Open Letter to President Barack Obama: You can no longer ignore Africa

US President Barack Obama Photo/ Whitehouse.gov

Dear Mr President

Many thanks are in order for granting me, and many of my countrymen, bragging rights with your occupancy of the White House. Who would not be proud of being linked, even if very distantly, to the most powerful man in the world?

However, this is not the reason am writing to you today. I am writing about an issue that cannot wait, even if you are obviously going through very busy times, with a crucial election in which you are hoping for a second term, only about 200 days away. Nonetheless, please spare me a couple of minutes.

Sir, it is about the just concluded process of naming the next World Bank boss. I am disappointed that you, who mesmerised not only the American people, but also the rest of the world, with your ‘Change We Can Believe In‘ mantra that swept you into power in 2008, would back such a process that is firmly intent on maintaining the status quo.

President Obama with incoming World Bank president Photo/ zimbio.com

Mr President, you and I know that times have changed since the back in the day pact, which folklore has it, ensures that only an American candidate can head the World Bank. I had hoped that you would pleasantly surprise me by backing the African candidate, until I saw the announcement from World Bank, confirming your choice.

The decision may have been made already, but I wish to submit to you, with all due respect, that Africa is no longer the passive by stander in global happenings.With its growing role in the geopolitical space, Africa can no longer be ignored. And with the quality of candidate that Africa had in Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, it should have been listened to.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Photo/ http://www.fmf.gov.ng/

I do not mean to lecture you on matters that I know you are well aware of, but this is a gripe that I have always had with the international institutions.

As the Good Book says: ‘We will always remind you of these things even though you know them’.

Yours

Distant cousin

 

Open Letter to Safaricom CEO. RE: Unfairly high roaming charges

Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore Image/ techcentral.co.za

Good day Sir!

Let me begin by congratulating you for shattering the myth that it is lonely and boring at the top. Before you came along, who knew that the chief executive of one of the most profitable telecoms in the region would be an active citizen of the social media, and still find time to appear in music videos?

Having said that, and with all due respect, it seems that you are determined to make my life, and others of my ilk, unbearable. How else would one explain your subscribers being made to pay KSh14 per minute to receive calls when roaming in South Africa, for instance, and that when the line has no airtime, no incoming calls can go through.

Never mind that Vodacom, on whose network Safaricom subscribers roam, is charging its subscriber absolutely nothing for incoming calls while roaming on its network. The same treatment is accorded to eight other networks in the continent. I am not overly familiar with how roaming charges are fixed, but I would assume that if you are not charging Vodacom subscribers to roam on the Safaricom network, the reverse should apply. Think about it.

Of what benefit is mobile penetration to the most interior of villages if such cross-border barriers to seamless communication like high roaming charges are still encouraged to thrive?

And by the way, these charges were only introduced recently, since last year incoming calls were absolutely free. So, what changed?

In conclusion, I leave you with the words of Chinua Achebe, who opined that ‘A word will stay around as long as there is work for it to do’. My gripes will not go away until they are responded to.

Yours Faithfully,

Subscriber number 072******1

Safaricom logo. Image/ biztechafrica.com

 

Open Letter to Kenya’s President, Mwai Kibaki: ‘Evil triumphs when good men (and women) keep quiet’.

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki

Dear Sir,

I know it is wrong, even treasonable in some quarters, to covet what belongs to you. The Good Book forbids this too. However, allow me to make a confession: I have never wished that I was president of Kenya like I did today.

Sir, do not get me wrong. My latest craving has nothing to do with the trappings of power that your office attracts, at least not the motorcade, bodyguards, et al. Of course, we would all love to have these things but this is not the purpose of my note today.

I am not sure if newspapers get to State House but flipping through today’s daily, I saw situations screaming for your intervention. That is the reason why I wish I was in your shoes, I’d have cracked the whip big time.

Take for instance the very high cost of sugar in the country. Apparently, sugar retailers are to blame for the very exorbitant prices that consumers have to bear, according to the newspaper, quoting a report by parliament’s agriculture committee.

Then, in the same newspaper, claims by a Member of Parliament are reported that five Kenyan banks were behind the slide of the Shilling a few weeks ago.

