A few weeks ago I read about a ban on mourning and reporting about/from assemblies of the parents of children killed in the earthquake that devastated Sichuan province in China. They were asked to cancel a memorial for their children (no doubt for political reasons). I sat silent, shocked that any person would tell another how to mourn the loss of their flesh and blood. Worse, I just imagined the double tragedy of a say, a woman past child bearing age who had dutifully respected the 1 child policy only to lose her one and only child. TRAGIC doesn’t even come close to describing this. Yet, the world still turns. Oblivious. Next please. Is it any wonder African governments are all ‘looking East’ these days?
Reading about the situation in Zimbabwe I have concluded that there is one person who ought to be worried. Mrs. Mugabe. She is in her forties. He is in his eighties, so he is likely to avoid any litigation thanks to the Grim Reaper. She, on the other hand is setting herself up for exile in some crappy country when this is all over (which country would offer her asylum? Definitely not any European nation aka home to the designer stores she likes to frequent).
I don’t think there should be economic sanctions against Zimbabwe. Rather, there should be sanctions against those who chose to do business with the Mugabes or the Zimbabwe government (e.g. I hear that Mrs. Mugabe is partial to the pricey goodies from Ferragamo…hint). If the world banned the sale of luxury goods such as Mercedes Benz, Hummers and other symbols of excess to African politicians, it would go a long way to reducing corruption and the reckless abandon with which expenditures are incurred! Let them drive Nyayo Pioneers or other such cars. Let them eat Elliott’s bread and drink City Council of Nairobi water then they can talk about being ‘for the people’. African political types are no more for their people than Wu Tang is for the kids (Grammy Ceremony 1990-something…when ODB took to the stage). When will the world learn?
Here in Canada there are people ‘grappling with their consciences’ because Dr. Henry Morgentaler, a man who did a lot to get the Canadian courts to overturn the law criminalizing abortion was awarded the Order of Canada (kinda like Kenya’s Elder of the Burning Spear etc). My knowledge of the risks Kenyan women face when they cannot legally obtain abortions in Kenya, my belief that many women in Kenya and other countries do not have much sexual autonomy or freedom (e.g. from sexual abuse) and that they lack free or easy access to birth control methods coupled with the lack of proper sex education all the while living in a society that ‘punishes’ women who end up victims of all that is wrong with reproductive health policies/practices in their countries convinces me that Dr. Morgentaler is someone worthy of this award. Canadian women had a champion…if only women in Kenya had such a champion. Sometimes we get so busy moralizing from the safety of our stations in life that we forget the suffering of those without a voice or access to the same healthcare…hearing Kenyan doctors speak from their moral high horses against abortion rights makes me sad particularly in the face of the exploitation that many women endure at the hands of men, society, outdated traditions etc. Morgentaler believes in every child being a wanted child. So do I.
All I ask is: where’s the love?
Ninasikiliza (I am listening to): Heart of the City (Ain’t no Love)…Jay-Z
1 Comment
July 4, 2008 at 2:57 am
at the end of the day its about money, no? its not in the interests of the purveyors of these luxury items to stop their sale seeing that africa seems to be their most lucrative market!
…Which is why the boycotts should be about the purveyors rather than their buyers. Instead of all the ‘fundraisers-for-Africa’ and trips to “draw attention to the plight/forgotten crises of Africans” (their words not mine) imagine if celebrities refused to endorse luxury goods whose makers deal with the Mrs. Mugabes of Africa…