THE world might soon learn from television screens of the little-known evil system of Western celebration of African poverty driven by animal rights groups’ anti-wildlife use and anti-wildlife trade agenda.

The Western animal rights groups’ anti-wildlife trade agenda not only harms African wildlife but also harms African people who can never develop socio-economically without sustainable wildlife trade.

Sadly, the Western forces that harm African people and wildlife by blocking wildlife trade continue to hypocritically and ironically claim that they love African people and their wildlife.

How does one love that which they harm?

Nevertheless, Western animal rights groups have successfully fooled the world that they love African wildlife but are ironically harming it by blocking wildlife trade. 

This in turn disincentivises wildlife conservation.

This is the biggest scandal that video production houses in South Africa and the United States now want to expose, basing the story on a book written by one of Africa’s top environmental journalist, Johannesburg-based Emmanuel Koro, in his June 2020 published book Western Celebration of African Poverty – Animal rights versus Human rights.

The movie could be greeted with both anger and joy by Africans and Westerners.

Anger by Africans, who might wonder ‘why such a scandal on Western dictatorship on Africa’s wildlife trade is only being told now, yet it has been taking place for almost half a century.’

Also, anger by progressive Westerners who feel that they have been funding the animal rights movement that is hurting both African wildlife and people by needlessly blocking trade that is scientifically justified in elephant overpopulated Southern African countries.

Collective sense of joy by both progressive Westerners and Africans because when the truth about animal rights groups and Western countries’ harmful anti-wildlife trade dictatorship gets revealed, demand to end such a scandal will be made.

For the past 46 years, Western animal rights groups and governments have scandalously converted the UN international trade regulating agency, CITES, to an anti-trade body. 

Yet, CITES was originally established to regulate and not block international trade in endangered fauna and flora when it was formed in Washing DC in May 1975.

Formed with a racist agenda at a time many African countries were becoming politically independent and could not be trusted to look after their wildlife in the mid-1970s, CITES has 45 years later confirmed its political and racist complexion. 

It has all the signs of the neo-colonial thinking haboured in the departed minds of the likes of Otto von Bismarck of Germany and King Leopold of Belgium. It has the same patterns of economic exploitation similar to that of the ‘Partition of Africa’ at the Berlin Conference where Africa was partitioned to benefit European countries in 1884-85.

“Africa is not, and will never be, free as long as it continues to allow Western anti-wildlife trade dictatorship over it,” said Koro.

“The world should be told through the forthcoming movie on Western Celebration on African Poverty – Animal Rights Versus Human Rights that the anti-trade Western countries and animal rights groups are the worst dictators on earth who stop people from legally and sustainably trading in their own abundant resources.

They preach sustainable development and poverty alleviation as well as the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030 (less than nine years away), yet they increasingly block African countries from wildlife trade.This is a violation of their human and sovereign rights to benefit from wildlife trade. Trade bans have never saved a single elephant and rhino.

The ivory and rhino horn trade has been in force for the past 46 years but elephant and rhino poaching, as well as illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn, continue to increase. How can Africa successfully overcome poverty when trade restrictions continue to be dictatorially imposed on it by Western forces? There is no country on earth that can meaningfully develop without trading in its abundant resources.

Therefore, Africa will never achieve meaningful development and reduce poverty and inequality as long as the Western animal rights groups and Western countries continue with their anti-wildlife trade dictatorship agenda on the continent,” said Koro.