African leaders have some explaining to do. The problem is that African governments have been held to a very low standard of accountability. They know this and, therefore, have no regard for their citizens.
Guinea and the Seychelles are said to be the only countries that are vaccinating their people. Yoweri Museveni could not be bothered about a vaccine for Covid-19. He was too busy contesting for his sixth term as president of Uganda – against a contender half his age.
In Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa ably aided the destruction of the country’s once-vibrant economy such that whether people die of starvation or of Covid-19, no longer makes a difference to him.
In South Africa, had the billions that are being exposed in the Zondo State Capture Commission as having been looted by people in the government, state-owned enterprises and their friends, the Guptas, been used for their intended purpose and public good, then hospitals, schools and other essential infrastructure serving society would have been improved and ready for these trying times.
The contestation for the ANC presidency at Nasrec in 2017, must have cost close to, if not more, than R1 billion, most of it possibly not declared to the South African Revenue Service. Today, the country is pinning its hopes for the life-saving vaccines on the Covax charity programme. The president is shouting from the rooftops, demanding an equitable vaccine rollout and accusing countries that are prioritising their people, of vaccine nationalism.
The president does not get it. His duty is to first protect and defend the country and its people. For him to blame the leaders of First World countries for prioritising their people is a PR exercise, aimed at downplaying the fact that his own government slept on the job on the issue of vaccines. Ours is not a country to be holding a begging bowl.
By Dan Nkosi from Springs.
The Star