Ethiopia’s Zenawi says imposing democracy in Africa is wrong
January 26, 2008 (LONDON) — Trying to impose democracy in Africa is wrong, Ethiopia’s prime minister said Friday, contrasting Western attitudes to countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe to policies towards oil-rich Gulf states.
“The threat of western sanctions as a response to the current crisis in Kenya is very, very misguided,” he told the Guardian daily.
“If it is presumed that the Kenyans will democratise in order to eat the peanuts of development assistance from the European Union, for example, it would be a big mistake.”
Kenya’s opposition has called for international sanctions against the government it accuses of rigging the December 27 polls that led to President Mwai Kibaki’s re-election.
Meles lamented the West’s attitude towards Zimbabwe, whose President Robert Mugabe is barred from travelling to Europe and is treated as an international pariah in particular by former colonial rulers Britain.
“I believe democratic forms of government are applicable everywhere and are better than the alternatives. And we feel that countries and peoples can share their experiences to help others to democratise. So that is all to the good.”
But he said “When it becomes a problem is when countries pretend their foreign policy is based on democratisation when this is clearly not the case.”
“For all the challenges in Zimbabwe, for example, it is a bit of a stretch to say it is less democratic than some of the sheikhdoms of the Gulf. But none of the sheikhdoms has a problem visiting Europe,” he added.
And he went on “We believe democracy cannot be imposed from outside in any society. Democracy is the expression of a sovereign people.
“To impose it from outside is inherently undemocratic. Each sovereign nation has to make its own decisions and have its own criteria as to how they govern themselves.”
(AFP)
Lago Gatjal Riaka
Ethiopia’s Zenawi says imposing democracy in Africa is wrong
Thank you Meles. You clearly identified the problem of imposing democratization in Africans without an understanding to African societies regarding their cultures, traditions, and languages.
The West need to stop this arogant of trying to impose their values on us. In fact, the West is not serving our interest from all aspect; World Bank, World Trade Organization, and International Monetery Funds. All these institutions are serving the interest of the Western World by punishing Africans economically. They impose free trade on Africans market.
Also, economic sanctions are not the best of a solution to all the problems because you are punishing everbody in the country. The West need to stop!!!!
Madhang Loth
Ethiopia’s Zenawi says imposing democracy in Africa is wrong
I think Kenyan should have learned from the neighbouring countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda,Burundi, and Ethiopia.
These countries had experienced the badness of the war. I also accepted what Meles Zenawi has said, base on the truth of the matter, that imposing democracy in Africa is wrong. It is really wrong to impose democracy in a country such as Kenya that has strong tribalism. I think democracy is suitable in a country where there is no tribalism. I once time lived in Kenya and I am hundred percent sure that democracy is not applicable in Kenya where you commonly hear the word
Kikuys and Jaluos.
I think the western world should go back and bring us another form of democracy which can go together with tribalism or come up with weapon of fighting tribalism before installing democracy in Africa.
Kenyan themselves hate each other with out tribalism, what about now that the two big tribes, the Kikuys and the Jaluos are fighting each other. Kenya had not gone to war before and that is why they are so relunctant to bring peace among themselves. They thought that civil war comes in other form.
Dear Kenyans, you have fought enough, stop fighting now and come back to a peaceful solution.
Kenyans were so eager to taste the fruit of the war, thinking that the war may taste good but now, they should regret because nothing come out good when two partie are fighting. I was shocked when I heard some of the Kenyan refugees fled to Uganda with out fearing LRA on the way.
My message to the Kenyan people is, you learn to be civilised and not to wage war against your own black African brothers and sisters. Or you think the war we were fighting here in South Sudan for almost 22 years was a tribal war? It was not a tribal war my friends, it was a war between Arabs and the indigenious African(blacks)people.
By Madhang Loth
South Sudan