Pope Francis in Africa: What can (should) you expect!

It is hard to substantiate what a papal visit can achieve but still a worthwhile exercise to undertake so that we can form some idea as to its benefits. What is already known even before the plane carrying Pope Francis touched down on Mandela’s continent is that we are welcoming a much loved, simple and people’s Pope. Africa then gets a chance to showcase its long held traditions of hospitality to their esteemed guest on his first travel to the continent.

Just those simple facts alone are enough to send the hearts of millions racing with excitement. But when the now St. John Paul II once visited the then Zaire, that bubble of excitement soon burst as the country plunged further into the chaos that is now the DRC. Not that it is the Pope’s fault but one struggles to capture the legacy of such a trip.

Excitement and a feeling of hope are certainly needed to a continent and countries that have been hit by extremist terrorist attacks (Kenya), torn to pieces by war (Central African Republic), and stuck in a protracted civil war with regional consequences (Uganda). With that troublesome décor, expect calls for religious tolerance, peace, unity and development that would benefit the poor to hit the ears of those who would not have otherwise listened had the pope said all those things without leaving the Vatican. But the thing is the Pope can say all those things from the Vatican and his message would have reverberated around the world. He does not even have to fly down South to mount an attack on the West for not distributing wealth equally and not caring about the environment. He has already got that under his belt by being already loved by Africans and putting out an encyclical (Laudato Si’) where he weaves a tapestry of climate change and Theology. So, making the financially costly and security risky trip must have much more tangible effects for Africa whether planned or a spontaneous equivalent of the former US speaker of the house of representatives who was reduced to tears as the pope addressed the chamber during his recent trip to Uncle Sam’s country and the aftermath is common knowledge!

Beyond Africa’s cultural hospitality that can be put on display by the Catholic hierarchy and the spiritual rejuvenation/revival that would only benefit a specific denomination, Pope Francis as an influential head of state cannot hand the prospect of changing lives in concrete terms to the fortuitous acts of the Holy Spirit in places where the religious and non-religious hold expectations of him.

To many, Pope Francis is the only man after Nelson Mandela who can walk into your house and tell you to get rid of one or two visible cobwebs in your crib and you thank him for pointing that out. Now, I will refrain from advancing a shopping list of all the things that need fixing here and there. However, it is worth noting that just south of the border from Kenya, there is a movement picking up pace. At the end of his two constitutionally terms of office, Tanzania has been blessed with a newly elected president who is sealing the deal with his people by dramatically cancelling official parties, reducing foreign travels of countless officials to save money and spend it on the needs of the people. What deals will Pope Francis seal with his hosts then: will he address tribalism and corruption issues in Kenya; convince some regional leaders to capitulate and relinquish power; and vow to never take up arms against each other? Or will it just be a matter of mopping up the Roman Catholic household and drafting in new wave of Catholic recruits?

Whatever would be the outcome of this papal visit, no one can dispute the fact that this Pope can almost do nothing and his smile alone will awaken something in people that no other human possible can. So, let miracles that leave nothing to chances happen!

 

Give in to fear and live like a dangling bat!

In normal circumstances, we want to maintain our equilibrium by having our feet on the ground. Such stability is needed for us to do all the normal things we enjoy or perhaps take for granted like: work, rest, drive, wine and dine, sell and shop, bank, fly, play and cheer, chat and laugh etc.,

That is until someone deliberately chucks hailstones on or steers a hurricane towards you in an attempt to disrupt your sense of normality. Acts of bullying, domestic violence, slavery, dictatorship and terrorism all aim to achieve one thing: to get you to dangle like a bat in fear. Then comes Mr Antoine Leiris who after losing his wife and being left alone with a one year old son in the wake of the Paris attacks, has decided to defy such imposition of fear. Instead of letting the stranglehold of fear to dictate his life, he has in quite a remarkable way decided to reclaim his normality in honour of his wife but also in defiance to a bat-like regime that requires not only him but the entire society to live in fear and hatred.

