MMD president Never Mumba says African natural resources must benefit Africans.
In a speech he made at the ongoing Global Business Roundtable World Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mumba said Africa needed to take charge of the management of its natural resources if it was to achieve prosperity.
He also said African countries needed to stay in the International Criminal Court to insure accountability amongst it’s leaders.
“Africa needs to take charge of the management of its resources if she is to achieve sustainable prosperity, and Africa must accept that for many decades, she has been shunted to the sidelines while Western nations exploited its vast resources,” Mumba said.
“While the resources of land, minerals, water and wildlife are depleted in most of the Western World, Africa remains as the ‘go to’ place for these most critical resources. It’s in Africa that you find gold, diamonds, copper and a host of other precious metals.”
Mumba, the former vice-president and High Commissioner to Canada in the MMD government, said time for Africa to depend on other countries for its survival had come to an end.
“Zambia, my own country prides herself as a world leader in copper production and has great deposits of other minerals and emeralds. The “Sabbath” for Africa is now coming to an end. The Brexit and Trump phenomenon have signaled the “coming out” of Africa. The World is changing. Europe is about to change drastically by the coming of Brexit and America is also about to drastically change by the coming in of the new U.S. President Donald Trump. It is therefore imperative that Africa considers its limited options as a result of this changing World order,” Mumba said.
“Africa has been weaned off the breast of the Western World. Africa should smell the coffee and accept that both Americans and Europeans owe it to themselves to advance their causes. We have no moral ground to complain about their democratic choices. I hope that this re-alignment of the World order is as clear to many African leaders as it is to me. For me and many other Africans, this is a good thing. It will accelerate our growth in all sectors. It will force us to place premiums on the choice of our leaders. It will also allow us to appreciate the riches that Africa is endowed with. We are off the breast and we must look elsewhere. Not China, but within the borders of our great continent,” he said.
And Mumba further noted that there was need for African countries to stay at the International Criminal Court to ensure accountability amongst leaders.
“African nations must remain in ICC, but must unite to push for reforms. All heads of states must be subjected to the same rules. African governments must remain in the ICC for accountability purposes. We must however insure that the international court reforms itself. If we seek respect in the ICC we must pay our fair share,” said Mumba.
2 Responses
Great speech from the doc.
Nice speech, but I completely disagree with Nevers’ key point, i.e., the ICC… Any learned or a Pan-Africanist at heart and ONE who’s pockets have not often been filled up by Western sanctioned aid/finance to Africa (like his** has quite often been over the years), would tell you that the ICC is a Neo-Colonial court, whose sole intention is TO project the definitions of among other western defined “human rights” issues to the developing South.
Surely if they care at all about “human rights”, then the USA, and UK and a host of other Northern hemisphere countries should have been signatories to this Court.
SO Nevers, you stop telling us we need to control our own resources, when the very decisions that we will be making to take hold of what is ours (Africa’s natural resources), will be seen and portrayed on international platforms as us (Africans) committing human rights abuses by this very court you are supporting… DO You think THAT, we Africans can tell the likes of; Anglo-American, BP,Shell, TOTAL or ask the BOERS to give land BACK to THE black South Africans (rightful owners) WITHOUT THE ICC calling us to the HAGUE????
Africa needs to free herself from such western coercive institutions like the ICC, UN…