation efforts.

Today’s thought

“The decision to destroy ivory stockpiles aims to deter consumer demand, illegal ivory trade and elephant poaching. Its effectiveness is a matter for each country to determine for itself. We cannot burn the shame associated with this and just hope it will disappear with the smoke.”

 

-Ministry of  Enviroment  Wildlife and Tourism