COVID-19 has Changed the World-
LUMUMBA
Patrick-Lumumba
Emmanuel Chichi – Bauchi
Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba Known as PLO Lumumba, a Kenyan Law Professor has expressed serious concern about the COVID-19 crisis in Africa and the way African Leaders are trying to combat the dreadful virus. He says time has come for Africa to act differently. The eloquent legal icon unequivocally stated that since the Pan-African Movement, this is the first time Africa is speaking in one voice. He reiterates that the unity of Africa is not one to be sloganeer about but must be taken seriously by all African Leaders.
Speaking further via YouTube broadcast, Lumumba showered encomium on the President of the African Development bank Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and other African Leaders who have stressed the need for Africa to speak in one voice. Lumumba emphasized that a situation where some Africans were denied treatment in some countries like China, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany etc because of the colour of their skin, makes it an issue of great concern that Africa must wake up to the challenge of critical infrastructural improvement and the healthcare system.
In 2017, Lumumba gave a moving speech to youths in Kenya on importance of making bold choice at the “Fearless Conference.” He emphasized the issue of African youth fleeing the continent. Lumumba blamed them on the economic hardships and the “misgovernment” from their leaders. Lumumba encouraged African leaders to rise to the challenge of changing the fortunes of the continent. He reiterated this issue again in his broadcast of 5th May, 2020; challenging Africans; old and young to come back and build Africa. He outlined a number of criteria:
Strength and Encouragement Of Africa
Professor Lumumba lauded the achievement of Madagascar for producing herbal tonic known as COVID-Organics (CVO), for the treatment of Coronavirus patients and Senegal for producing personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Andry Nirina Rajoelina of Madagascar and Macky Sall of Senegal have done the needful in this critical time according Lomumba. He also said: ‘heart of human civilization in the world is such that everybody has their own chosen path of action. They are those whose duty it is to talk; they are those whose duty it is to act; and they are those whose only claim to fame is that they enjoy the combined efforts of those who talk and those who act.
Re-Awakening Pan- Africanism
On pan-Africanism, Lumumba said that women and men of action require synergizing on a daily basis through talk and the world is such that everyone has their own chosen path of action, the African continent must now ponder having seen how COVID-19 has ravaged the continent. “There is no country that is not in some kind of crises weather it is lockdown to level five as we have seen in South Africa; the lock downs that we have seen in Kampala/Uganda; in Rwanda or the containment that we have seen in Nairobi Kenya or the containment on top down that we have seen in Kinshasa or the lockdown that we have seen in Lagos or in Freetown in Sierra Leone.”
The question then is what must we do in order to ensure that we save our continent and our people after the Coronavirus pandemic? Lumumba said that “I have had the occasion to listen to very many Africans. There are those who have talked about the devastating effect on the economy as espoused by the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Adesina Akinwumi of Nigeria talking about how Africa has to be organized. I can’t agree more with Dr. Akinwumi that Africa must organize differently.” Furthermore, he said the President of South Africa Tamela Cyril Ramaphosa who is the chair of African Union is also talking about the need for Africa to cooperate differently. He said having listened to President Paul Kagame talking about East African community, to Muhammadu Buhari who is the current chair of ECOWAS, to the President of Tanzania, there is indication that going forward, we must do that which is in the best interest of Africa. “I’ve also listened to brothers, kin and kith who are outside the continent of Africa, listened to our brothers who are in the Caribbean who are talking about the need for greater collaboration between our friends and our kith and kin in the Caribbean, I’ve also heard those who are in the United States of America and those who are in Europe for the first time since we started talking about Pan-Africanism and African Unity. Africans are now recognizing that our long-term health not only demands but requires that we look at those things which are in our best interest.”
Issues Africa must Address
Lumumba said to guarantee or ensure or promise ourselves as African prosperity; we must begin to engage in conversation where people think that Africa should not be seen as a dumping ground. “African Union must not act and be seen as a toothless Bulldog. African Union should be seen as an existing institution which must be supported and even when Leaders disagree with each other, they must do so in agreeable fashion. Right now, the African Union has established Centers for Disease Control and there is one in central Africa, there is one in West Africa which is based in Nigeria, there is one in north Africa which is based in Egypt, there is one in southern Africa which is based in Zambia and there is one in eastern Africa which is based in Nairobi Kenya. What we must ask ourselves going forward is how we can fund and energize those institutions so that if there is another pandemic like Coronavirus, we will be prepared for it beyond the public health issues which we must grapple with. Going forward, when we talk about African Unity; we must talk about certain foundational issues; we must ensure that there is free movement of labour across the continent of Africa; how are we going to ensure that things like xenophobia are eliminated in the discourse and in our options in Africa.”
He asked: How are we going to ensure that we have a single passport that will enable us to move across the continent of Africa? How are we going to ensure that our economies are revived after the Coronavirus? We must remember the institutions and the countries that have been lending to Africa are themselves devastated -United States of America may not have enough money to spare to give us, European Union will not have enough money to spare to give us, the Asian Development Bank will not have enough money to spare to give us; the study in countries like Denmark, Norway and Sweden will not have enough money. So that there is a sense in which we must look inwards by tasking ourselves how we can reorganize our budgets.”
He said: If we look at many African countries now there is a discipline disproportionate amount of money that is taken into buying arms and armaments in the defense sector and the money must now moved into the health sector. Similarly Lumumba advocated that money must not be moved into the small and medium sized companies and enterprises; it must be used to create opportunities for innovation and invention for young men and women.
To him: Nearly two hundred and thirty million Africans in the Diaspora (larger than the population of Nigeria-the most populous black nation in the world) “if you want the best doctors in Nigeria, some of them would be found in Europe and America, if you want the best doctors from Ghana some of them would be found in Europe and America, if you want the best doctors from the Democratic Republic of Congo, they will be found in Paris and Brussels, if you want the best doctors from Equatorial Guinea some of them will be found in Madrid, if you want the best doctors in from Angola and Mozambique some of them will be found in Lisbon and if you want all these people who are outside of the continent, this is the time you my good friend from the United States of America Rosenthal who has been trying to establish a Boolean bond which is gold denominated; this is the time for us to consider migrating from the dollar and from the Chinese Yuan; in order to create an African currency.”
Among many other issues raised in his address, Lumumba said “when one looks at Africa, all the protocols, all the treaties, all the policies that we ever needed are already there. What we must now do as many of us are saying; to move in the arena of implementation, we must not remain on the drawing board for too long thinking that will gain perfection on the drawing board. We must now move into the ground onto the ground and make mistakes as we go along and some of the things that we must also think about to ensure that we reduce conflicts in Africa, because conflicts undermine economic development and also compromise public health issues.”
