From: Peter Cross <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: 'Eddie Cross' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 7:26 PM
> Subject: RE: [Mwananchi] Military Budgets Versus Decrease in Health
Budgets
> in 3rd World countries
>
>
> Eddie - I was going to say that it is not really worth responding,
however,
> I couldn't really resist - so here is my two cents to add to the malaise.
>
> I had a Nigerian professor at university who said that it was time that
the
> colonial legacy get relegated to history, that it was time to look beyond
> the notion of Robert Rotberg's "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" and to
> begin to look at how Africans underdeveloped Africa. It is too easy to
> blame everything on the west, although there there is a lot of blame that
> can be placed on the West - ultimately what good is this going to do?
There
> will also be no progress through passing the buck. It is not worth trying
> to respond to all of the issues mentioned by the previous two - what is
> important across all the issues is that Africans start to take
> responsibility for Africa's problems.
>
> The issue of Arms
> We can talk about Western arms sales to Africa - but these arms are not
the
> weapon of choice in Africa's civil conflicts - rather it is the Machete,
it
> is the rusty old Kalashnikov - and against woman it is all too often the
> male member. These weapons are not being trafficked by unscrupulous
> westerners, but by Africans to Africans for use by Africans against
> Africans. At the same time there is a problem with arms transfers to
> Africa, and the African nations need to work together to tackle this
> problem. This is a problem of both supply and demand - on the supply side
a
> lot of pressure is being placed on producer governments to limit arms
> transfers to countries that do not have legitimate defence needs. The UK
> government has actually got the strongest arms export controls of any arms
> producer country, this together with the EU Code of Conduct on Arms
Exports
> provides a fairly effective control over arms sales to Africa. Obviously
> more can be done - and is being done - to make these controls tighter
still.
> On an aside - the UK is notoriously bad at producing small arms and light
> weapons. The limited production that the UK has in small arms is of such
> poor quality that the UK's own defence forces won't use these weapons! On
> the demand side it is up to Africans to work together to reduce the
demand,
> to remove the need for firearms from the equation.
>
> Minerals
> In order to effectively mine the various minerals that Africa has beneath
> her red soil, or to drill into her oil fields a certain amount of
> infrastructure is necessary. This means roads, it means railway lines, it
> means having a trained work-force to extract these minerals. Conflict and
> the resultant lack of development in Africa has destroyed these roads and
> railways. Conflict has turned her skilled work-force into guerrilla
> fighters, into peasant farmers, into refugees, and for the lucky few, into
> intellectual diaspora. This leaves me with a question about the theory
> posed here - if the West only wants Africa's wealth and if the West is at
> the heart of Africa's conflict, isn't this an impossible contradiction?
>
> The case of Angola is particularly sad, oil has most certainly provided
the
> fuel for its long civil war. How much responsibility must fall at the
feet
> of America's oil industry? In this case I would say that a lot of the
blame
> can be found there. The oil industry is famously dirty and unscrupulous.
> Almost as dirty and unscrupulous as Angola's politians who, along with
Jonas
> Savimbi's UNITA, have benefited hugely from tapping this extremely
lucrative
> source of corrupt wealth. Hand in hand the politicians and the oil execs
> have provided a formidable force for Angola's destruction - one could not
> have done it without the other.
>
> The greatest enemy of Africa is not her resources. It is also not the
West.
> The greatest enemy of Africa and of her people is the handful of Africans
> that are happy to step on her development and on her people in order to
use
> her resources for personal gain, in order to ensure that little pockets of
> power remain under their control. Africa's enemy - and the enemy of
> Africans is the attitude that others are at fault, that others carry the
> responsibility for Africa's problems.
>
> Peter
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eddie Cross [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: 04 February 2003 13:32
> To: peter cross
> Subject: Fw: [Mwananchi] Military Budgets Versus Decrease in Health
> Budgets in 3rd World countries
>
>
> How do we respond to this sort of stuff.
>
> Eddie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mulindwa Edward <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Rwanda
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 4:21 PM
> Subject: [Mwananchi] Military Budgets Versus Decrease in Health Budgets in
> 3rd World countries
>
>
> Netters
> This is a very intresting reading on how we look on Africa's problem from
a
> very shallow way.
> I wish for example, the writer would tell me a nation which spends more on
> health that its military, I wish he could tell me that, but for the sake
of
> creating those scenes again we face day today to express in our faces of
how
> Africa has failed he has made his number one to stress it. Africa spends
> more on Military than on health.
