DATE=1/29/99
TYPE=ENGLISH PROGRAMS FEATURE
NUMBER=7-31357
TITLE=THE ROOTS OF AFRICA'S AGONY
BYLINE=JUDITH LATHAM
TELEPHONE=619-3464
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=SUSAN CLARK
CONTENT = (TAPE CUTS IN AUDIO SERVICES)
INTRO: CYCLES OF WAR AND FAMINE HAVE RAVAGED AFRICA FOR
HUNDREDS OF YEARS. IN COLONIAL TIMES, CIVIL WARS WERE
OFTEN AGGRAVATED BY THE MANIPULATION OF COLONIAL POWERS.
IN THE DAYS OF THE COLD WAR, SUCH MANIPULATION WAS OFTEN
CARRIED OUT BY THE WORLD'S SUPERPOWERS. BUT THE COLD
WAR IS OVER, AND COLONIAL TIMES ARE LONG PAST. YET
CIVIL WARS CONTINUE IN AFRICA. V-O-A'S JUDITH LATHAM
HAS TALKED WITH REGIONAL SPECIALISTS AND ASKED THEM WHY
THOSE WARS CONTINUE -- WHAT ARE THE ROOTS OF AFRICA'S
AGONY? HERE'S _____ WITH A REPORT.
TEXT: CIVIL STRIFE IS CURRENTLY RAGING IN CONGO, ANGOLA,
SUDAN, SOMALIA, BURUNDI, SIERRA LEONE, ETHIOPIA AND
ERITREA. NEITHER THE END OF COLONIALISM NOR THE END OF
THE COLD WAR ENABLED AFRICA TO SKAKE OFF ITS CYCLES OF
WAR AND FAMINE. GREG MILLS IS NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE
SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS IN
JOHANNESBURG. HE BELIEVES THE COLD WAR ACTUALLY MASKED
THE ROOTS OF MANY OF AFRICA'S PROBLEMS.
TAPE: CUT ONE -- MILLS (0:33)
"IN FACT, IN MANY WAYS IT WORSENED THE UNDERLYING
TENSIONS IN MANY AFRICAN STATES. I THINK WHAT HAPPENED
WITH THE END OF THE COLD WAR IS THAT, WITH A WITHDRAWAL
OF SUPER-POWER INTEREST IN AFRICA AND WITH SUPPORT FOR
PROXY ARMIES AND COMPLIANT REGIMES, YOU SAW MANY OF
THESE UNDERLYING TENSIONS BUBBLE TO THE SURFACE. AND
PERHAPS THERE'S NO BETTER EXAMPLE OF THIS THAN IN THE
FORMER ZAIRE. AND, AS THOSE REPRESSIVE SYSTEMS
CRUMBLED, OF COURSE, THESE TENSIONS EMERGED, AND WE HAVE
NOW SEEN IN THE 1990'S A WHOLE SPATE OF CONFLICTS."
TEXT: MR. MILLS REMINDS THE AFRICAN STATES ARE QUITE DIVERSE,
BUT HE SAYS ETHNIC STRIFE HAS OFTEN DETERMINED POLITICAL
LIFE ON THE CONTINENT.
TAPE: CUT TWO -- MILLS (0:30)
"PERHAPS THERE'S NO BETTER ILLUSTRATION OF THIS, WHEN
YOU COMPARE COUNTRIES LIKE SOUTH AFRICA, WHICH HAS
ELEMENTS OF BOTH DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING ECONOMIES
WITHIN ITS BORDERS, AND A STATE LIKE SIERRA LEONE, IN
WHICH A WHOLE RANGE OF TRIBAL, IDEOLOGICAL, PERSONAL
DIVISIONS, POLITICAL DIVISIONS ARE NOW COMING TO THE
FORE. BUT I THINK IT IS TRUE TO SAY THAT ETHNICITY,
LIKE RELIGION IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD, DOES REMAIN
ONE OF THE DEFINING FEATURES OF THE AFRICAN POLITICAL
LANDSCAPE."
TEXT: IN SIERRA LEONE, THE WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN
FULLY EXPLOITED BY THE REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT, THE
GROUP WHICH HAS BEEN STRUGGLING AGAINST PRESIDENT AHMED
TEGAN KABBAH [AH-MED TEE-JAN KAH-BAH] SINCE HE WAS
ELECTED IN 1996. STEVEN ELLIS, SENIOR RESEARCHER AT THE
AFRICA STUDIES CENTER IN LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS, SAYS
THE R-U-F IS AN "EXTRAORDINARY" ORGANIZATION.
TAPE: CUT THREE -- ELLIS (0:28)
"IT IS MORE LIKE A RELIGIOUS SECT THAN IT IS LIKE A
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION, OR EVEN LIKE A GUERRILLA ARMY.
IT'S LARGELY COMPOSED OF VERY YOUNG PEOPLE, TEENAGERS OR
YOUNGER. MANY OF THEM WERE ORIGINALLY KIDNAPPED FROM
THEIR HOMES, AND THEY ARE BROUGHT UP BY THE R-U-F. IT'S
LIKE A FAMILY TO THEM, AND [REBEL LEADER] FODOY SANKOH
IS LIKE THEIR GRANDFATHER. AND REALLY, THEY'RE KIND OF
BRAINWASHED. THE SIERRA LEONEAN GOVERNMENT IS SO POOR
IT HAS VERY LITTLE TO OFFER YOUNGSTERS FROM THE R-U-F
COMING IN FROM THE BUSH."
