Update on Virunga Park Mountain Gorillas...victims in renewed rebel fighting in DRC -Democratic Republic of the Congo

A caring friend emailed recently to inquire about the status of the Virunga Park Mountain Gorillas. I wrote an email at the end of July about their danger due to renewed rebel fighting that has flared up in the Park where they live. She noted:
Mankind sometime is so heartless, I doubt if it was a woman who perpetrated these cruel acts and I can't say humankind because it was such an inhumane act! Have you followed up on the outcome of these acts? Have more slaughters taken place? I pray for protection of the gorillas and orphans and all who cannot protect themselves from the evil of some men!

For an update on the situation, click on this link to go directly to the blog that the rangers and Administrators of the Park maintain. There is a message that's been posted today (Sept. 24), but please, even before reading that, scroll down and read and view the Sept. 21 posting. The photos are awesome, and really bring home, how important it is that we do anything we can to protect and preserve the habitat of these wonderful creatures.
http://www.wildlifedirect.org/blogAdmin/gorilla

Another important development was the U.S. State Department's announcement last week that we will be sending new funds to support the park rangers, and the endangered wildlife.

Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC September 18, 2007
U.S. Support to Virunga National Park and Mountain Gorillas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development are making available $496,000 of new funds to support the park rangers and endangered wildlife of the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. This area is home to scores of unique species, including the mountain gorilla, which have declined due to the region’s ongoing armed conflict, poaching, demographic pressures and habitat disturbance. This support directly addresses threats to biodiversity and illegal poaching in and around the Virunga National Park through cross-border wildlife monitoring, rehabilitation of ranger posts, the provision of equipment and training for rangers. This support to park wardens will improve their capacity to carry out effective wildlife conservation activities and further law enforcement, information exchange and cooperation with regional authorities. “Our efforts are focused on conserving and protecting the habitat of these magnificent animals. The survival of the mountain gorillas of Virunga is severely threatened by the tragic events in the region, and we will continue to devote whatever resources we can to protect the gorillas and other threatened species there,” said Oceans, Environment, and Science Assistant Secretary of State Claudia A. McMurray. We have supported conservation in the Virunga National Park since 2003 through the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Central African Regional Program for the Environment and the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP). For further information on CBFP please visit http://www.sdp.gov/sdp/initiative/congo/2007/772 2007/772 Released on September 18, 2007
Here's the link to the actual notice.:http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/sep/92236.htm

Finally.....doing something with my tax dollar that I approve of and endorse. Just wish it were more.

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For anyone not fully informed, here are the emails I circulated in July, that told of the unwarranted slaughter of 4 of the Gorillas, along with plenty of background information.

Dear Friends~
You know I'm an over-the-top animal lover. And I don't limit that love and respect to domesticated animals. You got my email about the Bonobos, so you know primates fascinate me.
Here is an article I saw 2 days ago, about the slaughter of 4 Mountain Gorillas. The situation was more horrible than usual, because they were simply murdered and left. One of my life dreams, is to visit the parks and see some of these majestic creatures in their habitat.

Included in this post is the response from the organization working in the game park. The email following this includes the letter I wrote with suggestions, and their request for support by spreading awareness of these horrible occurrences. Sadly, there seems to be a pattern to this wanton ---I don't even have a word for it----

Sometimes,..... actually more and more, humans simply suck.

This is a 2 part email with a second one to follow. Click on the link for WildlifeDirect.org to follow the blogs of their park stewards and rangers.
Kentke

Jul-27-2007

Four rare mountain gorillas slain in Congo park (topic overview)
CONTENTS:
Conservationists have expressed concern over the "senseless and tragic" killing of four mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (More...)
"The gorillas were all quite close together. (More...)
Last month a female gorilla from the Kabirizi family was found shot to death in the park. (More...)
The gorillas were shot Sunday night. (More...)
The four dead animals were found on Sunday by park rangers 75km north of the regional capital, Goma, the Congolese institute for nature conservation said. (More...)
"Seven gorillas killed in seven months is a horrifying statistic and a trend that cannot continue,'' WWF regional representative Dr. Kwame Koranteng said. (More...)
The situation in Virunga has become worse recently because Rwanda has banned the production of charcoal, which is used for cooking fires. (More...)
Today the area is home to a vast array of rebel militias, government soldiers, foreign troops, and villagers who are unsympathetic to the rangers protecting the park. (More...)
Virunga was a significant tourist attraction before Congo's 1998-2003 war, which devastated the east of the vast Central African country, triggering a humanitarian disaster that has killed more than 4 million people. (More...)
REFERENCES

