Africa-Press – Gambia. There is an old expression: all roads lead to Rome. The city of Rome is the capital of Italy, an ancient city known for its history and for the Vatican where the leader of the Catholic church, the Pope, is residing.
Why do all roads lead to Rome? Well, they don’t, not anymore, but far away back in history the Roman empire spread far beyond its borders. When the Roman empire was its largest, under the Emperor Trajanus who ruled around 117 A.D., he ruled over 29 countries. Here are some of them:
Italy, England, Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, Malta and Israel. Rome was considered a hub and the centre of the power.
All paths or activities lead to the center of things. All the roads led to the centre of Rome, at least in Italy, and that is what mattered for the Emperor.
China has built a paved road in Kenya.
This is another step in the Chinese campaign where they pretend to help African countries, but the ones who benefits mostly from this aid is the Chinese government.
Ponds have been dug along the road for the cattle, and of course that is good because there is a drought in Kenya and both people and animals suffer. I am trying my best to not sound cynical, not sure I succeed, but I am suspicious. If something sounds too good to be true, it often is, and that is why I am questioning this Chinese aid in Africa.
Not all people in Africa are poor, but too many are and they are used by others. I don’t blame only the Chinese government, I also blame the African leaders who thrive from their own people’s suffering. Africa is full of natural resources; gold, gemstones, oil and rare wood species. These resources don’t benefit the African people, they are excavated and exported to foreign countries. The workers in the mines are working under harsh conditions, the work is many times dangerous and the pay is low. A metal, called cobalt, is excavated in mines in Congo. The conditions for the workers are reported to be horrible, and the use of child labour is more a rule than an exception.
An investigation made clear that buyers like Apple and Tesla, can not be sure that the mines from where the companies buy the metal are not using child labour. Why they use child labour at the cobalt mines is because the mines are small holes in the ground, made with pickaxes. It is considered easier for small children to fit into these small holes. The children don’t take as much space as an adult, and they are more flexible. The fact that this work is too hard for the children is considered negligible when the companies can earn a lot of money. There is a huge demand of cobalt in these times of smartphones and other devices where it is necessary.
There are so many poor children, and desperate parents, so if some of the kids die in a mining accident there are plenty of new children to take their place. This is how cynical our world still is, it seems as we have not learned a lot from the history. When we look at who is using who, the blame game begins but that doesn’t offer any solutions. Why do Africans allow others to use them? Who do Africans allow their own people to use them? Where is the dignity and the self respect? If you don’t respect yourself and your boundaries, you allow others to disrespect you. So far I have mentioned Congo and Kenya, but what about The Gambia? What about the Chinese fish factory there was so much disturbance about some years ago? Is everything fit and fine now, or are they still polluting the waters and the ground?
How come no-one is speaking about that anymore? I want our leaders to inform the Gambian people of the so called progress in the country, or is there no progress so that is the reason for the silence? The Royal family in the UK have an expression, or should I say a motto: Never complain, never explain. The British media is covering every move of the Royal family. If one family member happens to sneeze in public, you will be sure that this hits the tabloids in seconds and the speculations begin for the reason of that sneeze. The British media is ruthless and have this attitude towards the Royal family that as they are payed by public money, they are also owned by the public. To protect themselves, within the Royal family, they never complain and never explain. They just keep on with their lives, hoping to survive.
As The Gambia has been a former English colony, it seems as this motto has been inherited by the current rulers of the country. Perhaps it is mainly the second part of the motto, the ”never explain” part they have inherited as it is obvious that as soon as anyone has got some kind of position in The Gambia, they become high and mighty. They put themselves on a pedestal and look down at us below them. It doesn’t matter if these people have come from the same background as their neighbours, having an office means having power.
Having a mindset of superiority is the mindset that can create a dictator. The mindset of Chinese people in power is that they are rulers of the world. If we look back into the history, we can see that the emperors there had absolute power and demanded absolute obedience. Chinese people are ruled by certain social rules, like never raise one’s voice, smile and act politely. This is what we see when we interact with Chinese people, but we don’t see what they hide because we don’t understand their rules. China has plans of expanding their territory, and as their neighbouring countries are not prepare to give up their independence, China looks elsewhere. This elsewhere is Africa, full of natural resources and also full of either poor people or very greedy people who are prepared to sell even their own grandmother for the right price.
When we look at photos with Chinese investors shaking hands with African leaders, we might think that this is a positive sign of progress for that African country. Unfortunately not many are asking about the hidden agenda behind the Chinese investments. They don’t give away money for building a road, a factory or a stadium. They lend the money to the African governments and the terms for the loan are written with very small letters. The agreements made between the Chinese investors and the African leaders are hushed, ”never explain” as the superior leaders don’t expect common people to understand these anyway.
What common people do understand is that they are the ones who are bound to pay back the sums that has disappeared in the pockets of the leaders and never found their way to benefit the people in any way.
Looking at the investments made by the Chinese government, we see that the road of poverty leads from Africa to China. 2000 years back the Emperor of Rome ruled the world. Now the Emperor of China has the same plans. Are you already so bound to China by your depts, created by your leaders, that you are unable to find your way to independence? Ask yourself, and ask them!
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