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Illusion of hope

Image of African soldiers in military camouflage gear with a white US soldier behind
Image - lawinaction

Much of the conflict that continues to ravage Africa revolves around a singularity known as ‘division’; along with its many cousins and incarnations, these divisions are exacerbated by a brutal scurry for resources and an often rather crude play for power. It doesn’t matter where; the conflicts are usually contended along similar colonial fault lines.

The intensifying situation in Cameroon between Anglophone minority separatists and the majorly francophone government is a painfully precise example of this malaise that afflicts the very soul of the continent.  

Elsewhere it is Hutus against Tutsis, Amhara and Qimant, Luo, Kalenjin in opposition to Kukuyu, Tigray versus Ethiopia versus Eritrea, Somaliland entangled with Somalia, Farmers clashing with Herders, North versus South, Minorities versus the Majority, citizens and their ruling elite.  

Politics is contested along ethnic lines instead of ideological ones. Electoral cycles are quite literally life and death while fundamentalist terrorism preying on festering indigence continues to grow in devastation and influence. Years of oppressive rule is always countered with endless conflict as diplomacy is rarely invoked. How have these divisions become so entrenched in the fabric of our lives and what became of the once bright promise of our nascent democracies?

The bedrock of unrest in Africa has been formed by centuries of external influence and deliberate tinkering; exploiting our weakest links is down to an art, even as we pander to our most base motivations. Our own culpability in furthering this sequence of unfortunate events is mind-bending. How can we ever break free of this vicious cycle of sorrow, tears and blood?

 

 

 

 

 

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