Conservationists have expressed concern over the "senseless and tragic" killing of four mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The bodies of three females and one male were discovered by rangers earlier this week in the Virunga National Park. Officials said the "executions" were not the work of poachers because they would have taken the bodies. [1] Residents heard gunshots Sunday night and alerted park rangers, who discovered the dead gorillas the following morning. "For such a small population, the unnecessary and indiscriminate killing of four mountain gorillas is a huge loss," the IGCP said. The others are endangered by the death of the alpha male, who leads them to food and protect them from danger.[2] The bodies were discovered in the southern sector of the park by rangers from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature, the DRC's wildlife and protected areas authority. All four mountain gorillas were shot, but it is unclear who killed them and why.[3] The IWC said the protected area was coming under increasing pressure from "outside exploitation", including the charcoal trade. "Whatever the motive underlying this tragedy, the gorillas are helpless pawns in a feud between individuals," said Mark Rose, chief executive of Fauna and Flora International. "We are deeply concerned about this incident, which follows more than 20 years of successful collaboration for mountain gorilla conservation."[1] Virunga has come under increasing pressure from outside exploitation, including the charcoal trade. Human-generated pressures, such as rapid deforestation in the region, imperil the gorillas. "This is a senseless and tragic loss of some of the world's most endangered and beloved wildlife," said Deo Kujirakwinja, of the WCS's Congo Program. "This area must be immediately secured or we stand to lose an entire population of these endangered animals."[4] The shooting takes the number of gorillas killed in the Mikeno sector of the Virunga park to seven since the start of the year. Local and foreign militias as well as Congolese soldiers regularly cross this area of the Virunga park, Africa's biggest national park and a Unesco world heritage site, and sometimes occupy parts of it.[5] VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, Congo They heard the gunshots around 3 p.m., at least two pops that echoed across the green mountains of this vast park tangled up in vines, fallen trees and years of war. The park rangers knew immediately what it was, they said, and in their frayed uniforms and rubber boots, they began hacking their way with machetes into the junglelike forest. This time, it was Rubiga.[6] Paulin Ngobobo, the head ranger of the southern sector of Virunga National Park, called the baby's rescue "an amazing piece of news." "We had given up hope on Ndeze," he said.[7] Apparently the killers had tried to burn one of the bodies. Virtually all the charcoal supplied to nearby Goma'worth an estimated U.S. $30 million a year'is made from wood harvested illegally inside Virunga National Park, he said.[7] "The gorillas were all quite close together. They had all been shot," National Geographic News quoted Emmanuel de Merode, director of WildlifeDirect, as saying. Senkekwe, the silverback which headed the so-called Rugendo family of 12 gorillas, was found dead this morning. The killings follow a similar shooting of two silverback gorillas from the same family group earlier this year. [8] Until recently, the region was touted as one of Africa's wildlife success stories, with a rise in gorilla numbers attributed to conservation efforts by wardens. The gorillas were part of a group regularly visited by tourists and researchers, who dubbed them the Rugendo family.[4] The females, Safari, Neeza and Mburanumwe and the male Rugendo belonged to a group that was regularly visited by tourists. The death of these gorillas is not only grave for the conservation of the species but also represents a significant loss of a source of revenue for the local community.[9] Last month a female gorilla from the Kabirizi family was found shot to death in the park. Another female from that family has been missing ever since and is presumed to have been killed too. [7] Guard posts were being built to provide 24-hour surveillance. Earlier this year, two silverback males were shot to death in the same area of the park. They were believed to have been killed by supporters of dissident warlord Laurent Nkunda.[10] Poaching remains a major problem. Early this year two silverback gorillas were killed within the span of two days in the same area as where the latest killings occurred.[7] For years, the park rangers themselves have been targeted. More than 150 have been killed in the line of duty during a decade of fighting among armed groups that want to use the park as their base, or by poachers who sell baby gorillas and hippo meat.[6] The rare mountain gorilla had been shot execution-style once in the back of the head and a second time in the hand. When the rangers found her hulking, lifeless body, her 2-month-old baby, barely alive, was still clinging to her chest.[6] Residents heard gunshots Sunday night and alerted park rangers, who discovered the dead gorillas the following morning. It is estimated that just over 700 mountain gorillas remain in the wild today.[11] The attacks are devastating for the gorilla population in Virunga, where some 100 of the world's 700 mountain gorillas live. At least three others have been killed in Virunga so far this year.[12] With support from the army, Congolese wildlife authorities were stepping up patrols to protect mountain gorillas within Virunga, the WWF said.[13] A recent survey found that gorilla numbers in the Virunga Mountains have increased by 17 percent over the past 14 years to 380, so the latest killings highlight the need for increased resources and protection.[14] Sunday's "execution-style" killing of the gorillas was identical to the killing last month, de Merode said. He believes the slaughter was meant to send a chilling message to the rangers to get out of the park. "We don't think it was the villagers who did it," he said. "This was deliberate ' an act of sabotage."[7] The hippo population in the park has declined from 28,000 to fewer than 350, according to conservation groups. "These killings are part of a worrying trend," said Emmanuel de Merode, who co-founded WildlifeDirect with the paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey.[6] Despite the persistent insecurity, WildlifeDirect, a swashbuckling conservation group, and the Frankfurt Zoological Society managed in January to become the first conservation organizations to set foot in the park since fighting began in 1994.[6] In Uganda's Bwindi, well-trained guides lead small and carefully supervised groups of tourists who pay more than $300 each for a permit to see the gorillas. The efforts have provided some compensation for communities around the park who have had to give up their right to cut timber and harvest game from the protected forest.[8] The gorillas belonged to the Rugendo group living in an area popular with tourists, providing valuable financial support to locals.[10] A rather eccentric kind of tourism flourished for a while during the 1980s, as backpackers and other adventurers trekked in to see the gorillas, recalled Serundori, who has worked in the park for more than 25 years. "Sometimes tourists would spend a month here," he said.[6] The gorillas were shot Sunday night. One was pregnant and another was a female named Safari, who received widespread international attention when she gave birth in February. Her five-month-old baby was still breast feeding and was initially feared to have died of dehydration. Rangers reported finding the baby, Ndeze, on Thursday, and took him for medical treatment. [12] Conservationists from the DRC wild life authority confirmed that six were safe, but two gorillas - a female and an infant, are still missing.[14] Six others were confirmed safe, but a female and an infant are missing, the organization said. The others are endangered by the death of the alpha male, who leads them to food and protects them from danger.[6] The four dead animals were found on Sunday by park rangers 75km north of the regional capital, Goma, the Congolese institute for nature conservation said. [5] The wildlife scientists found no evidence of poaching on the four dead gorillas. For one, the bodies were left behind, and the infant was found clinging to its mother.[4] "Seven gorillas killed in seven months is a horrifying statistic and a trend that cannot continue,'' WWF regional representative Dr. Kwame Koranteng said. [15] Mr. Carroll also added: "Strict measures will be taken to ensure the safety of the other gorillas in the area. WWF will continue to work with partners to strengthen protection measures and seek permanent solutions to ensure the safety of these rare animals."[14] The situation in Virunga has become worse recently because Rwanda has banned the production of charcoal, which is used for cooking fires. That has sent even more traders across the border and into Virunga for wood. The gorillas have also come under pressure from armed militias that hunt the animals for their meat. [12] The rangers keep working with the hope that if the fighting ever stops, the park might again attract tourists; in neighboring Rwanda, gorilla-viewing is a multimillion-dollar-a-year business. "It's like being an apostle," Ngobobo said.[6] The nearly 8,000 square-kilometer park is home to a handful of militias and more than 100 rangers have been killed in recent years trying to protect the wildlife.[12] WildlifeDirect estimates that since the beginning of the conflict in eastern Congo nearly a decade ago, some 150 park rangers have been killed on active duty.[8] Because poachers would have sold the bodies as food or trophies, conservationists think the apes were killed by a group that was trying to scare wardens out of the park.[1] In the past year, various militia groups have been essentially living off the park establishing ragtag bases there, eating or selling the animals or harvesting trees for charcoal.[6] Today the area is home to a vast array of rebel militias, government soldiers, foreign troops, and villagers who are unsympathetic to the rangers protecting the park. [7] Some conservationists suggest the killings were meant to send a message to wardens to leave the park.[4] Virunga was a significant tourist attraction before Congo's 1998-2003 war, which devastated the east of the vast Central African country, triggering a humanitarian disaster that has killed more than 4 million people. [13] REFERENCES1. BBC NEWS Science/Nature Concern over gorilla 'executions'2. Meadow_Free_Press3. Surfbirds News: Four gorillas killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo4. Gorilla Executions Puzzle Conservationists LiveScience5. IOL: Mountain gorillas shot dead in DRC6. Nation & World Gorillas' protectors besieged in Congo Seattle Times Newspaper7. inform.kz 1538988. Rare gorillas slaughtered in mass killing9. UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Virunga National Park: 4 more gorillas slaughtered10. Las Cruces Sun-News - 4 mountain gorillas killed in Congo park11. 4 mountain gorillas shot dead in Congo national park12. VOA News - Four Rare Gorillas Killed in Congo, Another Feared Dead13. Four mountain gorillas shot dead in Congo park Science Reuters14. allAfrica.com: Rwanda: Conservationists Promise "Strict Measures" to Protect Gorillas (Page 1 of 1)15. 4 Mountain Gorillas Killed in Congo Park World Latest Guardian Unlimited
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----- Original Message -----

Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 9:51 PM
Subject: A suggestion to present to world bodies for International Law
Dear Friends~

I am so saddened by the story that I read today. One thing in particular caught my attention. It was your requests for ideas from other 'humane animals', I would like to put this forward.

A company was mentioned that has adopted a policy that although they are logging and destroying habitat, the animals are not being decimated in the area. In actuality, I find this somewhat questionable, but the main point is that they think they have achieved this by limiting the amount of meat that their employees may kill, as just for themselves and their families. The link from the article is presented here:

"In one collaboration, the government of Congo and the WCS work with a Swiss company, Congolaise Industrielle des Bois—which has a logging concession near Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park—to ensure that employees and their families hunt only for their own food needs; the company also makes sure that bushmeat does not get stowed away on logging trucks as illegal hunters try to take their haul to market. Despite the logging, gorillas, chimps, forest elephants and bongos are thriving in the park."

How very gracious of them.

I would propose that when these multinational companies, come into other nations to exploit and remove the nation's resources, that International Law require that they provide the food for their employees, families and the surrounding immediate communities that their intrusion is effecting.

Just as UNESCO is sending a team to investigate your slaughters, we need one of these already established world bodies to expand their charter to include the animals of the planet which belong to all of us, so that animals can not be nationalized, sold or slaughtered, without severe penalties, such as life imprisonment. Nations must understand, that their role is simply as a caretaker for the wellbeing and habitate of the animals whose presence preceded that of the nation and the human inhabitants.

We must work to dispel the myths of society, and reestablish a wholistic understanding that human beings come out of this wonderful continuum of plant and animal life. Although there are aberrations within the human species, most humans would not shoot their parents, destroy their breakfast, lunch and dinner meals, and wantonly disrupt their homes and lives.

