Africa’s present rulers cannot transform Africa

Whenever I see many African heads of state in a group photograph, I glance at the brotherhood very briefly and look away.
My fear is that if I explore the picture for long enough, they may begin to resemble those unpleasant men Mario Puzo created for his gangster novels; or Hollywood put on the silver screen when the Mafia still commanded total respect.

I even avoid identifying who exactly is in the photograph, or who is not.
Now, this week, some newspapers carried pictures of Africa’s honchos lined up for the cameras in Addis Ababa at the weekend. The odd presence of UN chief Antonio Guterres held me for a second longer. Then, instinctively, I looked away and turned to other things about the AU.

Unfortunately, this was probably another weekend wasted in Addis Ababa, instead of these glorious fellows staying at home to repair their abominable holes.
The theme for the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU was, “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation”.

Quite a mouthful. But don’t bother looking for copies of the speeches. They must be empty talk. And boring.
A few things about the AU and events in its member countries are enough to show that our great chiefs, after fooling their citizens at home, may have started fooling themselves.

You see, when we, the riffraff, hear the thunder of their presidential jets heading to Addis Ababa, we assume that they are taking all that swag to something of another home. Their thing; built by them; even if using our (taxpayers’) money.
No! The $200 million 20-storey AU headquarters was in fact a gift built by China.
But to the chagrin of our great chiefs: He who builds the walls, also apparently reserves the right to listen to the chatter.

So, according to a French newspaper report, data from the AU elephant is fed (directly, by stealth) to Shanghai-based servers belonging to Africa’s fraternal anti-imperialist friends in Beijing!
Just as intriguing is the AFP report that 73 per cent of the cost of running the AU (excluding peacekeeping operations) is met by foreign donors!

The beggar’s syndrome afflicts our great chiefs even more tragically than our street children. Why, because the children are redeemed by their helplessness.
To address AU dependence, a 2016 proposal seeks a 0.2 per cent levy on goods Africa imports to raise $1.2 billion.

But wait a minute. Some countries steal more than others, but if I put Africa’s loss to both officially approved waste and corruption at (not less than) $100 billion per year, that would be a conservative estimate.

Give us a break. With so much wastage and corruption, to even talk of a special levy – whether in 2016 or 2018 – is to encourage Africa’s detractors who peddle the theory that it is in the bones of Africans (including the chiefs) to be beggars and thieves.

Let those who are elsewhere look elsewhere. But just look at Uganda. Over the last 12 months, how many billions of Shillings (in direct and indirect expenditure, plus wasted human energy) have been spent – and still counting – on Parliament and the boda boda gangs alone in the primitive project of keeping one person and one party in power?

Africa has a very serious problem. Its chiefs lied and turned it into a place without shame. Now they are deceiving themselves that democracy, fighting corruption and that thematic African ‘transformation’ are possible in an environment without shame.

Mr Tacca is a novelist, socio-political commentator.
[email protected]