We burn rubbish, ivory is not rubbish!
Michael Dingake | Tuesday May 24, 2016 11:18
“We burn rubbish….Ivory is not rubbish!” Khama is alleged to have raised a resonant objection which hopefully will reverberate throughout the continent. Ivory, rubbish? For a long time I have been trying to make sense of the ostentatious ritual of burning elephant tusks in the name of deterring the crime of poaching for elephant tusks in African countries blessed with the majestic elephant.
I wondered who the originator of this bizarre policy is; whether the original advocate of the destruction of this valuable item was African, non-African, African lover or African hater. The ivory bonfire leapt high in Nairobi, Kenya, the land of the Burning Spear. Would Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, ‘The Burning Spear’ himself, have ordered or sanctioned it? I doubt very much whether the author of Facing Mount Kenya would have had anything to do with this consumption by fire! That it takes place under his son, Uhuru’s watch goes to show the intergenerational gap gone beserk!
True, we remember Mzee’s comrade Odinga Odinga writing the book, Not yet uhuru! But who exactly is responsible for the wanton destruction of ivory, this African valuable resource? CITES? Isn’t CITES a kinsman/woman of the what’sname, Bretton Woods institutions, lately seconded by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), all of a family not enamoured of developing nations’ welfare, particularly Africans? Before African eyes, Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) are for self-preservation and survival of the ‘developed’ world at the expense of the ‘developing’ world. Admitted, Africa may have a short memory, but she will remember SAPs arbitrarily imposed on unsuspecting African governments almost sparked counter-revolution. SAPs were rich in rhetoric but poor in practical sense!
Africa shared land with elephants for ages without endangering their existence. No poacher, no intruder encroached on our peaceful coexistence, no CITES regulated how to preserve the elephants. They were preserved nonetheless; that’s why they still roam our plains. Africa intelligently exploited this resource, however. Pre-arrival of colonial predators, African dikgosi had a booming ivory trade. African kingdoms (not empires) were prosperous, powerful, stable and crime-free. Ivory wasn’t rubbish.
It was precious and valuable and still is. Ivory beneficiation enhanced by modern technology can create jobs unlimited and hone skills to produce more and better trinkets in demand. Ivory, unlike diamonds is a potentially renewable resource. Ivory industry will therefore be sustainable. Elephants can be bred in sanctuaries and zoos. Instead of letting elephants be poached and killed for ivory, the product can be extracted without hurting or killing the animals. Breeding can allow elephants the opportunity to multiply, produce more tusks for manufacture and trade, keep tourism vibrant and going.
The footloose pleasure/leisure seekers would continue to come, view, photograph and admire the animals in their natural habitat as well as in the sanctuaries. Not only would the national economy grow, develop and diversify, the tourism industry itself would blossom and diversify. Entrepreneurship revolving around elephant breeding and ivory trade would be stimulated. Elephants in the sanctuaries and zoos would multiply parallel to those in game parks.
The locals currently denied acquaintance with the elephants would view elephants near their homesteads instead of having to travel to Pretoria or San Diego to see them in foreign zoos. Our children would see live elephants instead of viewing them on the television screens, magazines or newspapers. Kgosi Tshekedi Khama the legendary Bangwato regent after whom the Minister is named was a very capable, intelligent, innovative and assertive man. He knew what was good for his country and his people. He refused to swallow everything foreign overlords wanted to feed the people. He scrutinised whatever was offered.
Often he irritated colonial administration servants with his innovativeness, cheek and barbed questions he asked. He questioned proclamations that he deemed to be against the interests of his people. He skillfully travelled or skirted the boundaries of acquiescence and defiance of ‘protectorate’ authority. He wasn’t a yes-native chief. He petitioned the UN for the independence of Namibia, kicked dust about incorporation of the so-called High Commission Territories into Union of SA; proposed construction of a railway line from Bechuanaland to Walvis Bay for the convenience of trade between Bechuanaland and Europe.
Were he ‘watching,’ independent Botswana, moving chameleon-like towards construction of a railway to Namibia right now, he’d be disappointed that a Botswana enjoying self-determination, cannot decisively hatch the plan he long incubated. TK was a genius. Unique. He inspired me in my youth with the resistance spirit that prevails in self-reliant people, free and proud. He was a thorn on the side of Colonial authorities; some of them are reported to have called him ‘pigheaded,’ behind his back. His namesake has been slow to mature to his stature and uniqueness. With his statement, “We burn rubbish …Ivory is not rubbish…” he inches closer and closer to the original TK. Ina lebe seromo!