United States of Africa

A top Libyan official has said that 35 countries have ratified a treaty for a "United States of Africa," leaving the proposal of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar Al-Qathafi, just one vote shy of approval.

Two thirds of the OAU's 53 nations, or 36 states must ratify the treaty before it can take effect.  "All we need is the ratification of one more state before we can officially announce the union," Ali Treki told the Libyan newspaper.  This follows a campaign started by Mr. Qathafi in 1999 and adopted as an OAU goal a year later.

I happen to be a fan of Muammar Qathafi's militant style and absolute defiance of America's blatant, aggressive and invasive international policies.  Furthermore, he has managed Libya with undisputable skill, creating a higher value for their dollar than even that of USD, amidst international sanctions.  Yet I am not convinced of his qualifications as the initiator, designer and implementer of a united Africa.  Qathafi, like all Arabians, is Arab, not African.  Lest we forget, it was only 1,000 years ago that the Arabs made it to the continent of Africa, and upon their arrival they enslaved us and indoctrinated various portions of  the continent with Islamic fundamentals. For those with a short memory we were reminded in 2000, when Libya expelled thousands of sub-Saharan (Black) Africans out of Libya, deporting them to their various West African origins.  Ghana's previous president, Mr. Jerry Rawlings was forced to go to Libya to secure the release of thousands of Ghanaians that were subject to horrific working conditions, extreme racism, and certain death as tensions rose.  Things got out of hand, because Libyans began to resent the presence of Black Africans in Libya (Africa, mind you) who were taking advantage of their healthy economic environment.   These events followed the attendance of Connell Qathafi and the Palestine's leader, Mr. Arafat to the latest OAU summit, where they joined with Africa's heads of state to promote this, apparently, worthy cause of uniting Africa.  Most recently Qathafi gave support to Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, stating that "the white colonialists have no place in Africa and their presence is unlawful".  But what right do the Arabs have?  Or have we forgotten that the Arabs were first to enslave Africans?

Simultaneously, we hear that  Islamic law is claiming countless states in Africa and in the process, countless African lives.  African Muslims fighting African Christians over African land, which neither will enjoy when time to divide the spoils.  Instead the empires of foreigners will expand while the minerals of our land will be exploited, the riches of our culture forgotten, and the story of our people rewritten, until we don't even recognize ourselves in the history books, much less the Bible.

Rest assured, I am for a united Africa as proposed by His Majesty, Emperor Haile Sellasie I.  In this vein, it is required that we, Africans, make that initiative and decide our future, then implement a constitution that will serve the interests of Africa and her children.  Africa doesn't need any more saviors, instead we need to rid ourselves of the differences  that have been imposed on us to insure our division, by booth European and Arabian colonialist alike.

 Update 9/04

With our African Union in place and faced with its first real problem, the genocide of Africans by Arabs in Sudan, we find the outspoken Muammar Al-Qathafi without any words.  I have not heard him make a single comment on the atrocity faced by our peoples, imposed by his peoples.  Worst yet, the man with any real power to address the issue, a black man, a Ghanaian no less, Mr Kofi Anan has also lost his tongue somewhere between the thighs of his white mistress!