TEXT: MR. ELLIS SAYS SAYS PRESIDENT KABBAH'S GOVERNMENT MUST
PROVIDE SECURITY FOR ITS CITIZENS, WITHOUT DEPENDING ON
FOREIGN INTERVENTION. BUT THAT COULD TAKE TIME AND
MONEY, AND HIS SUPPORTERS FEAR SIERRA LEONE COULD BE
SHORT ON BOTH.
MEANWHILE, HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES IN SIERRA LEONE ARE
STRUGGLING TO COPE WITH A GROWING FOOD CRISIS AND THE
PROSPECT THAT ABOUT ONE MILLION PEOPLE IN THE CAPITAL
WILL FACE STARVATION.
GREG MILLS SAYS EXTERNAL ALLIANCES HAVE ALSO PLAYED A
MAJOR ROLE IN AGGRAVATING CIVIL STRIFE IN COUNTRIES SUCH
AS SIERRA LEONE AND CONGO.
TAPE: CUT FOUR -- MILLS (0:42)
"IN THE CASE OF THE CONGO, YOU HAVE TWO CONFLICTING
PARTIES, THE GOVERNMENT OF LAURENT KABILA, WHICH OF
COURSE IS NOW SUPPORTED BY A WHOLE RANGE OF EXTERNAL
ACTORS, INCLUDING ANGOLA, ZIMBABWE, NAMIBIA, CHAD, AND
SUDAN, ALL OF WHOM HAVE THEIR OWN SOMETIMES OVERLAPPING,
BUT MOSTLY INDIVIDUALISTIC, AGENDAS. AND THEN ON THE
OTHER HAND YOU HAVE THE REBEL MOVEMENTS, WHICH ARE
OPENLY SUPPORTED BY RWANDA AND UGANDA, AND OF COURSE
THEY TOO HAVE THEIR OWN SECURITY INTERESTS AT HEART IN
PROVIDING SUPPORT FOR THE REBELS. CERTAINLY, DURING THE
COLD WAR, AFRICAN WARS WERE SUPPLIED AND FUELED BY
OUTSIDE FORCES, NOTABLY THE UNITED STATES AND THE SOVIET
UNION, BUT I THINK THESE CONDITIONS LARGELY DON'T APPLY
TODAY."
TEXT: GREG MILLS SAYS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS TENDED
TO NEGLECT THE PROBLEMS OF AFRICA SINCE THE END OF THE
COLD WAR.
TAPE: CUT FIVE -- MILLS (0:33)
"I MEAN ONE COULD CYNICALLY OBSERVE THAT AT LEAST THE
COLD WAR KEPT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ENGAGED WITH
THE CONTINENT, EVEN THOUGH THE MOTIVATION FOR SUCH
ENGAGEMENT AND THE RESULTS MAY HAVE BEEN NEFARIOUS.
CERTAINLY, IN TERMS OF WESTERN MILITARY INTEREST, YOU
CAN TRACE VERY OBVIOUSLY A DECREASING COMMITMENT TO THE
CONTINENT. AND I THINK THERE TENDS TO BE MUCH MORE OF A
FEELING NOW THAN THERE WAS 10 YEARS AGO THAT THE WEST IS
SIMPLY IN AFRICA FOR WHAT IT CAN GET OUT OF AFRICA, IN
TERMS OF NATURAL RESOURCES, TRADING OPPORTUNITIES, AND
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES."
TEXT: MR. MILLS SAYS THE "MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION" NOW
IS WHAT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD BE DOING IN
AFRICA.
TAPE: CUT SIX -- MILLS (0:45)
"THAT'S THE REASON WHY EVERYONE TRIES TO AVOID ANSWERING
IT. AND THAT IS, THEY FEAR IT'S GOING TO COST THEM
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. BUT REALLY I THINK IT DEMANDS
FIRSTLY ENGAGEMENT. AND I'M NOT TALKING HERE ABOUT
SUMMIT MEETINGS, ABOUT NEW SLOGANS. I THINK IT HAS MUCH
MORE TO DO WITH PRACTICAL FORMS OF ENGAGEMENT, TAKING ON
SOME OF THE DIFFICULT TECHNICAL ISSUES, SOME OF THE
ASPECTS OF STATEHOOD, BASIC SERVICES LIKE TAX
COLLECTION, THE PROVISION OF STATISTICS FOR CENTRAL
BANKS, BASIC TECHNICAL ATTRIBUTES THAT MANY AFRICAN
STATES LACK. THAT'S THE FORM OF ASSISTANCE THAT THE
WESTERN WORLD HAS TO HELP WITH. SO, IT ALL BOILS DOWN
TO ONE WORD, AND THAT SIMPLY IS 'ENGAGEMENT' --
POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SECURITY ENGAGEMENT -- WHICH
WE'VE SEEN DECREASING IN SOUTHERN AFRICA OVER THE PAST
DECADE."
TEXT: WITHOUT THAT TYPE OF CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT, GREG MILLS
OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
IN JOHANNESBURG SAYS, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA WILL BE UNABLE
TO RID ITSELF OF THE KINDS OF CONFLICT ONE SEES TODAY IN
ANGOLA, CONGO, AND SIERRA LEONE.
NEB/JL/SC
29-Jan-99 10:20 AM EST (1520 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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