In today’s letter, I’ll explore political nepotism and why does it not exist in Canada despite being racist. I’ll write an exclusive piece on this. Whereas Canada doesn’t have nepotism in the upper echelons of power, our southern neighbour, the US, is currently littered with it. Both countries use western democracy though differently.
Canada isn’t only different from the US but also from Africa where colonisers introduced chaotic, choosy, and costly democracy that’s never worked meritoriously in Africa because it’s chimeric and a far-off imposition to Africa. Other than Botswana and somewhat South Africa, show me any African country with a functional democracy.
Western democracy embeds and provokes intraparty affrays and fake jingoism for power but not serving the people as they portend and pretend to allege. Many so-called political parties are either kitbag property of their founders and owners, undemocratic, and veiled means of controlling resources for exploitation for a political cabal of self-seekers, their families, and friends in conjunction with foreign masters who fund democracy but not development.
Lucidly, colonisers introduced their colonised democracy to Africa to perpetually weaken, control, and exploit it. That’s why it's created family domination and monopolisation of power in many African countries. Why’s this democracy always depended on the west if it doesn’t serve its hidden interests as opposed to those of the African hoi polloi? Western countries are always generously happy to dish millions of dollars out to fund our elections.
To make sure that recipients meet their standards, they dispatch electoral observers to Africa. Using their lens, once they’re satisfied with the results, they’ll declare it credible, free, fair, and transparent or not. Why don’t they allow us to observe their elections at least to learn how democracy is implemented and give our insignificant verdict? Former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe once wanted to send electoral observers to the US botched elections. My eye! The US flatly refuted and warned him not to repeat demean an ‘advanced’ democracy. Ironically, the same elections were marred with irregularities in the recent years wherein pro-Trumpian Americans attacked the ‘temple’ of democracy, the Capitol Hill.
This brings us to an overtouted but convoluted riddle of the government of the people, by the people, for the people, a ding-dong of democracy, which worries me a lot. Who are the people, many, and what are they? Simply put, any binadams more than one are people. After winning twice, US President, Donald Trump filled many top positions in his government with family members.
Trump appointed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, his senior advisor, Jared’ father, Charles Kushner, US ambassador to a peeved France (CNN, Nov. 30, 2024), Kimberly Guilfoyle who’s engaged to Donald Trump Jr since 2020 ambassador to Greece, and Massad Boulos—the father-in-law of Trump’s youngest daughter, Tiffany— senior adviser on Arab and Middle East African issues (US Today, Dec. 11, 2024) who also recently became the interceder in the DRC conflict.
Ironically, when African Presidents replicates the same, it’s called nepotism! It becomes sacrilegiously antidemocratic while it's ‘our time to eat.” Let’s face it. Nepotism is nepotism. Period. It’s bad howbeit who employs, enjoys, entertains, or espouses it.
When President Samia brutely appointed her daughter, Wanu and her son-in-law Mohamed Mchengerwa, Ministers or when President Museveni appointed his son Muhoozi Keinerugaba, the CDF and his wife Janet, Minister, it became big news globally. Tongue wagged with condemnations and pointless condescendence. In Equatorial Guinea, its long-serving President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo appointed his sons, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, Vice President and Gabriel Lima Mbega, Minister like his Togolese counterpart Gnassingbe Eyadema appointed his son Faure Essozimna Eyadema, who later inherited the presidency after his demise.
In Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara appointed his younger brother, Téné Birahima Ouattara, Minister of Defence. In Congo, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso appointed his son Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso Minister in his government. What difference does such nepotism have from the one in the US or any monarchy? Isn’t it familydom?
My simple argument is: if we want to become truly democratic, democracy must apply equally across the board failure to which means double standard and stinking hypocrisy.
For western democracy to work effectively and equally, it must apply the same standards globally. Its selectivity, inequality, and veracity are its big undoing. We need to decolonise and deconstruct western democracy by diving back into our past to see how our precolonial institutions and systems worked judiciously as a viable and workable alternative to western democracy, which has become a mockery if not mere demockery, demagoguery, roguery.
Source: Daily Monitor Sunday today.
No comments:
Post a Comment