Our humanity is null and void, if we are not good members of the animal kingdom first.
Kentke


Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 10:43 AM
Subject: DR Congo: Mountain Gorilla Massacre

Dear Kentke,

Many thanks for your e-mail and your offer to help stop the slaughter of Virunga's Mountain Gorillas. We have had two very serious attacks on the mountain gorillas in the past two months, and we are very concerned that there may be more to come. We believe that public awareness is a very powerful way of getting desperately needed support to the rangers on the ground. We badly need the message to reach as many people as possible, so we are enormously grateful for your offer of support in this effort.

Kentke, if you are keen in helping the mountain gorilla's cause:
1. Please help us in raising awareness by forwarding this email to all your friends. Replace my text with with a short message from you. Ask them to send it to all of their friends .
2. You can also start a campaign if you are already a Facebook user. Go to Facebook.com, and add the ‘causes’ application (click on applications, and then Browse applications, and find ‘Causes’). Once you have added this application, you can browse applications to look for ‘Gorilla Protection’. (If this seems too complicated just type ‘William Deed’ -who works for WildlifeDirect- into the search box on Facebook and then ‘add as a friend’, once you are friends you can just join the Gorilla Protection campaign which is on his profile.)Once you have this application running on your profile, you can recruit members to support this cause as well as directly raise donations which will all go to protecting the gorillas.
Kentke, from all of us, thank you for you concern and your support. Please let me know if there is any futher information I can help you with.Looking forward to hearing from you.Very best,

Virginia EchavarriaMutsora, DR Congo+243 (0) 994 265 873http://www.wildlifedirect.org/


Critically endangered, the world population of Mountain Gorillas stands at just around 700, with half these individuals living in DR Congo . In just seven months, the systematic killings in Congo have wiped out a significant proportion of this global population.

If we do not stop this massacre, these magnificent creatures will become yet another species lost.
Please, your help is needed now.

How to Help

To stop further killings, continuous surveillance of the park perimeters as well as armed rangers, around the clock, for each gorilla family will be implemented. Your help is needed to both support these rangers in their work, as well as the setting up of an elite Gorilla Protection Unit. Only with global support can we put an end to these senseless killings.

WildlifeDirect is a program of the Africa Conservation Fund, a charitable organization registered in Kenya , in the US and the UK aimed at helping Endangered Animals in Eastern Africa . WildlifeDirect takes no administration fee for the funds that are transferred through us so that the financial support can go to where it was intended in its entirely. Our core costs are provided separately through grants, primarily from the European Union.

Molting....continued

Click on the link for a short slide show, that expresses the concept of molting.

I'm partial to this presentation because raptors are my most favorite types of birds. I intend to become a falconer oneday, with the American Kestral as my first avian companion.

Each year I include in my travel plans a trip to Skagit River Valley area of Washington state, where from late October to March there is one of the largest gatherings of bald eagles in North America. Along a stretch of this river, up to 450 of these magnificient creatures can be seen enjoying feeding off the salmon run that lets one glimpse two of the cyclical aspects of Nature that being confined in 'concrete jungles' has us missing.

These fish are desperate to return home, to spawn in the same waters in which they were born. They are drawn to these waters by instinct and scent, for the female to lay the eggs, the male to fertilize them, and then for both, the circle of life is complete.

"Salmon have adaptations that allow them to live both in seawater and freshwater so they can spawn in freshwater. The spawning process involves mature salmon (male and female) swimming upstream against hard river currents, waterfalls and other obstacles to their home creek where they will spawn. . Salmon will usually spawn in the creek they were born in and can find this creek through a remarkable sense of smell.

In the spawning process the female releases her eggs and the male fertilizes them. After spawning occurs, the adult salmon die."

Oh, I failed to add, that I've yet to make the trip......

The images in these links will add to what I've written.

http://www.slideshare.net/targetseo/rebirth-of-the-eagle-photo-presentation

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2002733943_nwweagles12.html

http://www.skagiteagle.org/

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/activity/wildlife/expert/seattle2.htm

Molting

Dear Friend,

I don't know if you could sense this, but I am quite quietly spiritual. I am blessed with a sensitivity and 'knowing' that is often accurate.

Your recent message casually mentioned how drained you felt, maintaining your daily life. For some reason, that comment really stuck in the back of my consciousness. I 'launched' Knewz, and went on with my daily life, which suddenly got full as I started back full time substitute teaching at an inner-city public school. I've been in the process of pulling away for good from this type of work, as it is just absolutely not me. I got into it by accident, have just stayed way tooooo long. Anyway....that's another story.

Here I was on day to day assignments, with large classes of Middle & High School (6th-12th grade) students. All the time, the World continues, with many things that I would like to comment on or respond to, but at the end of the day in the school....all I want is to just revert to the other aspect of my character...which is my hermetic/contemplative nature. To just be quiet, and still....or at the minimum do something very good for my body, like a 2 hour walk along the coast, a leisurely jog on a tree-lined path or a soulful spin class.

I noticed that you are making efforts to disassociate yourself from some of your commitments. I think I got the gist, that you just have too much going on.

Dear Friend, take care of yourself First.....Be especially loving to your inner Life. Give It what it needs. Do not ever feel guilty for honoring what you know you love and need to maintain your well-being. I am not in any way suggesting that you are feeling any sense of 'shame or guilt'. What I am encouraging you to do is Love yourself even More.

I know you have the power and means to create your world and order it as you like. Even within that, we are offered times when we can step back, and reassess, and decide to release somethings, people, activities, even beloved cherished beliefs and concepts. We do this, because this is a cycle of Nature, of which we are a part.