> It is true wars are fuelled by developed countries, but not only to sell
> their weapons, actually developed countries get more from Africa by
looting
> our resources than by selling weapons to Africa. And if any one took the
> time to look on figures you would find that we know Great Britain has
> increased the amounts of small weapons they sell to Africa, but we do not
> know the figure of how much they take by the looting of minerals for
> example. Developed countries do not sell weapons to Africa to fuel civil
> wars. For they get nothing out of Africans who are dead. They create those
> wars so that they maintain the dictator in power for he has allowed them
to
> loot it or in cases like Uganda for Museveni has allowed them to use
Uganda
> to access their loot in Congo. There is a very huge amount in monies that
> developed countries collect out of Africa that is why they maintain the
> killers in power.
> Now Rwanda's case is very interesting, By this posting some body out there
> is telling us that the Rwanda genocide of 1994 is the one which has
created
> a wound of hetrade? So let me get this straight. Rwanda was a good nation
> with out a problem and with no hate of each other and some one out of the
> blue started to kill other people? Well then may be we need to go back and
> read the history of Rwanda and find out what caused this problem. For I
was
> born way back before 1994 in Uganda and we had Rwandese in Uganda looking
> for refugee. What were they running away from? We know too that Obote
played
> a very vital role into seeing that Rwanda issues are settled in a civil
> manner and it was due to Obote that we never got a genocide in Rwanda,
until
> when Museveni the Killer came into play. But that was way back before
1994.
> Let us go on Angola. Why does Angola need to be helped to developed?
Angola
> is estimated to have more minerals than DRC, but there is a part of
equation
> that you are not mentioning. Today United States is doing almost 90% of
all
> businesses in Angola and they have been doing so since time memorial, but
> their catch is that they are digging daily and daily minerals out of
Angola.
> In front of starving kids. The only way to help Angola today is United
> States to get out of Angola. We as African must get the strength to make
> that call. Yes we know they do not have hospitals yes we know they do not
> have roads yes we know the land if fertile, but until when Angolans are
> allowed to use their country, to use their resources, I am not going to
sit
> here and blame them, for we have blamed Africans for centuries but we fear
> to tell the rest of the story. Let the Americans get out of Angola then we
> will re assess the situation.
> Let me Jump here to Sierra Leone. Who exactly do you want to put money
into
> health care in this country? This country is under UK Belgium France you
> name it, let me tell you straight that those are the people you must ask
> those questions not the amputees.
>
> Listen look here, on all countries that you are listing, what is common?
It
> is minerals in all of them. All nations you are listing, have minerals in
> them or access to countries with minerals in them, that is why you have
> these killings. May be we must move this argument a step further and
wonder
> why when ever any African nation has minerals or access to minerals we
have
> these wars in which millions of our people die day and night. Secondly can
> we look to see who is in this war and funding it, for we can not state
that
> rebels are the ones who fund these wars, surely there is a developed
country
> which funds that war as it is getting access to the minerals. So the first
> move before we even think a little about health is to stop the looting of
> minerals in Africa. For those are the recourses we will use to run those
> hospitals.
> And the way you will do it is to do what we did on Elephants when they
were
> being porched out of Africa. We set up an embargo on Elephant tusks.
> Countries like Japan which were surviving on Africa tusks stopped to use
> them, and found other technologies to use. Let us not fight this war on
> piece by piece. Let us call for an all out embargo on Africa minerals for
10
> years. Africa minerals are maintaining life styles in developed countries.
> Children in Congo are walking naked although United States and Belgium are
> flying out loads and loads of minerals. So this embargo will not affect
> them. Let us stop these resources from being stolen in day light. In the
> mean time we again as Africans will use that time to clean up our houses,
> for a leader will not have money to maintain him self in power, he will be
> in power for he has votes. And will leave the same way. It scares me if
you
> ever thought that fighting in Sierra Leone will ever end when developed
> countries are still looting inside. It is as well laughable to think that
> you can build any functioning hospital in Sierra Leone when UK is pumping
> guns into this nation. And until when we look developed countries in their
> eyes and we tell them to move as Robert Mugaabe has done in Zimbabwe we
will
> count millions and millions of our people as dead every day, for we have
> been doing so every day and no body cares. But tell them to move from the
> African assets then you will hear the rumble.
