African Agony

There will never, it seems, be an end to African need. So many of the countries of that sad continent remain mired in clan and tribal foment and distrust, hatred and vengeance to be acted out, one against the other.

Reconciliation does not appear a possibility between adversaries. In the spring election in Kenya President Mwai Kibaki refused to acknowledge the declared win of his closest rival for president, Raila Odinga, unleashing tribal brutality, displacing farmers and villagers who had become targets for the supporters of Mr. Kibaki. Mr. Kibaki remains president, Mr. Odinga has become prime minister. And they stumble along.

It was feared then that the opportunity to plant crops in a largely agrarian society, would be lost due to the post-election turmoil. And then, brutal fighting in Somalia, with the weak government forces attempting to foil the intent of their rival Islamists have sent desperate Somalians into Kenya, attempting to escape the horrors of war in their country, itself in a collapsed state of non-governance.

Now, famine stalks east Africa, with drought year-over-year resulting in poor to non-existent harvests, and an estimated ten million people - according to the Red Cross - facing hunger and starvation. The World Food Program's country director in Kenya warns that "People are already going hungry, malnutrition is preying on more and more young children, cattle are dying. We face a huge challenge."

Emergency funding of $230-million is sought to feed an estimated 1.2 million victims of the growing famine. This, in addition to the 2.6 million Kenyans already being fed by the WFP. Failing food production, a lack of government will and dedication to importing the staples people require to ensure human health.

While Africa desperately needs an infusion of corn, the West has been busy planting corn for bio-energy. Bio-energy starts, and should end with feeding people, not operating vehicles. But that is another story altogether, of course.

Africans are hoping that the seasonal rains will not disappoint. The UN's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit has also warned that half of Somalia's population is in dire need of humanitarian aid. The country's security situation has entirely collapsed, convulsed by a a power struggle that has no compassion for the people it sacrifices.

Africa: will it ever become possible for it to present as a civil, responsible, self-reliant and just human environment? The wealthy countries of the world feel the compulsion to respond to the need of the Continent to fend for itself, to feed its population, although African governments themselves rarely succumb to that compulsion. Government officials skim off for themselves funding meant to lift their people out of need.

One supposes that as long as the countries of Africa feel entitled to anticipate that other countries have a moral and ethical obligation to rescue them, time and again, year over year, they need be in no rush to become independently responsible for their own advance into a future of self-service. Human avarice trumps humanity yet again.