 By Musa Bah
As you are in the beautiful city of Addis Ababa to attend the AU Summit, I write to give some points on the issue of security in Africa. There is a lot of strife in many parts of the continent; many governments are at loggerheads with their citizenry. And without security, there can be no progress.
Mr President, the cause of most of these troubles is the injustices and the flagrant inequalities that have permeated our societies. To alleviate these difficulties therefore, we need to set the balance right.
First, to ensure that there is equality, we must ensure good governance which will provide a level playing field for all. Governments should seek to work for the people instead of just working for themselves. The people of a country must have the chance to make their lives better.
One of the things African leaders should discuss and agree on is the issue of not overstaying in power. Longevity is killing Africa. We have seen repeatedly where even formerly good leader becomes tyrannical due to the fact that he overstayed in power. You must, as a whole, come up with a solution to this problem.
Africa has everything; we have all the mineral resources we need to pull our people out of poverty. We must work together in order to ensure that our economies pick up and reach a stage where we will enjoy the fruits of our natural and human resources. African integration will be a mockery to African masses if we don’t even trade with each other. Instead of trading only with the West and Asia, African countries can inter-trade amongst themselves and that even be cheaper and more cost effective for them.
Free movement of people and goods should be encouraged and made a priority for all Africans. One African should be able to go to any country in Africa without let or hindrance. When this happens, a lot of businesses will boom and profits will increase.
Cooperation between different countries should be made a priority. Cooperation on trade, economy, security, energy, governance and all other areas so that every country will enjoy the benefits of cooperation.
There should be an AU Standby Force which will always be ready to be deployed wherever strife threatens to destroy the peace and stability of a country. If what happened in the Gambia is about to happen anywhere in Africa, that force should be deployed with a mandate to oust the recalcitrant leader who wants to cling on to power.
Mr President, I hope you and your fellow presidents will use this time to come up with plans and polices to uplift Africa.
Have a good day Mr President.
