The African Union “Sees No Evil, Hears No Evil & Speaks No Evil” at the cost of African Lives
BY KATHERINE DABO
The phrase “See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil” first emerged in Japan in the 17th century and was later adopted worldwide as a message of peace and tolerance due to Mahatma Gandhi’s visual metaphor of the three monkeys, with one of them covering his mouth, the second his eyes, and the third his ears.
“The forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the superimposed influences that keep us apart.” – Kwame Nkrumah
The African Union made up of all 54 African states (except Morocco) was launched on 9 July 2002 in South Africa to replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The African Union founder Muammar al-Gaddafi was executed in 2012. It’s predecessor The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was established by Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s as an attempt to unite Africa. The vision of the African Union is that of: “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.” -Wikipedia
Mahatma Gandhi carried with him the figurative statue of the famed three wise monkeys. When he was killed it was said that this statue was one of the items found in his possession. Gandhi believed that the three wise monkeys were the key to peace and tolerance in self and in the world. He believed that if we did not sit and listen to evil thoughts, watch evil being committed or speak of evil things, that evil would not abide with us and we would live in a world of peace. Which if the wisdom is used correctly it would be as so.
However, I must say the African Union’s interpretation and implementation of this rule has tilted toward covering up injustices inflicted on the very people they are charged to protect. “In the Western world the phrase is often used to refer to those who deal with impropriety by looking the other way, refusing to acknowledge it, or feigning ignorance.” It is safe to observe that peace has eluded the African people and our tolerance for evil committed against fellow Africans has grown to unprecedented heights in recent years under the watch of the African Union (AU).
A Code of Silence
This article, I hope will help us understand why the AU and its allies are drowning us with so much evil, violence and fear and the reasons why we are being forced to accept the situation as being “just” Africa.
Most of this suppression, oppression and underdevelopment in Africa is being intentionally inflicted and our inability to act in protecting ourselves makes us seem even more unattached and unequipped to solve our own problems every passing day. It is my belief that the African Union knows of these missions and has thus adopted a “Code of Silence” that does not permit them to speak although the evil is clearly there to be seen and heard.
It is because they have chosen this Code of Silence that we have been rendered defenseless and powerless in our actions to save ourselves as the super powers are continuing to rob us of our basic needs and at the same time, effectively use our main tools against us.
The African Union could be the key to solving Africa’s most pressing problems. It is a very important tool to the African people and for the continent of Africa, if their actions were based on the architecture and nature of its design.
However with much regret I attest today that the AU is working contrary to its founding principles and has covered their ears, eyes, mouth when it comes to delivering peace, justice and protection to the African people.
The Code of Silence is hence directly linked to the improprieties being committed in Africa. So the “see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil” may somehow explain African leaders’ lack of moral responsibility and their failure to show due unity when it comes to fighting against contemporary colonialism, oppression and injustices as witnessed by genocides, rampant wars and human rights abuses permeating the continent of Africa today.
Service or Dis-service
Speak no evil: The Western media has always portrayed Africa as underdeveloped and backward and they are so quick to preach good governance to Africa but they fail to preach the same message to their governments and their allies who are the root cause of disunity in Africa. These countries like to portray themselves as civilized and cultured with hearts of saints, but they have failed to recognize the human rights of all people.
The AU should be bold enough to speak up and let the International Community know that they are the leaders of the African Continent and therefore no one can dictate to them the future of the African people or its continent. But instead the African Union has displayed dumb-founded powerlessness and helplessness while genocides are being committed on the continent. The fact is that the AU has failed to speak with one voice and is still to blend into a functioning or unified whole.
See No Evil: Why are Leaders in Africa so unsuccessful when it comes to fighting corruption? Africa is poor today because of unpatriotic leaders, kleptocrats and thugs whose acts of thievery continue on a broad scale because those who steal never lack a place to hide stolen property or a safe place to hide themselves. (Be sure to read ‘What Nigerian Political Leaders could Learn from The World’s “Poorest” President‘ by Akintokunbo A Adejumo)
Despite years of exports of oil, gold, diamond, bauxite, tin, coltan, uranium, manganese timber and several other valuable minerals, the continent continues to be ranked as the poorest on earth – Transparency International Report
According to the Africa Union (AU) around $148 billion is stolen from the continent by its leaders and civil servants every year. However there are those economists who believe it is closer to a trillion dollars annually. The bigger question is why has there not been a recovery of a single penny of the people’s money.
Hear No Evil: Africa is now at a new stage of democratic development and wanting to move forward out of the 18th century. We want to trust our elected leaders and we want them to be servants of the people, not servants of the rich and the powerful, nor puppets of the EU and its Allies.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: Africa has more wars than the rest of the world combined. To combat this, the AU has designed Article 4(h) of the AU Constitutive Act, and repeated in article 4 of the Protocol to the Constitutive Act on the PSC which recognizes the right of the Union to intervene in member states in circumstances of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
How is it then that the continent is still beset with genocides, war and crimes against humanity? Is it because of the AU’s lack of hearing that muffles the cries of the people or is it their lack of intervention in calling to order member states?
Years of unrest and lack of progress especially glaring in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan and the Central African Republic seem to clearly indicate that the hear no evil attitude is the reason why some of the same old unresolved issues have waxed cold on the AU’s ears, our ears and the ears of the international community at the devastating cost of millions of innocent African lives.
It is clear that the AU is failing to provide for a continent and people that are unsettled and displaced.
Do No Evil: The past guides us but the future needs us. The AU’s divergence from the original design and poor political behavior reveals that they are slipping away from our forefathers’ dream of Nationalism. They are complacent in their ways and have allowed their member leaders to gain impunity for their crimes against humanity, becoming a safe haven for dictators who are oppressing their people, thus keeping these notarized criminals ‘free from all harm and danger’.
The people however must see the light at the end of the tunnel. As a new chapter in Africa opens and the remnants of corrupt leaders and inefficient governments slowly become a thing of the past, Africans are determined to set forth a new future for Africa, designed of African nationalism and with that a deep sense of dignity, self-respect and hope for a better and bright future. Our youth will play a positive role in creating a more productive Africa. They will have strong ethics and a national concern for the greater and stronger Africa.
Fear No Evil: I am sure the AU would like to encourage us to “fear no evil” … can we share in such optimism? In fact many of us are in search of a 5th monkey that covers his nose to cover up the stench that has overcome the entire continent. It is clear to me that the AU is weak.
I find it astounding that we continue to place our hope in the international community and it’s financial institutions to save us from war and poverty when these are the very ones who have sunken us into the abyss with their foreign policies and foreign aid packages. As evidenced in the following words this past December by Alpha Conde, president of Guinea as he ‘thanked’ the French for sending 1,600 troops to the Central African Republic to help calm the unrest the French are themselves primary architects of: “We’re appreciative of France, but we know that 50 years after our independences, France is again required to come in as a fireman to save us — it’s not right. It’s a humiliation for Africa that 50 years afterward, we are not at all able to manage our problems ourselves.” Embarrassing leadership.
The African people seem to never know what the leaders have agreed to in terms of country development or even the smallest of things to be addressed on the continent. The African Union has shifted focus from supporting liberation movements to supporting strongmen who are denying us basic human freedoms that brought us out of colonization … at least on paper.
The organization’s successes will always be over shadowed by the lack of integrity of many of its leaders and it’s fear to addresses issues and its lack of heart to take bold actions against our adversaries.
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Also by Katherine Dabo
- War in the Heart of Africa: Congo on its knees as Women & Children continue to pay the highest Price
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