De-Militarization of Africa. A Way Towards Peace Building

The drama continues and the sooner Africans learn that militarization is not for the poor, the better we are as a continent. The current problem in Burkina was precipitated by the pronouncement of the interim Prime Minister to reduce the size of the Presidential guards and eventually the army as a whole. The people with the guns felt threatened and unilaterally acted on their caprices to instill their will on the population. The same happened when the military complex in Egypt felt threatened during the popular uprising. The ouster of Morsi and his subsequent prosecution was orchestrated by a selfish minority who imposed their will on a defenseless population. This question was somehow a topic on a previous blog post as per the notion of African Liberation Day. My question is who is the African attempting to liberate themselves from? Surely not the Europeans but the entrenched elites who have a vested interest in perpetuating the status quo. Africa's problems and ailments are home grown and the sooner our leaders look at the bigger picture, the better for all. Campaore may be out of sight but his ghost is haunting Burkina today because the size of the army he created and these men will not relent because they don't want to loose the privileges they once enjoyed. 

Partial demilitarization of the continent should be a priority agenda for the regional groupings and the African Union. We should legislate and institute fiscal mandates that curb the growth and expenditure of the military in Africa. Our primary preoccupation should not be military expenditure but poverty reduction and employment creation. Am glad that sanity has been restored in Burkina albeit a temporal respite. A lasting solution can only be brokered forcefully by disarming 60% of the army. The poor tax payers in Burkina want value for their money and they surely not getting value in an entrenched army. Peace is not the absence of war and fostering peace is not achieved through intimidation or strong military presence. Societies achieve peace through an equitable wealth distribution schemes and social empowerment. The new African reality should not only be progressive but futuristic in the sense that we have been in the doldrums of the prosperity boom and the citizenry deserve more than what have been dished out to them by their leaders.It is quite agonizing for me as I ponder on the complexities and self inflicted predicament the Africans find themselves in. Traditionally, the Africans via proxy have entrusted their leaders to set out the agenda for them but the time has come for the African populace to not only set the agenda for their leaders but curb the excesses of their leaders by becoming the masters of their destinies. Simply taking the bull by the horn. The population who elect leaders are the "Principals" and the leaders are the "agents" therefore power lies in the principal (the people). I always constrain my emotional state with with logical proposition but it is hard for me not to feel angry and frustrated as per how the 95% of Africans have been short changed by their political and intellectual elites. This is not the Africa, Kwame Nkrumah, Samora Michel, Gamel Nassar and others envisage when they agitated for self determination and eventual independence. Yes we have shattered the yolk and bonds of colonialism but the African have found themselves in a new frontier squabbling with their leadership/elite for the wanton disregard of the interest of the majority. The likes of me have vowed to live this continent forever despite the short comings inherent in our lives as per the predicament and frustrations we find our continent in.