This morning I was unsuccessfully attempting to write a blog on this subject of Transformation. Change is what most people call the phenomenon I want to discuss, but....actually in the world of Nature, the concept is called Molting.

Perhaps, out of these words from my Heart to you, will flow the framework for which to begin the discussion on my blog. The main point I am trying to make is that releasing that which it's time to let go of, creates space. And really, we all need greater space. In our minds, our heart, our environments both personal and extended. In that space, we can just rest in the openness that's been created, and after a while, we will see the emergence of 'The New', fresh in-the-moment gift that Cosmic Consciousness wants to live/give birth to in our world. Therefore, I congratulate your decision to let go of some of your committments.

Indulge your Highest Self Sweet. You, I and many others were saddened by the passing of Anita Roddick, the Body Shoppe founder. What a great role model for women! And truly all humane beings. Often when we care so much about the world, we can loose the connection to our own inner world. In these times, when the world tugs, calls, blasts, and jerks our attention to it's direction, tighten the bond between your inner ear and Heart. No matter what, listen and act from there always.

This will keep you safe. This will keep you fulfilled. This will solidify your peace.

I know, from our connection that you have already understood my good intention, and forgiven my tone and presumptuous words. I know that you also know, that what I write to you, I am actually writing for myself.

In Oneness~
Kentke

I have to mention this.
I returned home this evening. Checked to see if I had received any comments. Nothing yet, but all was well.
I then checked the blog page of Sister Koluki, who is very responsible for me taking the leap to actually do this. And guess what.....she had post the blog I wrote about reparations, not as a comment, but as a major piece on her site!!!
What a delightful shock!
She also has translated and included some previous comments by her readers from around the world on the issue of reparations.
So please......even if you checked her sight before, take another look at the September 17th post. Be sure to read the comments and leave some of your own.
http://koluki.blogspot.com/

Love ~ Gratitude ~Love

Have you met Ghanaian economist George Ayittey?

Infinite possibilities abound....all the time~

Kick your week off with this interview with a noted African author who writes on the current direction of Africa.
George Ayittey, author of "Africa Unchained"

This was taken from the webpages devoted to speakers at the 2007 TEDGlobal Conference, which was held in Arusha, Tanzania this past June. If you've never heard of TED, then click on this link to be introduced. http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/5


« TED.com's new discussion space: Africa: The Next Chapter Main [TEDGlobal 2007] Session 1: The Africa You Don't Know »
04 June 2007
George Ayittey's critique of "coconut republics" -- too good to keep to ourselves
In the months before each TED, we ask speakers to fill in a short, casual questionnaire for the program guide, answering questions like "Who are your heroes?" and "Family apart, what are you most proud of?" Most speakers write a sentence or two for each. But for TEDGlobal 2007, iconoclastic Ghanaian economist George Ayittey took it to a whole different level. His Q&A came back as a 6-page polemic, including a sharp, off-the-cuff dissection of the toxic "coconut republics" of Africa. Powerful and funny, it was too good to keep to ourselves.
Click here for George Ayittey's full Q&A >>
Questions for George Ayittey

What are you best known for?
CONTROVERSY. But my admirers refer to me as “unorthodox,” “unscripted” or “The Cutlass (machete),” who slashes through the thicket of suffocating platitudes and excuses to deliver the bitter truth about post colonial Africa.” Personally, I regard myself as an intellectual “rebel,” kicking against the old “colonialism-imperialism paradigm” which has landed Africa in a conundrum. By this paradigm, everything wrong with Africa is the fault of somebody else -- hostile external forces (Western colonialism, imperialism, the World Bank, etc.) and never the fault of misguided leadership. Witness Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
I am known for pushing the view that the old paradigm is now obsolete. It is kaput. We need a new way of thinking or a new paradigm that stresses the importance of internal factors as well. For example, brutal political tyranny, arrant economic mismanage, rampant corruption and senseless civil wars have nothing to do with artificial colonial borders or Western imperialism. Rebel leaders do not seek to redraw boundaries; they head straight to the capital city because that’s where power lies.

What are you working on now?
To save Zimbabwe from implosion. We hope to achieve peaceful change in Zimbabwe through the convocation of a “Sovereign National Conference.” It is the same mechanism (the Convention for a Democratic South Africa -- CODESA) which was used to dismantle apartheid in South Africa. If it worked in South Africa, then it will work in Zimbabwe.

What are the five words that best describe you?
“African solutions for African problems” -- exactly five words. I coined that expression in 1992 when the international community mounted “Operation Rescue” to save Somalia. I argued in a Wall Street Journal editorial what the Somali crisis was an African problem requiring an African solution. I was proved right. The U.N. and the U.S. pulled out of Somali in 1993, bringing an end to the international rescue mission which cost $3.5 billion.

Who are your heroes?Africa’s peasants.
In particular,
* The women farmers who break their backs to produce food,
* The women traders, who bring food surpluses to the markets,
* The native African fishermen, who, without the aid of modern navigational tools, manage to go to sea and return safely to land their catches of fish.
* The native African artisans and craftsmen, who use their own ingenuity to weave one the world’s most beautiful cloths (kente), carve masks and sculptures (the stone sculptures of Zimbabwe).

