Hunger In Kenya, Death In Egypt

Today we look at two problems that have at it's root the same general cause: Dependency and lack of leadership.
First is the food situation in Kenya where even prisoners have gotten into the act by donating their food to those affected. The general causes are said to be:

They include Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Somali and Zimbabwe. Countries with general lack of access to food include Liberia, Mauritius, Niger and Sierra Leone. Kenya is listed among 14 countries facing severe localised food insecurity.

The main reasons for the food shortage include civil strife, drought and locusts, high food prices, economic crises, refugees and resettlement of returnees.

Now it is important to note that the most of the "main reasons" for the drought were man made issues. We noted in our critique of the riots in France that governments do not make jobs. We will restate this point and underscore the point that in Africa, governments are not the best suited for providing economic relief. Such relief is being called for:

In a joint statement issued in Machakos Town on Monday, the MPs said that following the poor rains, many parents who depend on farming will be unable to raise school fees. They urged the Government to revive the school feeding programme in primary schools and to provide secondary schools with food.

And the Kenya National Association of Parents (KNAP) urged the Government to increase the constituency bursary fund from Sh800 million to Sh2.5 billion.

Musau Ndunda, the association's secretary-general, and former Cabinet minister Kalonzo Musyoka also appealed to the Government to waive school fees for children from famine hit areas.

I'm not entirely clear as the the budget of Kenya but I cannot imagine that there is a surplus of educational funds available. The waiving of school fees by the government would no doubt lead to some budget shortfall at a later time. For the long run the issues that were raised above, specifically the man made issues must be addressed first. As a PAn-Africanist, I find it untenable that 20% of African nations are short on food. Steps should be taken to create a continental food programme or industry such that the countries with surplus can provide for those without in these times. Furthermore, with a Pan-African government, such issues as refugees and resettlement may be better handled.

The second issue is the horrible treatment meted out against the Sudanese refugees in Egypt. This has been covered by the mainstream media with many people across the political spectrum condemning the act. While I too condemn the event I am not very surprised by the actions. Firstly the southern Sudanese are refugees from a war being committed by Muslims, most of whom identify as Arabs. Egypt is now, as opposed to ancient times, an Arab country. Clearly the Sudanese here thought that running from one set of Arab identifying Muslims to another set of Arab identifying Muslims would somehow garner more respect. Are we surprised that it did not? Again a clear lack of leadership on the part of Africans. What has to be worse, is that these unfortunate people were beat while begging the Arabs in Egypt to provide better conditions for them. Again the whole idea of governments creating something that should be created by the group themselves.

Don't mistake my critique as "blaming the victim" or excusing the actions of the Egyptian government. it is not. It is merely a call to action. A call to change how we deal with our problems. The first and foremost thing we must stop doing is waiting for those that oppress us to stop oppresing us. Secondly we must work with each other regardless of ethnic grouping, regardless of religious grouping, regardless of regional grouping. So long as we continue to look outside of our communities for salvation rather than "casting our bucket where we are" we will continue to be treated inhumanely by others.

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