By Emmanuel Koro
in Johannesburg, SA
AFRICAN countries should start ignoring the wildlife concerns of Western democracies, given the crumbling credibility and legal problems so many of their political leaders face, argues an American public policy consultant.
In an interview this week, US-based public policy specialist and author of the book, ‘Lobbycratic Governance’, Godfrey Harris asked: “How can Africans give any credence to advice from politicians and senior bureaucrats now drowning in investigations for corruption, swamped by preparations for court trials, overwhelmed by lobbying against legal censure, or facing potential fines and prison terms for their current or past illegal activities?
“What kind of moral compass can they offer Africa?”
The partial list of those Western leaders currently in serious or potential legal jeopardy includes Donald Trump, Joe Biden (for his son Hunter’s activities), Congressman George Santos, as well as Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas in the US; Boris Johnson in the UK and Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland; Nicolas Sarkozy in France; Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel (Israelis think of themselves as Westerners and are included in Western football competitions).
Other recent cases include Silvia Berlusconi in Italy; Lula da Silva in Brazil, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina and many more. (Brazil and Argentina are in the West and considered by every American political scientist as founded on Western values).
Some of these leaders were jailed, others escaped on technicalities, and all claim their troubles are politically-motivated rather than based on their own moral laxities.
“Our concern is not for the personal jeopardy of some of the West’s best known leaders, but for the ongoing stability of their countries,” said Harris.
“Their democracies are fraying as they question election results, sponsor vindictive laws and watch a vast number of their citizens turn to a dozen other concerns rather than governance.
“Given these conditions, why on earth would anyone in Southern Africa think that the dictates of the West, on subjects such as wildlife, are worth listening to or following?”
That is why there is growing support for African leaders to ‘just say no’ to any current or future ban on trade in wildlife products, such as ivory and rhino horn.
It’s high time African leaders started making use of all of their available opportunities to unlock the continent’s wealth through legal and sustainable trade in its most valuable resources.
The animal rights NGOs that Western leaders listen to because of the money they can spend to support projects they favour are part of a web of Western corruption seeping through Africa.
These NGOs ‘feed’ Western societies with false information and malicious propaganda.
Are all African elephants and other iconic species endangered?
Of course not, but these corrupt NGOs repeatedly use falsified and outdated information to raise buckets of money for themselves and not for African wildlife conservation as they claim.
The result is that Western countries have continuously voted against the ivory and rhino horn trade proposals of the Southern African countries for the past 47 years.
“The corruption found in the Western democracies is the inevitable result of their government mechanisms being appropriated by an army of lobbyists working for large corporations and major organisations joining with elitist bureaucrats and their lawyers,” said Harris.
“Elected politicians have become mere enablers for the technocrats while the voting citizens are now just observers.
“In this type of atmosphere, when no-one is actually minding the ‘store’, ideological theft of scientific proof becomes rampant.
“If Western leaders are facing serious legal problems and their elected governments have been hijacked by sophisticated functionaries working with wealthy private sector interests, is there really anything worthwhile for Africa to follow or emulate?”
He answered his own question when he noted that, “…the time is ‘ripe’ for a courageous African leader…,” to tell Western governments that African countries no longer need Western approval for the choices they make in wildlife trade.
Given the deep rifts in so many Western democracies, whatever protest might be heard can be ignored.
“It’s simply time for Southern Africa’s leaders to become part of a team and call for international trade in their ivory and rhino horn stockpiles and the sustainable use of their natural resources, including the need to continue trophy hunting for the socioe-conomic benefits of their citizens,” said Botswana Chieftainess Rebecca Banika of Pandamantenga Community.
“I have been advocating the sale of our ivory stockpiles for socio-economic benefit of my community since 2000.
“I am still making the same request for ivory sales so that the 2023 drought-hit Southern Africa region can use the trade funds to alleviate poverty and support wildlife conservation.”
Meanwhile, Harris has asked: “Where is the next Nelson Mandela,” among African leaders?
Who, in Southern Africa, can stand up to the corrupt Western leaders to say: “We don’t need you, we don’t want your ideas, we can take care of our own animals, and we know how to use the benefits they will provide.”
“They (the Nelson Mandelas) are out there,” Harris said.
“I have read their writings and heard their speeches. “They have the courage, the brains and the political smarts to succeed.
“Why are the entrenched political parties not stopping these outsiders from the chance to make a difference?
“Could it be that the corruption of the West is also the problem preventing Southern African progress?”
The ignored truth, repeated by Africans and international observers, is this: “Trade, not bans, will save African wildlife.”
Has the ban on international trade in ivory and rhino horn stopped poaching and illegal wildlife trade? Clearly not.
But do the animal rights NGOs want to stop poaching? Many observers now have their doubts since these NGOs want to continue showing gruesome photos of animals suffering at the hands of poachers, in order to whip up public emotions and attract large amounts of donated funds.
Elsewhere, Zambia-based Southern Africa Community Leaders Network chairperson, Dr Rodgers Lubilo, said: “It’s extremely wrong for the Western countries to dictate to our governments how to trade in ivory and rhino horn.
“The decision should be left to the Africans who produce these resources.
“It is the duty of our governments to explore alternative legal routes to trade in ivory so that the revenue earned can be used to support conservation, including the socio-economic wellbeing of local communities.”
Well-placed sources say African wildlife think-tanks recently joined with their international counterparts and came up with legal and sustainable wildlife trade ideas that African countries can use to generate income to ensure the wellbeing of the people and wildlife.
“Africa, particularly Southern Africa, is endowed with natural resources that will forever remain a game-changer for the whole continent, especially the opportunity to trade in ivory and products of other species,” said environment and natural resources officer of Zimbabwe’s elephant-over-populated Hwange Rural District Council, Nxolelani Ncube.
Emmanuel Koro is a Johannesburg-based international award-winning environmental journalist, who writes independently on environmental and developmental issues in Africa.
