Africans are not green

Flooding in Accra, Ghana and other African countries exposes that the majority of. The effects of Climate Change have hit some African regions severely, with droughts and starvation, leaving hungry people behind who are forced to cut down trees for cooking. Coconuts' shells rot along Accra roads after being consumed. Some African countries sell them as a material to be burned in power stations, for barbeques, and as a fertiliser additive in 20 kg plastic sacks in Poland, Germany, and beyond.

While nuclear power stations were regarded by many as the state-of-the-art power production, concerned citizens from rural and urban areas of Europe collectively demanded a radical change in managing the environment. Lobbying politicians realizing not getting anywhere, formed associations. Aware that only politics in power can change the course of a country and force environmentally friendly methods into everyone's daily life, Green Parties across Europe were formed, starting in Germany with Petra Kelly and other symbolic figures. Police forces and demonstrators fought in the streets of Europe for the best and right way forward.

Eventually, Die Grünen (Green Party) in Germany entered state parliaments before Joschka Fischer became Germany's first minister for the Environment. Wearing sneakers and jeans, he surrendered his oath of office without using the bible to lay his hands on. Scenes of knitting socks and pullovers and breastfeeding babies were common on German TV, with conferences being live-broadcast from Die Grünen across Germany. Die Grünen were convinced the established parties SPD, F.D.P., CDU and CSU would not help to protect the environment. These established parties saw voters casting their ballots not for them any longer, increasing the number of Die Grünen parliamentarians. Filling this market niche with their solutions, the well-established parties claimed, unlike Die Grünen, their plans balanced realistically environmental concerns with economic progress, social equality and individual wealth. Die Grünen adopted the mechanism of their established rivals in the fastest possible time, seeing a shift of their supporters back to the old established parties.

As Africa is concerned, two-party systems in most countries are a do-or-die affair with no shift in sight. Meanwhile, the environment does not wait for a radical helpful solution but finds its own ways to harm humans, their assets, and properties. The established parties lip-talk to find good and lasting solutions, asking or begging for time, as in four years of reign, solutions cannot work. Solutions do take time to implement, work on, and improve. Ghana's lives lost during the recent flooding are a typical showcase of this statement. By my own ears and eyes since 2012, when I first set foot on Ghanaian soil, I was bombarded with ideas and talk and talk about finding a lasting solution to lives and assets lost in annual flooding. I was told the problem existed even before I came, for many, many years.
In 2021, in Ahrtal/Germany 135 people lost their lives in heavy rains. Houses and assets were lost. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) rushed to the scene, showing some emotion. Today, five years later, the railway line is used again, tourism is back in full swing, houses are being built new or restored, and new preventive measures are in place to ensure that another disaster does not hit the small city of Ahrtal in the next generation.

In Africa, no Green Party exists, and when the time to mourn loved ones has passed, the next flooding will kill people again. Africa has no plan and no power to execute strategies, as democracy is blocking it.
Picture Source: dw.com

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