>
> It is even very interesting that Uganda is not among the list of countries
> with conflicts, that just amazes me and tells the bias you have.
>
> The greatest enemy of Africa, is her resources and the sooner we protect
> them, the sooner these problems will go away. But if we want to clean up
in
> little by little we will be falling straight into the hands of World Bank
> IMF and so on, organisations we actually do not need, for they get our
> minerals turn them into money and then lend it to us at un believable
costs.
> Let us protect the resources.
> Em
> The Mulindwas communication group
> "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: chifu2222 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 5:26 AM
> Subject: [Mwananchi] Military Budgets Versus Decrease in Health Budgets
in
> 3rd World countries
>
>
> Military Budgets Versus Decrease in Health Budgets in 3rd World
Countries
>
> By Malachi Opule Orondo
> Peoples Health Movement
> Kenya National Coordinator
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> True facts of events happening in African continent clearly show that
> expenditure on military and health in 3rd World are inversely propor-
> tional in favor of military expenditure, which has put Africa to its
> knees.
>
> All sorts of problems are found in Africa, - wars & conflicts, which
> kill, maim & displace people, cause endemic poverty, hunger destruc-
> tion of infrastructure & public amenities etc. Wars, conflicts &
> civil wars - supported by the developed world at the expense of de-
> velopment & health. Conflicts are fuelled by developed world to sell
> their weapons especially Africa.
>
> 1. Example: - Rwanda genocide 1994 was well known by the West even UN
> and they did nothing to stop it. One million lives were lost and now
> it is forgotten. This conflict has taken Rwanda 10 years backwards
> and created a permanent wound of hatred that will not heal easily.
>
> 2. Angola civil war has raged from 1975 - 2002 i.e. 27 years and
> killed 2 million Angolans. People were dying in large numbers using
> arms supplied by the developed worlds to the late Savimbi. Savimbi
> was serving his masters who were not willing to give him money for
> health facilities, food or development for his people. This civil war
> brought Angola to its knees totally that it was to depend on foreign
> aid up to now. Angola is one country endowed with a lot of resources
> like oil, minerals and rivers for power generation but nobody is
> willing to help them develop. Angolans are dying from hunger yet the
> country is very rich agriculturally.
>
> 3. Mozambique also suffered a prolonged guerrilla war supported by
> the west, which supplied arms to the warring factions. This fighting
> claimed so many lives in Mozambique and development wise. Mozambique
> is 10 years backward compared to what it could have been had it not
> suffered civil war. This conflict claimed 1.5 million lives, created
> massive poverty, which has made the country dependent on donor fund-
> ing. Such conflicts also create lots of refugees and human displace-
> ments in these regions. Such conflicts leave disasters like land
> mines, which take decades to remove.
>
> 4. Liberia fought a civil war for nine years, which claimed lots of
> lives and destroyed development and health infrastructure, which have
> never been replaced. Liberia is a country starting life anew yet it
> got independence in 1847.
>
> 5. Sierra Leone has had the most devastating and agonizing conflict I
> have witnessed in the 20th century. The atrocities being carried out
> by armed rebels in Sierra Leone are the most horrible ones. Rebels
> invade innocent people and catch them by force most of them women and
> children. They rape the women, force children to join their rebel
> factions. Those who refuse are forcefully amputated in broad day-
> light. These rebels enjoy this horrible amputation act. They ask you
> if you want long sleeves short sleeves or sleeveless. A man then lit-
> erally chops off your hand or leg and you are left bleeding. Why is
> it that there is money to provide arms for such rebels yet no money
> for health facilities & development? Sierra Leone is full of amputees
> and children soldiers with no development nor health facility.
>
> 6. Sudan has had a long fierce civil war, which has raged for 19
> years and has claimed 2 million lives. At times you may think that
> some lives are not important. Probably that is why arms are massively
> supplied to sustain the fighting endlessly. Southern Sudan looks like
> a place without any human beings living there. The pictures we see on
> television occasionally show people living like wild animals. It is
> difficult to imagine if these people are human beings like others
> considering their health and general social life. Despite all these
> sub-human living conditions in southern Sudan UN has turned a deaf
> ear with its powerful organs like WHO, WTO etc. concentrating their
> efforts elsewhere.