As if that is not enough, another investigation ordered by one of your ministries, finds out that fraudsters are fleecing unsuspecting citizens of this country, selling to them public land with fake land title deeds.

Sir, allow me to remind you that you are citizen number one; the father of the nation. Something needs to be done about these issues. Impunity should not be allowed to thrive. I believe it is within your power to stop it in its tracks.

Alternatively, please grant my wish and let me hold your seat for a day or two. It has been a while since you went on holiday; I would gladly hold brief for you. If I could have the presidency for a day, I would set my boys on the fleecing traders, issue a directive on the currency allegation and get something to be done about the land scams.

Please think about this, sir. I leave you with the words of a wise sage of yore, who said:

‘Evil triumphs when good men (and women) keep quiet’.

Yours Faithfully

Kenyan Citizen No. 22****2*

 

Open Letter to African Youth: You can feed the continent

African youth can feed the continent. Photo/ sciencedaily.com

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with a lot of concern that I pen this letter to you.  Concerned that we are sitting by and watching our people starve to death. And indeed very concerned that we are not doing what is within our power to change the situation.

You must have followed the stream of very disturbing images of people starving in the Horn of Africa due to the famine that struck the region. Latest reports indicate that it could get worse.

I am sure, as young Africans, we could do something about this. And this is not just making contributions to mitigate the humanitarian crisis. We can contribute a long term solution as well.

Let me show you how. We like griping about being referred to as the leaders of tomorrow and not being given a chance to lead today. How about taking over leadership as far as feeding our continent is concerned?

Perhaps, a good starting point would be decolonizing our minds. Popular opinion has it that agriculture is not just a poor man’s activity but also one for retirees and everyone else who has nothing better to do with themselves.

Politics too, in many parts of Africa, has been made to look like an old people’s job, anyway. But this has not made it any less appealing to us. Infact there has always been constant jostling by young people to be given a chance to make a go at political leadership.

Often, young people say they want a chance in leadership ostensibly to deliver change. Nowhere needs change as much as African food security. Agricultural production needs new energy and the boundless energy of youth to turn it around.

It is time agriculture became the real backbone of not just our national, but also personal economies. We need to change this perception that agriculture is a poor man’s job and make it pay. We need to think outside the box. Agri-business is definitely the way to go.

Brothers and sisters, it is a reality that unemployment has hit very high levels across the continent. Perhaps, embracing agriculture could help change this. This would be literally killing two birds with one stone: providing jobs for ourselves and other young people while feeding the nation.

In conclusion, I leave you with the very famous words of John F Kennedy: Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

Yours

Fellow African

 

Open Letter to King Mswati III: Everyone cannot be wrong

King Mswati III (Photo By http://www.flickr.com/photos/whltravel/4303960812/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

Your Royal Highness,

Let me begin by begging your indulgence. I am not well versed with the intricacies of royalty protocol and might, unknowingly, say a few things that are unpleasant to a monarch’s ears.

I know things have been rough and tough for you lately. Probably, it even escapes your mind that September is here again – when you usually preside over the Reed Dance. That is one occasion that makes you the envy of many men.

Anyway, the position that you find yourself in at the moment is by no means enviable. No man would want to go round with a begging bowl and is faced by protests back home.

Thank God for good neighbours, like South Africa, though. It is not every day that you get such friendly loans (or donations, whatever it is you got) from within the continent – with no strings attached. Probably, your connections to the presidency played a part, but that is beside the point.

This is the future that we want for this continent: when we will be able to bail out one another from amongst ourselves, without having to reach out beyond Africa.

With the same gladness that you accept bailout packages from fellow Africans, is the same way you should accept unsolicited advice like mine.

Sir, the fact of the matter is that everyone cannot be wrong. It is about time you considered political and economic reforms in Swaziland, even if it threatens your kingdom. It is for the greater good!

For starters, there is absolutely no justification for not having political parties in your country; and you also need to check your lavish lifestyle. I am not a soothsayer but I can assure you that if only you did these two, everyone would stop breathing down your neck. It is that simple. Think about it, Your Highness.

See you in Mbabane in September! Hope you will have sorted out these issues by then so that we can concentrate on enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.