What products (or books, music, films) have you created?
I have written five books on Africa, established the Free Africa Foundation to advance the cause of freedom in Africa. “Africa is poor because she is not free” is our motto. I have also established “Malaria Free Zones” where we take an African village of about 1,000 people, spray the village to rid it of mosquitoes and give free insecticide-treated bed nets and anti-malarial drugs to the villages. We have established these MFZs in Ghana, Benin, Nigeria and Kenya. We work in collaboration with the village traditional authorities. We have also built a school library for the school children in Nkyenekyene (Ghana), a medical clinic at Obregyimah (Ghana) and provided microcredit loans to 100 village women at Teacher Mante (Ghana).

Family apart, what are you most proud of?
Tossing out of office the tyrannical regime of Fte./Lte. Jerry Rawlings in 2000 through the ballot box and establish real democracy in Ghana. President John Kufuor describes me as “one of the architects of change” in Ghana. I worked with activists on the ground to corral the squabbling opposition parties into an electoral alliance. We hope to repeat this success in Zimbabwe.

What headline(s) would you like to read about yourself in 2020?
“Ayittey Told You So.”
In 1993, I predicted that Rwanda would implode. Nobody took me seriously and I was dismissed as a “doomsayer.” Rwanda blew up in 1994.In March 1999, I stunned the audience at the Conference in Porto, Portugal, organized by the Mario Soares Foundation (named after Portuguese president, Mario Soares) that Ivory Coast, Togo, and Zimbabwe will implode.Nine months later, in Dec 1999, General Robert Guie staged a military coup in Ivory Coast, setting in motion events that eventually culminated in a civil war in Sept 2000.Earlier in March 2000, the descent of Zimbabwe into chaos and economic collapse began with fraudulent elections. Togo blew up in 2005.The following African countries are standing in line, waiting to blow up: Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Libya, among others.I don’t want to read this in 2020: “Ayittey Told You So.”Describe an idea that you'd like to see spread more widelyThat the solutions to Africa’s myriad problems lie in Africa itself and they entail returning to and building upon Africa’s own indigenous institutions of private ownership of the means of production, free village markets, free enterprise and free trade.

Politics apart, what drives you crazy?
Tomfoolery in a “coconut republic.” This invites a comparison with a banana republic. In a banana republic, one might slip on a banana peel but things do work -- now and then for the people, albeit inefficiently and unreliably. The water tap has a mind of its own. Occasionally, it might spit some water and then change its mind. Buses operate according to their own internal clock, set according to Martian time -- whatever that is. By the grace of God or Allah, a bus might arrive, belching thick black smoke. Food and gasoline are generally available but expensive, if one is willing to contend with occasional long lines. The police are helpful sometimes and protect the people by catching real crooks. There is petty corruption. Now and then, a million dollars here and a million there might be embezzled. Such a banana republic often slips into suspended animation or arrested development.
A coconut republic, on the other hand, is ruthlessly inefficient, lethal and eventually implodes. Instead of a banana peel, one might step on a live grenade. Here, the entire notion of "governance" has been turned completely on its head by the ruling bandits. The chief bandit is the head of state himself. Their water taps run all the time; the people can collect rain water. There are inexhaustible supplies of food and gasoline for them, but not for the people. And there are no buses for the people. Period. Those shiny buses that ply the road are for vampire elites. The people can walk. The republic sits atop vast reserves of oil and exports oil. Yet, there is no gasoline for the people since the country’s oil refineries have broken down. Funds earmarked for repairs had been stolen and refined petroleum products must be imported. The country may also be rich in mineral deposits – such as diamonds, gold, col-tan. Yet, the mineral wealth has produced misery.
A coconut republic is:1. Where Uganda’s Agriculture Minister, Kibirige Ssebunya, declares that: “All the poor should be arrested because they hinder us from performing our development duties. It is hard to lead the poor, and the poor cannot lead the rich. They should be eliminated" (New Vision, Kampala, Dec 15, 2004). He advised local leaders to arrest poor people in their areas of jurisdiction.2. Where the country runs out of paper with which to print money (Zimbabwe): “Reserve Bank officials told IRIN that plans to print about Zim$60 trillion (about US$592.9 million) were briefly delayed after the government failed to secure foreign currency to buy ink and special paper for printing money.”3. Where the government tames hyperinflation by banning price increases: “In Jan 2007, the Government of Zimbabwe said it would tame the country’s 1,600 percent inflation rate by making wage and price increases illegal” (The New York Times, Feb 13, 2007; p.A5)4. Where the rulers claim they are fighting “terrorists” when they themselves are the real state terrorists (Liberia, Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe). Charles Taylor of Liberia once had an “anti-terrorism unit” run by his son. Even the warlords of Somalia “formed what they call an anti-terrorism coalition” (The New York Times, May 1, 2006).5. Where the head of stqate, Yahya Jammeh of Gambia, declares that anyone aspiring to his job needed "to wait like a vulture, patiently," because he planned to stay in office at least 30 years longer” (The New York Times, April 19, 2006; p.A6).
6. Where about $709 million and another ₤144 million recovered from the loot the Abachas and his henchmen stashed abroad were quickly re-looted. “The Senate Public Accounts Committee found only $6.8 million and ₤2.8 million of the recovered booty in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (The Post Express, July 10, 2000).
7. Where a former minister of finance was found hiding -- where else? -- in a coconut tree: “Zambia’s former finance minister, Katele Kalumba, was arrested and charged with theft after the police found him hiding in a tree near his rural home. Mr. Kalumba, who had been on the run for four months, is being charged in connection with some $33 million that vanished while he was in office (The New York Times, Jan 16, 2003; p.A8).8. Where the head of state, General Samuel Doe of Liberia summoned his finance minister -- “only to be reminded by aides that he had already executed him” (The New York Times, Sept 13, 2003; p.A4).9. Where the police are highway robbers and the judges crooks. Tell a police officer that you saw a minister stealing the people’s money and it is YOU he will arrest. Asked to investigate the brutal murders of Robert Ouko and British tourist Julie Ward, Kenya police issued this report: “Foreign Minister Robert Ouko was presumed to have broken his own leg, shot himself in the head and set himself afire. Two years earlier, Kenyan officials suggested that a British tourist, Julie Ward, lopped off her own head and one of her legs before setting herself aflame” (The Washington Post, April 20, 2001; p. A19).
10. Where the police show their courage by fleeing. On 16 December 1998, Corporal C. Darko and Constable K. A. Boateng at a Police Station in Accra, Ghana, were instructed to go and arrest Samuel Quartey, who was reported to police for being involved in a theft case. "When the suspect came out brandishing a cutlass (a machete), the police officers did what most people would have done -- took to their heels with the speed of lightning that could have made an enviable record had they been timed" (The Mirror, 2 Jan 1999, 1).
Coconut antics drive me nuts.

