Will Europe embrace Obama’s ‘new beginning’ message?

US President Barack Hussein Obama on Thursday, June 4, delivered one of the most publicized and superbly packaged political addresses ever delivered by a Western politician on Islamic soil, and one that specifically targeted the Muslim world. It was a day when the first African-American president admitted to the entire world that the US’ foreign policy, particularly during the post 9/11 era, was partially coercive and that, to an extent, contradicted the same ideals which America – and I must add, Europe arguably – seeks to promote. Many commentators have had various reactions on several sections of the speech, particularly, on the war on terror or “violent extremism” as Obama chose to put it, and the eternal Israel-Palestine conflict. Everyone has their own views, or at least perceptions, on these two deeply controversial issues, and – just as Obama rightly stated – no single speech can indeed eradicate years of mistrust. I will not go further on these two issues, rather I will turn to the part that probably attracted least reactions, but one which forms a major point of contention between Africa and the West: Democracy. Obama the president is a product of American democracy; a form of democracy where not everyone casts the ballot in person, rather through delegates. It is quite different in Rwanda because here every citizen of minimum voting age has a right to walk straight to the ballot box to choose their president, Members of the Lower Chamber of Parliament, among others. And in his speech Obama appeared to appreciate these varying systems as long as the outcome does reflect the will of the people. The ultimate benefit should be peace and security; justice for all; equitable access to education, healthcare and clean water; infrastructural development; proper use of national resources; and freedom of expression. These are rewards of good governance, which are not necessarily guaranteed by elections. In a rare public admission by a Western leader, the US president declared; “No system of government can or should be imposed on one nation by any other…..Each nation gives life to this principle (of democracy) in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election.” After watching him deliver that great speech, a number of questions came to my mind: will he finally walk the talk, will the European states/leaders review their own patronizing policies towards Africa, and thirdly, can Africans stand their ground firmly and engage with the West as equal partners and not as inferiors or as a people with lesser rights? Our own President, Paul Kagame, has over the past years consistently called for a cooperation based on mutual interest and mutual respect between African countries and the West – a principle that Obama emphasized last week. Whereas some in Africa have received Kagame’s call with cowardly skepticism perhaps due to the continent’s perceived perpetual dependence on (or call it addiction to) Western aid, some in Europe have attempted to resist that eventuality by opening a smear campaign against Kigali, which ranges from habouring, protecting and financing Genocide fugitives and groups, blocking the transfer Genocide cases and convicts from the Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to Rwanda, to undermining Rwanda’s Gacaca justice system. The French and Spaniards went extra-mile by issuing warrant arrests for Rwandan men and women who staked their lives and those of their families by leading or participating in a liberation struggle that eventually brought the 1994 Genocide to a halt. Such governments have apparently joined forces with the likes of Human Rights Watch and known Genocide deniers and revisionists to block justice for Genocide survivors and Rwanda, and to pursue a hateful and divisive propaganda. They so hypocritically claim to be supporting peace efforts in the Great Lakes region, while at the same time they dine and wine with Ignace Murwanashyaka, who heads a Genocidal and blacklisted terrorist group (FDLR), and freely mingle with many others whose hands are stained with the blood of the innocent victims of the 1994 Genocide. However, as history will show, nobody – not European, not American nor African – can successfully cover-up Rwanda’ real story. True, the world has increasingly become interdependent, and no single nation can claim absolute self-reliance. Those with oil need foodstuff, and those with factories need electricity, skilled workers or markets for their products. That reality should be the very launching pad for mutual cooperation between nations. Each nation, rich or poor, should be able to make sovereign independent decisions without being bullied by any other, the wealth gaps between them notwithstanding. It may take quite long before we see rich and poor nations enjoying equal status on the UN Security Council or IMF or World Bank roundtable, but that equality is what I make of Obama’s declared commitment to human values and mutual respect between nations. I hope his administration will seek to change the status quo. Well, there may be a divide between African and Western nations in terms of economic development, but certainly not in human dignity. Given the opportunity, Africans are as good innovators as Europeans and Americans and as good leaders for their own people as any other good leader elsewhere. Rwanda has exceptionally demonstrated that potential over the past 15 years. Success of home-grown initiatives such as Gacaca jurisdictions, Imihigo, Agasozindatwa, Akarima k’Igikoni, Umuganda, among others, have and will all continue to send out a clear and strong message that Rwanda and Africans in general are capable of shaping their own future, even without the blessing of Western ‘masters’. The writer is Marketing and Communication Specialist for the Workforce Development Authority (WDA) munyanezason@yahoo.com