Picture courtesy of The Zambian Embassy in Berlin
By Chatinkha Chidzanja Nkhoma
Neo colonialism is a worse form of oppression than the actual colonialism which our forefathers and mothers fought against because it’s not visible and harder to identify. While during colonial era the enemy was physically known, neo colonialism enemies are shrouded in so called democratic systems imposed on Africa. Imperialist forces use internal forces to fight those who don’t tow their line or get out of line, like cancer use our own body to destroy us.
They use economic imbalances, found everywhere globally, to create a hostile environment to topple legitimate governments using mercenary activists so that they can replace it with puppet governments of their choose. They use our rich ethnic diversity to revolt against each other.
They ferment discontent to undermine our leaders to exploit our resources.
History has or should teach us that as Africans, we have been brainwashed to look down upon our liberation fathers, current political leaders who are struggling to unshackle its populace from neo colonialism. Decolonization is a mental battle, when everything to do with your roots is made to seem uncivilized. The creation and financing of antiestablishment civil society organizations is typical of the tactics used when imperialist fail to impose certain position on ruling African government. International media using African’s own protagonist sons and daughters pretending to be speaking for poor voiceless masses while being interviewed by fellow African journalists who don’t tell you the full story deliberately is the biggest tool.
Sadly, the general population absorbs this hook line and sinker and rush to the streets in fabricated anger against this or that injustice. A deeper look will reveal a sinister plot, much larger than both local players realise.
The Arab Spring has left the Arab African world in retrogressively in tatters… Forget about xenophobia in South Africa, look at who or what is stirring these intra African killings, look at the intervals of these attacks and it will tell you something. Look at Zimbabwe, no western media will tell about the Lancaster Agreement but the so-called Land grab, who grabbed whose land?? They force you to vilify your own leaders who were forced to clamp down on their people who were orchestrated to revolt against legitimate governments, using tired excuses as human rights, corruption, undemocratic, oppressive regimes, etc.
However, led by Nigeria, West Africa after seeing the light, has unshackled itself from the neo colonialism and is developing on its own terms…. East Africa is following, neo colonialists will redirect your focus to human rights away from the progressive rise of such countries like Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and even Malawi. There is no country on earth where rights of humans are perfect, let alone Europe and America.
China and Asia unshackled themselves, Africa can do the same. But it will take looking within not outside for our solutions