What is the one message you would like to send out to the world?
That Africa is capable of solving its own problems and developing. The leadership has been the problem, not the people.What project of yours would you like to see brought to fruition?The boat building project which I will talk about at the conference. The traditional way of fishing by dug-out canoes is arduous and limits the size of the catch. So I am working with a local entrepreneur to build bigger boats so that more fish can be landed by the native fishermen. It fits in my philosophy that the best way of moving Africa forward is go back to our “roots” and improve upon the existing ways of doing things. We, African elites, never did this after independence. We imported nearly everything, including nuclear-powered fishing trawlers to speak hyperbolically, never building on our own. A larger boat built domestically will provide jobs, land bigger catches of fish and save foreign exchange.Even more important, I would like to change the dysfunctional elite mentality. The richest persons in Africa are heads of state, governors and ministers. So every “educated” African who wants to be rich -- and there is nothing wrong with wanting to be rich -- heads straight into government or politics. I would like to change this mentality and show the elites that they can safely make their riches in the private, informal sector; for example, by improving upon the existing ways of doing things -- fishing (building bigger boats), marketing (building better markets, not air-conditioned malls), etc. If they make their money in the informal sector, nobody will haul them before commissions of enquiry come a change of government. Had the elites done this, Africa would have written a better post colonial economic report.

What initiatives related to Africa do you see as most important?
Reform, reform, reform. Reform of the abominable political systems with its concentration of power. Only 16 out of the 54 African countries are democratic. Reform of the statist economic system to grant more economic freedom to the African people, as existed in their own traditional economic systems. And reform of Africa’s dysfunctional institutions. In particular, these six institutions are critical:An independent and free media (Only 8 African countries have this); An independent central bank; An independent electoral commission; An independent judiciary; An efficient civil service; and A neutral and professional security (military and police) forces.
Give Africa these six institutions and Africans will do the rest of the job.



And if you didn't get enough......this link has a photo and a short video of him speaking at the conference. http://whiteafrican.com/?p=718
By the way, the White African Blog is also a good source for information on the continent.

Love ~ Gratitude ~ Love

Celebrating the Life of one of Africa's greatest Leaders

17, September 1922 - The birth date of Agostinho Neto, a physician and poet that led his nation to independence and became the first President of Angola. My love for him stems from the fact that his vision for African people always encompassed all Africans....whether on the continent, or in the diaspora. He realized very early that we face the same issues whether we call home the musseques, the ghetto or favelas. May his enlightened awareness and the demonstrated capability of his talents as a healer and statesman still be felt, and inspire us his children, to continue to bring forth the vision of mutual respect and support, and brotherhood into reality.


I've been introduced to the world of African Bloggers, and I'm in Heaven. Just to run across intelligent people of my color, that are interested in the world, and making their place and presence felt in the global community.

America bores me so, with her predictable preferences, issues, fears and ignorance. And I extend that statement across the board. It matters not your ethnicity, or income....'The powers that be' have been very successful in mentally programming a nation of people of limited perception and understanding about the fullness of Life. Americans are truly ignorant about the world, it's inhabitants and how everything all works together. Even worse, the conduits of creativity and free imagination have been shut down. Most people sit and wait to be handed their ideas and beliefs. A seeking spirit, an inquisitive nature are not welcome in this land.

Sure everything looks nice....but it's boring. Believe me it's boring.

Back to something more interesting......the African Bloggers.
Here's a sister, from Angola that I recently discovered:
http://koluki.blogspot.com/
Great music, graphics and art, some of it is in Portugues, but alot in English. Check her out.

I wrote and shared a story of my ancestors, and she encouraged me to tell the story in her blog as a comment on reparations. Well friends....I've made an effort to do so. I'm going to add here what I shared so that you can comment on it too.
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Greetings Dear Sister~

Just a quick note, to offer you 'dois beijos', as today September 17th, we celebrate the birth date of 'our Beloved' Agostinho Neto. Isn't it auspicious that we connected during the season of his birth. And that when we did, we both held this great affection for him. I can't believe you met him....your photo is so youthful. (I hate to ask) How old were you?

