News:
July 18, 2024
Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe Jr. has bemoaned the constant external factors in the fairs of Africa, which he blames as the main cause of violent extremism in the continent.
Leader of the Liberian delegation to the Community Parliament’s attempting to answer the reason for the lingering terrorism, banditry, kidnapping in West Africa and the Sahel, despite every effort by the governments and multilateral institutions to nip the violent crisis in the bud said one thing that stands tall is the endemic influence from external factors.
“In Africa, we have African solidarity, but of late, we have been witnessing persistent interference from external forces. So, what is happening in Africa is that we need to work on very seriously and urgently the overbearing influence of external factor. The external factor is playing a major role in what is happening, be it security, slow pace of development or even the perennial poor economic outlook.”
He identified the fact that various countries in the continent have alliances with different countries from the western countries; and “the geo-politics has taken deep root into our African culture.”
“There are some African countries that are working with the United States, for example Liberia. There are some others that are working with France, example, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin Republic, and Senegal. There are a few others that are working with Russia – Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. We would not also forget the growing influence of China and its involvement in African Affairs”, he affirmed.
The geo-politics, he affirmed has penetrated the leadership as well, “because our leaders are relating with those powers that be and as they fight for space in the global sphere, it has a trickling down effect on our continent; particularly in our sub-region and it is affecting us severely. The sooner we realise that the better it will be for us”
Mr Snowe queried if the West is surreptitiously replicating the 1884/5 scramble for Africa in the 21th century? “It is not far from it”
He said African now has the sophistication to curb and correct this overbearing influence of our erstwhile colonial masters, but warned that “if we allow it to linger for so long, it might leave our hands and of course we will continue to suffer in the hands of Western powers.”
Ghanamps.com