That said, we know that point-blank defiance (often accompanied with the deployment of military force) is only a starting point in a long process that requires us to use our most powerful weapon (education according to Nelson Mandela) to change attitudes. Reclaiming the ground of normality through education will also require more than spreading the values that need to be adopted but also making a convincing case about why we have to adopt some virtues such as tolerance among many others.

Facing tomorrow’s menace: ‘I hear YOU, do You hear ME?’

We are able to name the enemy we face as evidence can lead us to master minders of this and that terrorist attack however much the perpetrators would want to cover their tracks. The enemy’s ability to blend with innocent crowds makes the task of targeting them even harder and with that comes the challenge of gathering the intelligence that would unmistakeably point us to the right direction. But that is just a decent man and woman’s attempt to hunt down yesterday’s menace, hold him/her accountable and hopefully prevent similar actions in the future.

Focussed on the above mission, it is likely that the world would take its eyes off tomorrow’s menace. Following Paris attacks that left 129 people dead, most if not all nations were quick to send messages of condolences to the French president François Hollande and all French citizens. One even read ‘…my country will do everything it can to help in the fight against terrorism’. Supposing that message came from the North Korean leader, you would be excused to smile when noticing the irony in such a message given the state of fear to which his people are subjected.

This brings us to consider some African countries where all the French values of ‘liberté, égalité et fraternité’ are being trampled upon as countries’ constitutions are being torn to pieces to serve the interests of a few, those who dare express themselves are being locked up, free and fair elections are being deliberately jeopardised contributing to recurrent cycles of violence, poverty, miscarriages of justice, corruption, and cronyism. Dressed up in glittering suits while walking down the red carpet and rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful, some of these apparent allies (African leaders) against yesterday’s threat are in fact tomorrow’s menace to everything a free, democratic and wealthy society that we all aspire.

It therefore needs to be said that when the Cameroonians, Burundians, Congolese (DRC), Congolese (Brazzaville), to name just those few, changed their Facebook profiles in solidarity with France and the victims of the recent terrorist attacks, it was also a call for France (and the rest of the world) to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in upholding the values of liberty, equality and fraternity in their countries. That is if you believe, as is the case here, that oppressive regimes are as bad as Boko Haram, Al Shahab and all the other terrorist cells; and that corrupt governments are directly responsible for further national/regional instabilities, mass migration and a simmering hatred towards anyone rightly or wrongly thought to be responsible for personal misfortune!

“Thanks for the condolences but this is your last term of office”             

“ thanks for the message but here are the sanctions we are putting in place for lack of press freedom in your country”

“we appreciate your condolences but your assets will be seized until you prove to us how you earned them” are the sort of responses that Africans expect and not a complicit silence or vague tough talking without actions or even blatant endorsement!

Not in Allah’s name!

The values we all treasure were morbidly attacked on 13/11 in Paris. Since then, the investigative team have found a (getaway?) car used by the terrorists. On one level, such a development fills one with a fraction of hope that we will somehow get to the bottom of this albeit a little late just after innocent lives have been lost. On another level, it affirms yet again the conviction shared by many that the perpetrators (and their sympathisers/sponsors) are pursuing an false ideology.

So UTTERLY false that it contradicts itself to the point that you couldn’t imagine someone who has no respect for human life readying a getaway car to run for cover and save his/her own life unless they breathed the oxygen of contradiction. Killing and running for cover simply fly in the face of ‘do not kill a human being since Allah has declared it sacred’ (Quran VI, 151), ‘whoever wishes to be delivered from the fire and to enter Paradise should treat other people as he wishes to be treated’ (Sahih Muslim); and more importantly ‘Return evil with Kindness’ (Quran 13:22, 23:96, 41:34, 28:54, 42:40).

Not only are the terrorists less versed with Islam, those justifiably angry as a result of yesterday’s attacks might fall into the same trap of Indiscrimination and flouting of due process as the terrorists and attack a religion instead of obliterating the criminals and all the possible resources they use to distort reality and cause harm they can’t face themselves.

By obliterating, many will rightly think of military action. This however must be accompanied with other initiatives such as long/intense community based education programmes. Can you think of anymore?