Yours,

 Fellow African

 

Open Letter to the IMF Board: It will no longer be business as usual

 

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Probably, this will be the last letter you read before heading into the conclave to choose who becomes the next head of the International Monetary Fund. I really hope it is indeed the last correspondence, and that you will pay attention to my thoughts on this issue that has, deservedly, drawn huge global interest.

From the look of things, and if media reports are anything to go by, the die seems as good as cast over who will be the next head of this very important institution on which you sit. Word on the street is that, in line with what I hear being called ‘tradition’, this position has to be held by a European. As if to lend credence to this line of thoughts, a name has been floated, ostensibly with huge support, allegedly, amongst your ranks.

As an African and one who believes in the capability of the people of this continent, this is a very disturbing move. It is unfair, to say the least.

That one’s suitability for the task is being judged by where they come from, and not the content of their skills and abilities, to paraphrase the famous words of Martin Luther King Junior, is very disturbing.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I do not mean to engage you in an economic lecture because I am well aware that this is your forte but allow me to remind you a basic fact that the emerging market, of which Africa is part, today plays a significant role in the global economy and can no longer be treated as insignificant.

What better way is there to demonstrate your belief in the emerging markets and their abilities, which is often talked about, than to give opportunity to an illustrious son or daughter from these regions, and who are not in short supply, a chance to steer IMF?

The International Monetary Fund (Photo/ abc.net.au)

As we await ‘white smoke’ from the IMF conclave, my prayer is that the interests of the entire globe will be considered as you execute this important task. Whichever way you decide, I submit to you that it will no longer be business as usual in future engagements with the emerging market.

In conclusion, I leave you with a common adage, ‘Actions speak louder than words’. Let your actions vindicate you.
Yours faithfully,
Son of Africa

 

Open Letter to Kenyan political party leaders: Tweeting and Facebooking is not enough

Let me begin by acknowledging your increasingly visible presence on the social media networks. I can barely think of any of you who is neither on Facebook nor Twitter. I am sure it must be the vote you are after!

It is always refreshing to bump into your tweets and Facebook status updates, waxing lyrical about all these great things you intend to do for this country. This indicates that you are interested in the votes of the youth, who make the bulk of Kenyans on social media.

From the look of things, it seems, your strategy is working fine, if the thousands of Facebook friends and Twitter followers are anything to go by.

However, allow me to submit to you that these numbers could be deceiving, if that is as far as you are willing to go for the youth vote. You have to do more to translate the friends and followers into voters. And it is not rolling on the ground like one of your colleagues in parliament recently did.

For starters, your political parties are very youth unfriendly. None of them has a credible vibrant youth league or wing (or whatever else you may want to call it). Examples abound of parties that have youth arms that serve as incubators of national leadership. South Africa’s Africa National Congress is perhaps the best example. Global icon Nelson Mandela honed his leadership skills in the party’s youth league, and went on to lead the party and eventually the country. To your parties though, the youth wings are pockets of rubble-rousers and mayhem causers. It is thus laughable when I see you romanticise the challenges facing the Kenyan youth and even go as far as declaring that you have the magic wand that would solve unemployment and its attendant vices.

I am not sure if you are aware that as I write this to you, the elections of the National Youth Council that would have given the Kenyan youth a voice in the destiny of the country are being blocked. Your silence either means that you are not aware or you do not care. Probably, you are believers in the concept of the youth being ‘leaders of tomorrow’ (whenever that is).

In conclusion, I leave you with the wise words of French poet, Victor Hugo, ‘There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come’.

Yours,

Kenyan youth

 

Open Letter to Harold Camping: You are not alone

Dear Sir,

I know it is unfair for me to burden you with my problems since you probably have enough of your own at the moment.

However, wherever you are, I just want you to know that you are not alone in this. There are several of us going through as tough, if not worse, times as you are. But, like you, I remain hopeful, or at least struggling to keep the hope.

I am writing to give you a glimpse of my life since last Saturday.

Isn’t it usually said that a problem shared is a problem half solved? For this reason, kindly allow me to open up my heart about my kind of life these past few days.

As I write this letter to you, I am living on the streets of Johannesburg. I have nowhere to call home since I sold off all my belongings and spent it on publicizing the May 21 date and paying for my accommodation in a hotel and a few others, waiting for the Rapture.

