By Nkwazi Mhango
I do not understand what geared Kenyan belligerent first lady Lucy Kibaki to demand written explanations from a minister for Internal Security, George Saitoti. Mrs. Kibaki wanted to know why many people perished in the Molo inferno when they were self serving from a petrol tanker. To her, this was nothing but negligence and insensitivity! To add an insult to injury, she said that if the minister responsible were a woman, this wouldn’t have happened.
Azeb Mesfin, the wife of Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi
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One thing Mrs. Kibaki does not get is the fact that the Molo deaths are but the signs of a very-corrupt-and-rotten country where a gang of goons self-helps and serves on public property. It is the society in which what matters is what you get but not how you get it. It is the society ruled by hyenas-turned rulers whose aim of being in power is to steal from paupers.
The Molo calamity was neither caused by insensitivity nor negligence. It is man-made poverty that has forced innocent people to wrestle to make ends meet. Regarding women in power, there are some living examples whereby women ministers failed their countries. Zakia Meghji, Tanzania’s former minister was booted out after it came to light that she illegally authorized payment to a dubious company known as Kagoda that stole over $ 40,000,000 from Central Bank of Tanzania (BoT). When it comes to graft, gender does not matter but personal integrity and probity.
If it were not for cliffhanger’s behaviour for African rulers, a good thing for Saitoti to do would be to relinquish his place in protest of the disgrace committed against him. But contrary, in Africa, power is sweeter than honey. The likes of Saitoti are ready to die in shame so as to keep their grip on power. What a shame!
Surprisingly, Saitoti was unable to do the right thing. Even to demand an apology became difficult for him. But again, looking at Saitoti’s record when he was vice president in the former autocratic regime, expecting him to do the right thing is as good as telling the ant to lift up the elephant. Indeed, Saitoti’s docility and naivety mark insults to our academic attainment. He was once misled by former dictator Daniel arap Moi and Kamlesh Pattni to ruin Kenya’s coffers. If a professor of mathematics can not calculate such simple political arithmetic, what of the common Kenyan in the street? However, it must be noted. Kibaki showed maturity for standing by his minister.
What Mrs. Kibaki did is not unique and distant in Africa. In neighbouring Tanzania, the former first lady, Anna Mkapa, is alleged to have amassed ill-gotten wealth, thanks to abusing her husband’s powers and office.
Ethiopia’s Azeb Mesfin, the wife of dictator Meles Zenawi, is the most corrupt of all. While falsely claiming that she is the first lady (the official first lady is the wife of the president, not the prime minister), Azeb has amassed enormous wealth through bribery, shakedown of businessmen, and other corrupt means. She is said to be the richest women in Africa.
While first ladies such as Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hilary Clinton are renowned for helping their husbands, African ones are known for tearing them down. It must be noted that the First Lady crisis in Africa is caused by lack of rule of law and people-geared constitutions.
It is time Africa stopped being ruled by thieves that, along with their families and friends, self-help and serve on whatever they are pleased without facing the music.
(Nkwazi Mhango is a Tanzanian living in Canada. He is a Journalist, Teacher, Human Rights activist and member of the Writers’ Association of New Foundland and Labrador. The reference to Azeb Mesfin is added by Ethiopian Review.)
5 thoughts on “Corrupt African first ladies are tearing down the continent”
Azieb is well protected by her man while she is stripping the country out of money and Gold. She goes anywhere in the world including to columbus,Ohio where she brags how ethiopia is now to be making or never. Her family members from columbus now are making money belongs to poor Ethiopians going from columbus. Azieb and her husband should bring back the wealth that they are stealing.
The author of this article should call this article, MORE EXAMPLES OF THE CULTURE OF CORRUPTION. There is one thread that connects these corruption stories, all the individuals and countries involved in this story are the darlings of the west, their political system is a carbon copy of western democracy, westerners have put systems in Africa that serves them well but not the people of Africa. Any government that dares to differ is targeted for destruction by any means necessary, this just didn’t start lately, it started with the late President Patrice Lumumba of the Congo. He dared defy westerners and wanted to use the Congo’s vast natural resources for the benefit of his people and western intelligence agencies made sure that didn’t happen by killing him and replacing him with the corrupt Mobutu, the rest is history for all to see.
I hate to say this but even the vaunted ANC of South Africa is under their spell, western countries intervened just in time to deny Africans the victory over their European masters by negotiating with the ANC, in those negotiations they made sure the economic life line of South Africa stays with the white minority while the vast and poor African population is disadvantaged, trust me South Africa will experience what Zimbabwe is experiencing now if any future ANC government dares to challenge the white establishment in South Africa. Lately the ANC is on the decline, in due time the European economic masters will groom a puppet political entity that will take power in South Africa who will take their marching orders from London and Washington. It is only a matter of time.
Those in political power in the so called democratic African countries have failed repeatedly and will continue to fail their people but rest assured they will always help in the plunder of their nations by western powers and worse will reeinforce the culture of corruption that will take Africa a long time to get itself out of, this is the legacy of western style democracy in Africa. Time to stand up and be counted, time for Africans to be masters of their destiny and stop looking towards the west for affirmation of their action, this is the slave mentality that should be cleansed from the African psyche.
To me and a lot of other experts, Africa is a lost cause. We have been talking about corruption problem since the so called ‘Independence’ with no end in sight. This is not confined to certain groups but it has spread in the blood stream of the society like a potent virus. Colleges graduate the most astute connivers by tens of thousands in almost any major country. Instead of accounting 121 they are learning un-accounting 121. They are mean and ruthless in their endeavor. They don’t give a flying tickling if their citizens are dead or alive. They have become very successful in demoralizing their citizens to a point where the people have lost their self esteem. The atmosphere of innovations is gone for good. It is going to be a miracle never seen in the history of mankind if Africa can come out of this specter. It has doomed itself to eternity.
To my surprise Mss. Azeb Mesfin’s youngest sister Blen Mesfin have completed her law studies in one of the top Law schools in the world and is serving the American Government in multi levels of the district attorney’s office.This shows me Mss. Azeb Mesfin is very well aware of the econom ical and political situation in global level.
Azeb is not only corrupt but she also cheats on her husband.