Paris attacks (13/11/2015)

Beep! And it was a Facebook message from a close relative in Paris/France saying ‘I’m safe’ then I knew something heinously wrong must have happened. News feed on a number of TV channels in the morning of 14/11 were covering pretty much the same story of scores of dead after multiple attacks on soft spots across Paris. My 6 year old read it quietly, turned to me and asked ‘that’s not good, is it dad?’ ‘No, it’s not’ was my reply before changing channels.

But that’s exactly the point! That the Paris terrorist acts are so senseless and cowardly that they have begun to awaken a moral code that even children the age of 6 want restored: the respect for human dignity. One can only imagine all children from every home asking pretty much the same question. Unfortunately, it is also possible to imagine that the unlucky children living in households that are sympathetic to such an ideology being fed with a dietary instinct to kill.

It is an ideology rooted on a rotten sense of order that is believed to only come from such chaos. The terrorist’s idea of chaos stems from an erroneous belief that if you hit what people value most (human life) then they will submit to their demands. It is erroneous because the victims of these attacks and the rest of us do not fear death as such. We know we are all perishable entities anyway. However, the respect for human dignity is about allowing and enabling it to live until it is naturally unable to function. It is therefore the way these people have died that is unforgiveable!

It may be an impossible task to change the minds of those bent on killing innocent lives but one can only hope that nations will mobilise and put resources together to debilitate the monster not worth mentioning the name (s) even if this or that group claimed responsibility.

Rest in peace, gone but not forgotten!

What’s the point?

If the photo or title does not catch your attention, perhaps the story is pointless then! Or has it got to shock you to attract your attention? May be not, but that’s just a level at which we sometimes operate. We seem to be rushing, passing and only stopping when lifeless body parts and possessions are littered across an expanse of anarchy after something sinister had happened. Man-made disasters intended to draw as much attention as possible by maximising the degree of human and material destruction tend to highlight the values and beliefs that divide us.

Core uniting strands of our existence then take a tumble into an arguably ‘pointless’ blog such as this one and many others. But just as the idea that ‘we are from parallel worlds’ sets in, the more you delve into those thoughts of division the more you are likely to land on an oasis where the fate of our common humanity may have been sealed. Dare I suggest that ‘Savio’ and many other geographical spots across the world may just offer such a space that could afford you this kind of experience?

Interrupting their school routines in the beginning of winter, a group of youngsters in the North of England set off to a reclusive midlands’ countryside retreat centre (Savio) run by Salesians. As soon as they arrived, the place began to burst with youthful energy as the centre’s temporary occupants played, built, destroyed, sang, prayed, reflected, sat, stood, jumped, ate, slept, woke, wondered, solved and discovered.

They embarked on a discovery journey that involved bridge building with friends, family members, others in school life, and with the environment. Lurking in the background of all this was a startling fact that came alive in the moment of taking the above photo: ‘we build bridges to discover a common bridge – our common humanity’. Overturning all singlemindedness and perhaps keen to highlight our common destiny in this Catholic-run centre with total submission to Jesus Christ, was a youngster covered in a beautifully made head scarf (Hijab) submitting totally to Allah. Bizarre or hopeful, you might wonder!

To some, the entire experience summed up here by the moment this photo was taken is another reminder that love and not hatred, happiness and not sadness, prosperity and not despair, understanding and not conflict, sharing and not greed, forgiveness and not grudges, forward and not backward, together and not alone are just some of the common aspirations that bind us together.

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South Sudan: when ‘Peace Deal’ means ‘Delay the War Deal’

Scores of human deaths, 1.6 million people displaced, above 70% of the population experiencing food shortages are just some of the facts about the war-torn South Sudan (SS). Even if such a profile cannot be compared with the 6 million + dead and world record breaker in rape cases that is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) just south of the border, it is nevertheless saddening to think that the joys of independence of Africa’s youngest nation were short lived as SS found itself plunged into a deadly war between the sitting President Salva Kiir and his former/current deputy Riek Machar.

That said it is always a cause for celebration when wars, small or big, end or let us say when a truce is observed and gun fires fall silent. So, while admitting that SS has been a shattered dream, with a modicum of optimism, the Kenyan President Kenyatta described the recent peace deal between the warring parties as ‘all opportunity and no obstacles’ agreement. It is however human nature to want to see beyond the political razzmatazz and critically absorb some of the information that we are being bombarded with.

