PRESIDENT MILLS CAN WITHDRAW FROM THE COMMONWEALTH

On 20Th January 2009, history would be made as Barack Hussein Obama will be sworn in as the 44Th President of the United States – Wow, Black man in the White House? Black First Lady in the White House? Black children in the White House? My gosh What a long story! History is made and the story will be told to many generations, of how a young Black man mesmerized the world and gave hope to his people, a people who have suffered some of the world's most vicious treatment. The savagery of slavery and events thereafter is too chilling for me to write about.

The Democratic Party in America as you may be aware by now is in total control of the US Congress, The Senate and the White House, or perhaps the “Black House” now that Obama is going to be in charge. 52 per cent of Americans voted for Mr. Obama which gave him 364 electoral colleges whilst magnanimous grandpa John McCain got 46 percent of the total votes and 174 Electoral College votes.

Did you see the display of wisdom in McCain's concession speech? Whew, the man was magnanimous to a fault - Wicked and very inspiring speech. He almost stole the show with his speech. It is the kinda of speech you only get to hear from exceptional politicians. He must have inherited his pearls of wisdom from King Solomon of Biblical days.

Politics elsewhere is so pregnant with bitterness and a lack of good will to concede defeat and have nicer things to say about one's opponent. Akuffo Addo's concession speech to President John A. Mills was virtually a litany of complaints. But that is what American politics is NOT about. Analysts who have lived long enough and observed so many elections say Americans always put the acrimonious campaigning behind them once it is said and done.

Good for democracy and good for the rest of the world. There is undoubtedly so much the world can learn from US elections, though that is not to say they don't have pockets of difficulties in their system. I'm sure you are aware how several Black people were reportedly denied the opportunity to vote thanks to Jeb Bush, brother of president Bush and the rigging machine of the Republicans.

The outpouring of support that greeted Obama's victory was incredible. From Africa through to the Middle East and the Latin American region. The voices from Latin America were very strong. Congratulations with conditions from foes and allies – Alvaro Uribe, Raffael Correa, Lula, Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez. Not surprising huh? Well Obama had said during the campaign he will sit down with Mr. Chavez. Chavez sees Obama's election as positive because the president elect appears to be a good break from the past ways of doing things. His victory undoubtedly would raise America's battered image brought on by the war and largely by the isolationist and half-hearted tactics of Bush in the last 8 years. It is already apparent in the places and countries support is coming from. Even the Taliban have made conditional overtures, albeit an overture.

But guess who else is on the list of the good boys club? President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad of Iran, whose country has not had any high level diplomatic relations with the US since April 1980 after Iranian students seized 63 hostages at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.

And oh, Uncle Bob. Yes, our own uncle Bob. He has sent Barack a note of compliment. I love this man. Uncle Bob of Zimbabwe is anxiously awaiting the renewal of relationship with his country whose economy had been damaged like a rag doll.

I am not sure why Robert Mugabe kept his country in the Commonwealth until he was kicked out? The writings were on the wall that his country was going to be suspended. But the Commonwealth is of no use to him and his people anyway. There is nothing common about the wealth of Zimbabwe and the UK or Australia.

I really looking forward to the day when all these so called Pan African leaders of the continent would sever ties with the commonwealth league of nations. The institution has lost its usefulness and offers nothing extraordinary to member countries, particularly those from Africa. It has in fact not been useful in the first place at all. We got our independence with a fight from an institution whose head was reluctant to grant independence in the first place. It had to take courageous leaders like Nkrumah of Ghana and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya to get us where we are. They fought for it, blood was shed and many lives in the process. Countries whose leaders have not been bold enough are virtually still ruled by the Queen – Why should countries such as Barbados and Jamaica proclaim INDEPENDENCE and still have the Queen as Head of State? Wake up Jamaica! Wake up Barbados. Even the British are debating over the usefulness of the Monarchy, and she is their Queen. We are still reeling from the exploitation of slavery and Britain has not even had the decency to apologize to a people whose trust and confidence it breached. Excitingly, the Queen will not miss us if you all left, would she? She gets very good company from the many royal activities and charities she presides over, plus her beautiful pets.

Africa is ensnared in bilateral trade agreements and we are at the receiving end of this so called special treatment for commonwealth member countries. Citizens of member states are no different from non member countries and the same very humiliating and funny visa procedures apply to everyone else from Africa or Jamaica. Britain after all trades with 'non commonwealth' members so whats the point?

The 21st century poses new challenges and requires cooperation from the nations of the world in confronting these challenges – terrorism, finance, health, agricultural, climate change, peace and security . It is therefore very important and in the interest of developing nations particularly those in Africa to support and help strengthen institutions like the UN, the African Union and ECOWAS. Britain may be an indispensable partner in Africa's development, but Commonwealth members from Africa do not have to be members of a group that reeks of colonial mentality.

It is a myth to continuously live in the believe that we have to be a member of the commonwealth in order to favorably trade with Britain. Britain will trade with us anyways if we had something it needs and that is a fact. The crimes of slavery are so grave that some African nations cannot continue to hold on to being members of the commonwealth. And like Kwame Nkrumah said, we should “prefare self government with danger to servitude in tranquility.” Nkrumah's statement sums up the feelings of many young men and women from Africa today who do not see any real benefits from resources plundered out of the continent by greedy and corrupt leaders and their western collaborators.

We may not be able to live in isolation in the 21st century, but the time has come to throw into the dustbins of history institutions that do not promote social justice equality and fairness. Nkrumah may have been the one who signed us up to the Commonwealth, but the time has come for us to quit. The Barack Obama victory should spur on Africans into the believing in themselves. We have so much talent and abundant natural resources, we have to put them to use in the interest of our people. Let us give our children the hope that someday we shall overcome our difficulties and prove the world wrong. And indeed – YES WE CAN.

Ras Mubarak.
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