30.05.2007

African Day against G-8

For over 500 years the relationship between the western
powers and Africa has been the continues plundering
and denigration of the African continent and its
people by the westerners. A crucial aspect of labour,
made the Europeans to storm Africa in search for labour
force for the production of products like tobacco, sugar,
cotton, coffee and gold. This was realised through
the inhuman enslavement of Africans, the very first and
indelible inhuman crime committed against the African
people by the Europeans and Americans.
During this era, Africans were brutally caught, abducted
and transported by Europeans under critical conditions
that let to the lost of lives of millions. Those who
successfully arrived Europe and America were forced
to work in plantations and other life destroying sectors
of the economy for very long hours without rest. This
unforgettable human brutality led to the production of
the above mentioned goods that were sold in Europe
and America and the profits enormously contributed to
the riches of these continents.
Another crime against the African people and their continent
took place in 1884, in this event, the Europeans
made the second strong waves of movement into Africa.
These strong waves was branded colonisation. Europeans
like priests, traders, farmers and administrators
saw Africa as a spring board of charge to escape from
the abject poverty churning Europe at the time in search
of a better life. The decision to make these moves was
reached in Germany in a conference known as The Berlin
conference 1884.

The then German chancellor Otto von Bismarck invited
his other European and American counterparts
on the 15 of November 1884 to this conference
where the inhuman, racist and patriarchal decision
was taken to partition Africa like a piece of cake.
This decision facilitated the scramble for Africa by Europeans.
This scramble for Africa and the inhuman enslavement
of Africans have destabilised Africa politically, economically,
culturally and have instituted endless wars and
pains that have taken away lives of millions of Africans.
The original African civilisation has lost its course and Africa
is torn between two worlds. In the first world, despite
all its natural resources, Africa is portrayed as the poorest
continent of the world, disease stricken, “underdeveloped”
and needs endless help from Europe and America. In the
second world, Europe and America are the saviours of Africa
in resolving their conflicts, borrowing money to the
continent, spreading their “civilisation” and determining
how the economy and politics must function.
As this destructive and patriarchal dynamics of destruction
and denigration continues, Europe and America realised
their old strategies were becoming obsolete, they
now embarked on a new satanic strategy to plunge the
last nail on the head of Africa and its people with a sledge
hammer. This is the so called Globalisation. This Globalisation
has taken Africa in hostage and reinforced the global
control of Africa economy by the Britton Wood Institutions
like International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
These institutions have imposed the so called economic
recovery projects (Africans call it Economy Regressive
Projects). Example is the so called Economic Structural
Adjustment Programme, (Africans call it Economic Suffering
Added Project) (ESAP), which do not tandem with the
cultural, political and economic realities of the continent.
This project generated political and economic crises and
states collapsed.

These exploitative, patriarchal and racist strategies of
the western world has largely contributed to the surge in
forced movement of the African people en mass in search
of protection. A protection they cannot get in these inhuman
western countries. On the contrary the African people
are greeted with high sentiment of racism and hostilities,
seen as second class citizens, killed, burnt and brutalised
by western politicians, police officers and the civil society.
In recent days, the Europeans have instituted a policy
which prevent Africans from entering into Europe but
to be held in European sponsored camps bordering
Europe found in the North of Africa, Libya, Morocco,
Algeria and Tunisia. Meanwhile, on the contrary, the
Europeans can enter and leave Africa as they want.
We, that is Africans in Germany, Europe; Africa and
America and other parts of the world see this process
as a racist, destructive, exploitative and inhuman. That
is why we have to come together to protest against
and to make our non negotiable demands known to
all.

Our Demands

1. Stop Imposing Western Documents/
Ideas on Africa

Many documents for Africans are originating from the
west with a western perspective. African academics,
politicians and policy makers are completely absent.
This strategy portrays the racist and dominant attitude
as evident that research is not being carried out in Africa.
These documents coming from the west have contributed
in facilitating Africa’s dependency on the West.
This can be seen on two instances. The western educational
programme forced by the World Bank on Africa
although some African professional institutes like Educational
Research Network of Southern and Eastern
Africa (ERNESA) which members have already professionally
discussed appropriate programmes for Africa.
The other Example is the New Partnership for the Development
of Africa (NEPAD).
This is known in Africa as New Partnership for the
further Destruction of Africa. This is a concept developed
by Europeans to work with some of their puppet
governments in Africa to continuously under develop
and divide and rule Africa.

2. Payment of Reparation

In support of ITRAP, Africans around the world are demanding
apology from Europe and America and the
payment of reparation for the different crimes like slavery
and colonisation perpetrated in Africa. The brutality
exercised during the era of slavery where many
Africans were made slaves and transferred in critical
situation, forced to work under inhuman situation and
the dead of millions are considered as crimes against
humanity. This was followed by colonial crimes in
which the Europeans and America forced Africans
in the continent to work like slaves, conducted wars
that led to genocide like in Namibia where the Hereros
were almost wiped out by the German colonial troops.
During the colonial and slavery eras, enormous
amount of raw materials were stolen from Africa.
Due to these, we are calling on Europe and America
to assume their responsibility and ask for pardon from
Africans and pay for crimes during slavery and colonisation
as reparation. All these crimes are seen as
crimes against humanity.

3. Debt Relief

There should be a relief to all the so called debts. A
creditor cannot be owing a debtor. Europe and America
are owing Africa. We are calling on all the European
governments to transfer back to Africa stolen money
found in their banks. So many western puppets have
stolen money from Africa and hidden in Banks in Europe
which does help in boosting the European economy.
All this money should be transferred back to Africa.

4. Stop the Sponsorship of Conflicts in Africa

The wars in Africa are still perpetrated by the signatories
of the Berlin Conference in order to exploit raw
materials. Many European companies are involved in
this war business to plunder the African continent. In order
to succeed, they export weapons to war lords to set Africa
in confusion while the extract these mineral resources
without any body realising. This can be seen in the wars
of Republic of Congo, Sierra-Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Chad,
Angola etc. These wars have destroyed the social life, culture,
made many people to migrate to unwelcoming areas.
The loss of life is countless and the development of diseases.
Stop the initiation and sponsorship of conflicts in
Africa! We call for a complete and immediate withdrawal of
western troops from Africa. Allow Africa to develop its conflict
resolution mechanisms! No exporting of weapons !

5. No to the German Chancellor’s Proposal for Africa

The German chancellor Angela Merkel so called vision
for Africa in which European states should select African
states as partners for development is greatly challenge by
Africans. This strategy is leading to the repeat of history
of the Mandatory territories. After the second world war,
European countries divided African states into territories
to assist for independence and “development”. It is rather
unfortunate that all the European countries implemented
hard principles and structures that made Africa to stay permanently
dependent on west.
We are calling on Europe to allow Africa to forge its own
development in relation to its politics, economy, culture
and people. Africa needs real independence to choose its
partners and not partners chosen only by Europeans.

Organizer:
Flüchtligsinitiative
Brandenburg
and Africans’ Perspective
in Cooperation with:
Bildungswerk
der Heinrich Böll Stiftung