Africa’s future and prosperity depend on her ability to unite against external forces, Kirunda Kivejinja, the second deputy prime minister and minister for East African Community Affairs, has said.
Speaking in Algiers, Algeria, at an international conference last week, Kivejinja said Africa had been colonized and its resources plundered in the past because it lacked strong states. He said the invading colonial forces took advantage of that weakness.
“The aggressive nature and spirit of domination drove these European nations to wage intermittent wars against their African neighbours. These wars were inconclusive but ended up in plunder and capture of slaves for their empires,” Kivejinja said, according to a statement released by his office.
The theme of the conference, which was held between November 29 and 30, was: Algeria’s contribution to the liberation of Africa. Kivejinja acknowledged that while some African rulers tried to put up some fierce resistance against the Europeans, leading to their death or exile, the superiority of the weapons in the hands of the colonizers enabled them to establish mastery over the African continent.
Kivejinja said for Africa to move from its past tragic history, it must appreciate the strategic bottlenecks that made it the subject and object of these events for a good part of human history.
Kivejinja appreciated Algeria’s role in the liberation of other African states, saying it had given moral and financial assistance to many countries.
He said the spirit of resistance to colonial rule exhibited by Algerian parties such as the Front de-Liberation Nationale (FLN), inspired liberation movements elsewhere on the continent.
Ramtane Lamamra, Algeria’s minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said his country remains faithful to its contribution and sense of belonging to Africa.
“We share the same principles of history and liberation. Algeria looks forward to investment opportunities and partnership to strengthen African economies and cooperation,” Lamamra said.
At the end of the conference, participants resolved to strengthen their determination to unite Africa; to appreciate the role of archives and demand the return of African archives by Europeans, and to put in place a computing continental African system where countries can share information related to African struggles.
ekiggundu@observer.ug