One common thing with most political establishments across the world is that they are usually sustained by the greed of those in power.
Many are times we tend to believe that it is only in Africa where political leadership is in the hands of selfish people who care more about their welfare than anything else.
But even in the West, politicians have been known to be the worst people to whom power was ever given. You can talk about the world wars, the war in Ukraine, the apartheid in Palestine and even the Donald Trump scandals. The madness of politicians knows no creed or colour.
It is quite unfortunate that innocent people have to be at the mercy of politicians who do not have their interests at heart.
It even becomes worse with African countries like ours, where politicians have to try and strike a balance between pleasing themselves and satisfying their foreign masters, who are our “former colonisers”.
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Those who know better have always maintained that colonialism never ended and that we feel the presence of the oppressor with every step we take.
Western countries that colonised Africa are still very much responsible for the fates of the countries they illegally took decades ago.
Today, African elites celebrate things that, at face value, put the former colonisers in good light. We are talking about things like scholarship opportunities for African students in western universities, economic aid (which has been questioned by several experts), western military interventions in Africa when there is “need”, and several other such small leaps.
What all this does is to obscure the negative impacts of the continuing western involvement in African affairs.
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Realising that the West never left makes us appreciate and understand that there is a lot of work we need to do to redeem ourselves.
Most of the leaders we have in Africa are colonial stooges and they are only in power to please their colonial masters who protect them from the rest of the masses.
This can be observed subtlety in countries like ours, but it is more apparent in West Africa, for example.
The British have always been discreet with their control over others—from their system of colonisation—which was separatist, to their proclamations of liberty and equality.
On the other hand, the French wanted and still want it all in the countries that they invaded back then. They control everything through African leaders who seek their protection.
As such, it should not be surprising to see the masses rising against their governments in West Africa. The coups in Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Gabon are a clear sign of some cancer – a people’s tiredness with farcical democracies that have never served them.
It has always been fashionable for African states to pretend to go with some western models of democracy, which they never put to practice.
On paper, we have governments of the people, by the people, but in reality, we are living under punitive regimes controlled by a few elites with the backing of foreign powers.
In such circumstances, the problem is that any act against these abusers is seen as an act against the will of the people.
In very cunning fashion, the powerful have succeeded in making us live under false consciousness. They have made us believe that the system of governance we are living under is the best there can be.
And, mind you, almost all politicians belong to a certain club – a cult – where they safeguard their interests in the guise of serving the people. So, when people are tired and a coup takes place, regional blocks, Western powers and the African Union will condemn it as injustice.
What we must know, as ordinary people, is that we do not really matter to politicians, but for our votes. Had African politicians had our best interests at heart, we would not be living as we do today.
It is absurd that members of Parliament, Cabinet ministers and the President are not affected by the struggles we face every day, and yet these are the people we expect to solve our problems.
Our pretence at democracy will always bear tragic results – whether in having nothing to offer to common people or in military disturbances that we are witnessing now across Africa. We are just not doing things right.