>
> 7. Somalia's government collapsed in 1989 when Siad Barre was over-
> thrown and up to now internal fighting is still raging claiming many
> lives daily. Somalis have fled their country to Canada, US, Kenya,
> Ethiopia etc.; nobody knows when it will have an organized government
> to organize its health & social infrastructure. Arms are still being
> supplied to fighting factions but No Food Nor Medicine.
>
> 8. Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) has had a long civil war
> since 1996 which has killed 2.2 mio People. Arms are being supplied
> but no health facilities to support the citizens! Nobody knows when
> this civil war will end either. While this fighting and loss of life
> is going on schools, health facilities and other infrastructure are
> completely destroyed. It is nobody's business to mind of DRC prob-
> lems. Ask many people in the west of DRC problems will tell you they
> have not heard of such a country in this world, but ask them about
> Kosovo, Kuwait, Timor or Afghanistan and they will tell you every-
> thing about them. Why? Because those are countries which matter to
> the developed world and determine the worlds resources and determine
> destiny.
>
> 9. Up to now civil war still claiming lives in Burundi & Rwanda but
> very little is done or said about it.
>
> AFRICA
> Africa is the most disadvantaged continent in this world we live in.
> The conflicts I have mentioned have moved the continent backwards in
> health & development several years. The results of these conflicts
> have been horrible to the mother continent.
>
> 1. 80 % of world refugees are Africans. In the refugee camps living
> conditions are sub-human. There are no adequate health facilities to
> cope with such refugee influxes. Children and women die of prevent-
> able or curable diseases like diarrhea, measles, TB, malaria etc. In
> war situations like we have in Africa even running schools is a prob-
> lem. So the bigger population of Africa is becoming illiterate. In
> those countries where armed conflicts have been on for long, no chil-
> dren's have been to school. Some children are left to fend for their
> brothers and sisters after their parents are killed.
>
> 2. These wars have brought a lot of shortcomings to Africa, like mas-
> sive poverty, maiming of citizens, hunger, psychological and mental
> diseases and worthlessness. Africans have been reduced to sub-human
> beings - always looking inferior or considering themselves second
> class compared to people from other parts of the world.
>
> 3. HEALTH
> Health care, which is a right and a basic necessity in the developed
> world, is far above the reach of an ordinary African! In Africa there
> is no Government Hospital, clinics or Dispensary adequately stocked
> with the most basic requirements for an outpatient. While we have no
> basic medicines like panadols, etc. the west can afford the money to
> support armed conflicts in Africa. A lot of money is going into waste
> to develop unnecessary things like nuclear weapons, space exploration
> etc. which could do a lot to improve health in Africa. Expenditure
> from the west to Africa on arms versus health is at a ratio of 8 to
> 2, which is very biased.
>
> 4. Africa has the largest number of conflicts in the whole world, but
> yet they are the least covered by the western media when you watch
> CNN, BBC, SKY or the Deutsche Welle TV news, you only see the good
> news of the west and Middle East and Afghanistan. Africa is never in
> the focus. This media black out is very much working against Africa
> in terms of development and support in health amenities. Very few
> people in the west know of the armed conflicts I have mentioned above
> and their atrocities. So the western media should change their atti-
> tude and start reporting the truth on these African conflicts
>
> 5. HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC
> Apart from the mentioned armed conflicts HIV/AIDS is more rampant in
> sub-Saharan Africa than any other part of the world. Out of 34 mil-
> lion HIV+ people in the world, 75 % are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Every-
> body in the west is aware of this fact that by 2010 if the rate does
> not drop, African population will start decreasing. However, the re-
> sponse from the concerned organizations and the west is not commensu-
> rate to the HIV spreading rate. The symposium needs to take this is-
> sue seriously and give it the right consideration. Grassroots NGOS
> campaigning on HIV/AIDS awareness lack even the most basic facilities
> like PC computers, videos, video machines, public address systems,
> transport means to reach the rural grassroots' poor communities which
> need the information most.
>
> Anti-retroviral drugs available in the western world are still not
> available for the common man in Africa. If they are available then
> those who need them most cannot afford.
>
> The HIV/AIDS pandemic is creating more complicated problems, which
> may be difficult to handle, if not checked now. It is adding more or-
> phans to the streets and affecting Africans economy by killing the
> able bodied people.
>
> This symposium should consider items mentioned in this article as a
> matter of urgency for survival of Africa.
>
> By
> Malachi Opule Orondo
> Peoples Health Movement
> Kenya National Coordinator
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
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