At first, I thought it was a joke, a mere prank coming from Kampala intended to cause laughter and amusement in Kenya. But wait. It got more serious as President Yoweri Museveni threatened that “in future, there would be war” with neighbouring Kenya for the right of a permanent corridor or territory guaranteeing Uganda, a landlocked East African country, access to the Indian Ocean, because that ocean “belongs” to Uganda anyway!
Laughable as it is, the claim nevertheless rekindled the old question about the state territorial boundaries drawn up by colonialists in Africa. In Africa, the colonialists drew up “state” boundaries without regard to ethnicity, family ties, linguistic affinity, cultural and religious identity or historical realities that define a people as belonging to “one nation,” and should therefore be recognised as such in global civilisation and relations.
Under colonialism, The Luos, Kuria and Maasai nations of East Africa, for instance, found some of their members falling under British “owned” Kenya and others under German controlled Tanganyika. No voice was raised to protest the tearing apart of families because we had all been conquered and subjugated. Trouble arose when some of those countries gained independence.
Suddenly, there were calls to reclaim “their torn nations” leading to tensions between states. In 1964, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor of The African Unity (AU), adopted The Cairo Declaration, titled “Border Disputes among African States.” The document declared adherence by member states to the principle of “Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each State and for its inalienable right to independent existence,” based on borders inherited from colonialism.
It was a position strongly advocated by Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and has since come to be known as “The Nyerere Doctrine of Respecting Colonial Borders,” in the case of Africa. As a lawyer, President Museveni is better positioned than most to appreciate, respect and admire the ingenuity of the OAU’s principle of “uti possidetis juris,” which simply means, “as you possess, so may you possess,” that proceeded from the Nyerere Doctrine.
Granted. Borders in Africa were arbitrarily drawn but it is through the same that the continent, by and large, enjoys the stability it does. Moreover, it is those borders that enable Africa to march towards regional unification with internationally recognised protocols for shared destiny and self-determination. Africa’s failure to unite, cannot be blamed solely on colonialism but on petty interests that have characterised Africa, especially the post-independence leadership.
As an East African, President Museveni’s unbridled threat of war against Kenya raised goose bumps on my skin. Has elder stateman Museveni lost all hope and faith in the regional integration process and the milestones so far achieved under the revived East African Community (EAC) Treaty, for which he is the surviving founder signatory?
East Africans already have a Customs Union and Common Market Agreement. At least they are working on achieving a common currency protocol before “ultimately” going for political federation, or a confederation as it has recently been suggested in some quarters.
By belonging to a Customs Union territory, it means any goods arriving at a port of a Treaty member State, are cleared and transported uninspected until when and after they reach their destination. If that system is not working, then we in East Africa, have been taken for ride for 20 years after the Customs Union came into force, following its signing on March 2, 2004.
The propensity to fight and wage wars is an extremely archaic, barbaric and uncivilised way to solve and resolve disputes and conflicts. To be honest, there were no Nation-States in Africa at the time of colonisation (except the Ethiopian Kingdom), as to entitle or even give credence to claims of lost heritage by any post-colonial government. The absence of nation-states was what made the continent to be divided amongst the powers of the day at a table like a piece of cake. There is no need to reopen those wounds.
When other nations explore the limits of our known universe with spacecraft launched from mother earth, and as their citizens stretch their intellectual prowess as to awe inspiring proportions, we in Africa are busy beating the drums of war to fight with weapons we hardly manufacture. I think even the most gifted in our midst, could not be lesser God forsaken. May the Almighty God help and remember Africa.
When other nations explore the limits of our known universe …
… we in Africa are busy beating the drums of war to fight with weapons we hardly manufacture.