I have had to endure ridicule, besides resigning and adjusting to my newfound place in society as a tramp, depending on alms for survival. The cold winter nights, mostly on an empty stomach, are really tough. I cannot even think of going back to the township to restart my life because I disposed off everything that I had, including my house and business.

It is confusing and I have sometimes come to the point of losing hope but somehow, I have been able to soldier on.

This morning I woke up to brilliant news. I noticed that you have set a new date for Rapture, in October, and I really hope that this time it happens because I want to get away from this life. I already have nothing to my name. It is tough but I am willing to push myself just this once towards the prize.

Yours in faith,

Follower

 

Open Letter to Wycliffe Oparanya, the Kenyan Minister for National Planning

Kenya's Planning Minister, Wycliffe Oparanya holds the Kenya Economic Survey 2011, which estimates that 14 million Kenyans are vulnerable to food insecurity. Photo/ standardmedia.co.ke

Dear Sir,

I am not sure whether it would be appropriate for me to offer my congratulations to you for the good news of an impressive economic performance, or if this is a preserve of your higher ups. Blame it on my poor mastery of protocol.

Perhaps I should not even be proffering compliments on account of the presentation that you made. Some sections of the Kenya Economic Survey 2011 struck me as very disturbing.

Of what use is an impressive economic growth if up to 35% of the population is classified as ‘vulnerable’ with regard to food security? Of what use is the performance of the economy fitting snugly with your predictions if one in every three Kenyans does not have access to sufficient and nutritious food supply at all times?

Sir, my humble submission is that this country needs much more than to ‘widen social protection policies’ to accommodate these 14 million Kenyans as you suggested. Consider the maxim that ‘we live in order to eat’ and juxtapose it with the fate of a person who does not have enough to eat. This is a matter of life and death. A state of emergency.

As you rightly mentioned, we need to solve into this issue of food insecurity once and for all. However, it calls for more than just talk. Listening to you pronounce how ‘we need’ to do all these fantastic things that would put food on the table of most, if not all Kenyans, one would think that’s all we need (that word again) to have them done. It sounded like the ‘Let there be’ story of creation.

Maybe am a tad too harsh. But what do you expect of me when a seed shortage falls bang in the middle of the planting season? And when a bumper harvest goes to waste because there are no proper storage facilities?

This is from a country that has this lofty vision, nay dream, of turning itself into ‘a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life’ and poverty alleviated from its face in the next 19 years.

I am not a pessimist; neither am I downplaying the things that you and the rest of the Kenyan government is doing. Mine is a simple message: we can do more. And that is where you, as the Honourable Planning Minister come in.

As one illustrious son of our land, Prof Calestous Juma has noted in his latest book, The New Harvest, political will makes a huge difference in changing the status quo.

In conclusion, I leave you with the wise words of Winston Churchill, who said, “He who fails to plan, is planning to fail”. Over to you, Mr Minister!

Yours Compatriot

 

Open Letter to Thabo Mbeki, former president of South Africa

Former president of South Africa Photo/ newzimbabwe.com

Dear Sir,

It gives me great pleasure to address you in this note. I know that this might strike you as unusual since, I guess, it is not every day that you get engaged in conversations by ‘ordinary’ folk like me.

Sir, I admire the passion you have for Africa’s development and prosperity, and I share the faith in this continent – that is why I am writing this to you.

I am responding to a suggestion you made at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town a few days ago  over the establishment of an African school of public policy.

Much as I think that an institution that helps African governments develop and implement homegrown policies would be a great idea, I am afraid it might not amount to much. I am not a policy expert, and neither am I a pessimist, but I am convinced that the bigger problem lies in our lack of discipline.

Our governments are known for lopsided priorities, usually based on whether or not it makes political sense. This is one of the reasons why most of the well-crafted visions and ideas rarely take off and the potential of Africa remains just that – potential.

Not that we have incapable individuals as our leaders; far from it. I guess these are just nice gentlemen and a lady who are victims of circumstance. Sir, you have been in the top seat and I am sure this sounds like a familiar scenario.

Therefore, I submit to you that in itself, an African school of policy might not translate into much for the continent’s development.

However, it is a step in the right direction. It is for this reason that I leave you with the wise words of Lao-Tzu, a Chinese philosopher: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.

Yours faithfully,

Proud African

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