I've been thinking about your suggestion of my adding a comment to your blog. I have mixed feelings about reparations, as I live extremely focused in the 'possibilities of the moment'. I am not one of those Africans that is still laden with chains and bound to the misery of 200 years of slavery imposed upon my people. 200 years is a scant nothing in the continuum of Life, and especially when for most of those eons, people of my color and from my continent ruled, provided the dominant impetus for knowledge, and understanding of the cosmic, spiritual and natural world.

Many people here wave the flag of reparations as they sing their "The white man is the source of all our problems" blues/anthem. So I have not given it much serious attention. That is not to say however, that I don't support more being definitely done to atone for the loss, pain and suffering slavery caused. Saying you are sorry, and trying to show it in material ways could be a part of a healing process. But in my heart, I know that giving money, and land alone....will not be the answer.

Another issue to me is who should the reparations be paid to? The individuals here? How about the nations themselves that suffered the lose of some of the strongest and best of their population?

Reparations from this dominant culture are a tricky game. Many things have to be in place for the deliverance and transfer of wealth that we're talking about. And those elements just aren't present today.

I've studied Jews for years, and their dazzling feat of extracting more wealth from the nations of the world, rounding up much of their lost valuable art, and even winning damages against German industries for their 'slave' labor during WWII was awesome. But from my analysis, it was the result of long planning and covert moves, to place Jews in strategic places in the government and society, so that at every needed step of the process, someone was there to carry the ball and smooze the dominant group into acquiescence.

In my research, I once found a website that delineated exactly how many Jews Clinton had in his administration. Because him being the President at the time, was pertinent to the process. In fact, it was his own, that's right, the U. S. Asst. Secretary of State, Stuart Eisenstadt, that negotiated the fund the compensated Jews. He was the most powerful of those positioned to accomplish this objective, and check this excerpt from a Salon article about how he used his position.

Between 1996 and 1999, Under Secretary of State Stuart Eisenstadt pressed the CIA to release material regarding looted Jewish assets. This was when the topic gained international attention with the disclosures about gold stolen by the Nazis that eventually wound up in Swiss banks. "All we could pry loose were a few files and that was with the State Department leaning on them," recalls one person familiar with the process.

So you see Jews were in position in all branches of the government. You also had a president that would go along. The economy was strong, and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was seen as responsible for that. It was a wonderful coming together of synergistic forces that allowed the response to be Yes. And the Jews took it...and ran with it, knowing that it was simply a window of opportunity that might shut very quickly, and never open again. The media did not even 'lay on it' as it does on other provocative and controversial issues. Why not?....because they control the major media and news outlets in the U.S.

Does a similar united and coordinated thrust to recover the wealth and resources already legislated as ours exist within the American African community today? Not hardly. I don't even think that Obama could pull it off.

What do you think of what I've said here? Please feel free to say, Rubbish, or Bullshit!

Last point......I don't see my family story as a reparations issue. I see it as an inheritance claim, as I know the ancestor, and his son would be my great grandmother's half brother. So I (in a perfect world) would be seeking my portion of the family wealth.

Anyway dear, the story is really something that I would use as a 'cocktail conversation' if I still drank and enjoyed those type of social gatherings. That is until, I sit down and write it up into a screen play.

In truth I don't think much about reparations.
I know that my wealth is within me, and that like the diamonds and oil of Angola, all I have to do is dig deep, and keep my focus internally directed. Out of what I Am and I've been given as qualities, talents and abilities....if I am grateful, and polish and refine my gifts, surely they will provide well for me.

Dois Beijos Menina.
Ate logo
Kentke

Well here I Am.



Trying to see if blogging is the answer to my evolving urge to share and engage in a broader way in the world. I hope my learning curve is short and sharp with this technology. So that quickly, I will be able to effortlessly express myself, on an expanded array of subjects.

I'm in labor!!!!



I'm in the process of giving birth.

No. Not to a baby. But to what I am sure will become like my child.

It's Saturday night. 8:59 pm, in Los Angeles.



This is the first post on my blog.



For years, the internet has been my window on the world. Allowing me to stay better informed, and to communicate with a wider audience. Most are known to me, but because of the way emails are forwarded, I'm sure I've made new friends and enemies thru the messages and thoughts I've written and shared.

I've often joked and said that oneday, I'd find a good web designer, and instead of passing on information one post at a time, I'd do my own webpage, and have an online magazine. Well perhaps, this blog will be the beginning of that venue for my creative sharing. Maybe not. We'll see. But at least......

oh no!!!!!

My water's burst!!!!

See ya.....Right now I've got better things to concentrate on.

Like breathing,.... and pushing,.... and feeling this movement of Life that Creation is birthing thru me.

To do this right, most of all I need to fill myself with Love and Gratitude. Always ~ so that whatever comes thru me, cuz sometimes, you know I get mad. And disappointed. And disgusted.

But since it will be projected out into the world, my sincere intention and love, for the best within us....humane beings, our highest potential being more and more realized as the order of the day.....That Love for this vision, and for Life, must always be felt as the wellspring source from which all that I think, say and do flows.



What an honor to speak with many, and share our thoughts and what's on our hearts. It's humbling. And quite a responsibility. I give thanks.