Firstly, President Salva signed the peace deal at the 11^th hour after failing to convince the peace brokers to address his long list of reservations. As if anyone needed reminding that someone was not a willing signatory but perhaps being pressurised to commit to what otherwise could be described as ‘delay the war deal’.

Secondly, beyond the long term stability of the region, some of those ‘peace’ brokers such as Sudan, Uganda and Kenya had individual short term interests in getting this deal signed which earned the Sudanese President (omar al-Bashir) some positive press for a man who cannot leave his country without someone asking for him to be arrested and be transferred to the International Criminal Court; the Ugandan leader who after three decades in power is seeking another term and therefore keen to ward off criticism of life presidency by showing that he is still needed for the progress not only of his country but that of the region. Add to this are the reported (arms) sanctions that the Security Council and especially the US government were threating to put in place if the ‘Peace deal’ a.k.a ‘delay the war deal’ had not been signed.

Corned by a foray of multiple interests, the warring parties had to eat humble pie and not only sign on the dotted lines but also agree to share the national cake. Just to clarify, there are some good points that if implemented in good faith could transform SS: among other things there is the promise of ‘free and fair’ elections to be held 60 days prior to the 30 month long transition period elapses and most significantly the Truth, Reconciliation and Healing Commission that is to follow.

However, the reservations raised by President Salva Kiir over the ambiguity of the chain of command of the armed forces cannot be dismissed especially when you have warring parties who clearly have not wholeheartedly gotten fed up with further bloodshed and perhaps scheming to outsmart each other.

But may be the clue is in President Museveni’s words when he said ‘this is the wrong war fought in the wrong place and at the wrong time’, suggesting perhaps that ‘there is a right war fought in the right place at the right time’. Let us hope that he wasn’t referring to Uganda’s own wars imposed on other people elsewhere (the DRC for instance) in recent history. But in reference to South Sudan, only President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar can prove the doubters wrong that this was a true ‘Peace deal’. However, two and half months down the line since the deal was signed, news report from Africa’s youngest nation suggests that ‘former’ foes are stockpiling arms feeding into the suspicion that this may have just been a ‘delay the war deal’. Cometh the hour, cometh the man and Africa and indeed the world will not forgive you for anything less than Peace, true democracy and development for the people!

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Just before you share, retweet or repost!

Not every saying from a famous person must be retweeted or reposted. When a saying does not make sense, it may be a good idea to point out the flaw before discarding it and it ends up on someone else’s wall unfiltered; #CriticalCitizenship demands it!

Here is one from the former United Nations’ Secretary General Koffi Annan:

“Europe is a symbol of freedom, prosperity and justice that attracts immigrants. At a time when the EU is not popular within its own borders, Europeans should reflect on the significance of their popularity abroad. Refugees and migrants should not be regarded merely as beneficiaries of Europe’s bounty: they also represent an opportunity for Europe itself”

While Mr Annan makes a number of points that would energise the kind hearted, this quote leaves a sower taste in most people’s mouths. First of all, on an existential level, it is healthy for people to experience self-love as emerging form their inner most selves rather than depend on others loving you in order to ignite that fire within you. For those Europeans asking tough questions about the significance of the EU, It is ultimately going to boil down to their self-assessment of what the union has meant for them not on how popular they are abroad. That however should not stop the rest of the world from appreciating some of the values that the European Union stands for.

Secondly, and finally just to keep it brief, most migrants do not make Europe their home because they hate their countries of origin. The basic truth is, while EU is popular for migrants and refugees, most of these people are attracted to it because it is the closest thing that resembles the sort of countries they want their homelands to turn into. So, rather than asking for Europe to become more generous towards immigrants, the likes of Mr Koffi Annan should be spending their energy on having tough words with various dictators and corrupt officials around the world that make their countries living hells that leave people with no option but to seek refuge in places they wish they had in their home countries in the first place!

By the way, this is worth sharing, retweeting and reposting!