5- September-2023- News Agencies
Arikana Chihombori-Quao, former permanent representative of the African Union to the United States, claimed the recent military coups in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea were part of the early stages of an “African revolution” against Western neocolonialism.
“What is going on now in Africa is a revolution similar to what we saw with the demise of the mighty Roman Empire, similar to what we saw with the fall of the mighty British Empire,” Chihombori-Quao said in an interview with New York-based Nigerian news channel Arise TV.
This wave of military interventions is a reaction to the West’s ongoing “plunder of the continent’s natural resources”, she explained. “This is just the beginning of the African revolution and it is not going to stop.”
Chihombori-Quao went on to argue that these recent coups “led by our people” represent “children of Africa taking back what is ours” and have nothing in common with the brutal Western-led military interventions of the past
Sure, Western powers committed particularly heinous crimes against young African democracies in the last century.
The Western-orchestrated 1960 coup in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), for example, saw the country’s first democratically elected prime minister, independence hero Patrice Lumumba, assassinated by a hastily put together firing squad and his remains dissolved in acid. All for the fear that he may have brought the DRC closer to the Soviet Union and given Moscow access to its precious natural resources.
These recent coups thankfully did not include such atrocities and were not overtly aimed at furthering the interests of colonial power. But does this automatically mean they were “led by our people”, and aimed at delivering on the people’s wish to end colonial plunder, as Chihombori-Quao claims.?
Coup leaders like to talk the anti-imperialist talk because it gives them legitimacy and helps them garner public support, but they are much more reluctant to walk the walk.
Burkina Faso’s interim president, Ibrahim Traore, for example, likes to employ fierce anti-imperialist rhetoric at every opportunity.
Speaking at the Russia-Africa Summit in July, for example, Traore took a swipe at Africa’s older leaders, saying, “The heads of African states should not behave like puppets in the hands of the imperialists.”
But, ironically, he has openly demonstrated sycophantic affection for Vladimir Putin of Russia, a prominent and particularly brutal imperial force in Eastern Europe, and increasingly in Africa.
Traore is not the only “anti-imperialist coupist” in Africa who appears suspiciously blind to Russia’s demonstrably brutal imperialism.
The military government in Mali is known to be very close to the Kremlin and has had help from the Russian Wagner mercenary group in its efforts to stifle dissent. Niger’s coup generals have also openly asked Wagner for help in dealing with the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS.
So much for coup leaders standing with everyday Africans against imperial powers.
This, of course, is not meant to minimise the harm Western colonialism inflicted on Africa.
The West has been for centuries, and remains to this day, the most destructive outside actor and the strongest force against swift, independent development and deepening of democracy on the continent.
Indeed, the remnants of the West’s abusive colonial arrangements are still crippling African states, politically and economically.
For example, 14 African countries, including Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, still use the neocolonial CFA franc – which is guaranteed by France and pegged to the euro – as its currency
Iran Hails African Countries’ Resistance to ‘Colonialism’
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday lauded African countries for resisting “colonialism” during a visit by Burkina Faso’s foreign minister.
Burkina Faso, as well as Mali, are currently ruled by military juntas that severed military ties with France — a former colonial power — and bolstered relations with Russia.
Niger, where a military junta seized power in July, has been the scene of mass protests calling for troops of former colonial ruler France to leave.
On Monday, Raisi “praised the resistance of African countries in the face of colonialism and terrorism” during a meeting in Tehran with Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister Olivia Rouamba, without specifically mentioning France.
He hailed their stance as a “sign of vigilance and awakening,” according to a statement published on the Iranian presidency’s website.
Burkina Faso underwent two military coups in 2022 and the ruling junta subsequently demanded that French troops withdraw from the country.
During the meeting with Rouamba, Raisi expressed Iran’s willingness to “share its experiences and achievements with friendly African countries.”
Rouamba also expressed interest in bolstering bilateral relations with Iran, according to the Iranian presidency statement.
Iran has been bolstering ties across the African continent in an effort to reduce its isolation and offset the impact of crippling sanctions reimposed since the 2018 withdrawal of the United States from a painstakingly negotiated nuclear deal.
In July, Raisi set out on a rare Africa tour that took him to Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
