'It is important to emphasise that there is no substitute to good governance; it is an ideal thing to have and not a mere wish. Clearly we are making some progress, but we still also need to work hard to give quality life to the people. What we need to do is to commit ourselves to change,' the former OAU scribe said during a music concert organised by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation (MIF).
'I am, however, glad with the contribution our academics, teachers, the media and civil society are making to achieve a better society. Significantly, our artistes in Africa have been making us very proud. They have used their music, skills and talents to promote and project us positively. We should be very proud of them,' he added
Sudanese-born hip-hop musician, Emmanuel Jal, who at the age of six was forced to become a child soldier by the rebels, was among the four musicians who enterta i ned the large gathering of guests from across Africa at the concert.
Unlike several other thousands of child soldiers who are still involved in the war they know little about, Jal was lucky to be rescued by a British aid worker, Emma McCure, married to senior SPLA commandant, Riek Macher, who smuggled him into Kenya.
She adopted Jal and sent him to school in Nairobi. Unfortunately McCure died a few months later in a road accident, but her friends helped Jal to continue his studies. He later developed great interest in music. Since then he has been using h is own brand of music to stress the need for good governance, peace and tolerance. Jal has also set up a charity group- Gua Africa - to raise money to build a school in his home town, Leer, in Sudan.
'I am a war child, I believe I've survived for reasons to tell my story, to touch lives,' he told the audience at the large Mlimani city conference centre, holding the guests, including President Jakaya Kiwete, spellbound with his powerful lyrics and video clips showing ugly scenes from the war front.
'I am using my story to represent the voices that are not heard, to inspire the young ones and help to throw challenges to African leaders. Nobody else will save us, we need to go back to the basics. We are the richest continent yet we are
poor. We need to trade more between ourselves, so that we can fight poverty,' Jal told PANA shortly after performing at the concert.
'We can complain about what our leaders are doing, but what are you doing as a person. So we as persons are responsible for making our leaders corrupt beca u se we don't challenge our leaders. Everybody must be involved, when an election is going on, don't allow your vote to be bought,' he advised.
The founder of the Foundation, Mo Ibrahim, linked most of the problems the continent was facing to corruption and poor political governance adding that the choice of the Prize Committee not to make any award this year was due to failure in governance in most African countries.
'Our resources are not being used as they should to develop Africa. It is quite unfortunate to still blame colonialism for our problems 50 years after most of the countries have gained independence. The idea of the Foundation is to change all these.
'We look at what each government is offering, with the use of the index we have developed. The index is the most comprehensive about governance in Africa; it is a good product of scientific research carried out by about 75 academics from a c ross the continent. We intend to disseminate the information to schools, civil society and other relevant agencies,' said the Sudanese-born millionaire.
He said other key issues that must be given priority by Africans include climate change and its devastating effects, African agriculture and economic integration.
According to him, 'We need to fully integrate, we need to trade, we need to remove all impediments, encourage free movements of goods and persons. We need to a ddress high cost of doing business, we need it now, not tomorrow.'
The winner of the Ibrahim Prize in 2008, former Botswana President Festus Mogae, said since being honoured by the Foundation he had been channelling his energy towards promoting the need to tackle HIV/AIDS across Africa. Alongside other African leaders Mogae said they had formed a group - Coalition for Dialogue - that promoted democracy and transparency.
Mogae, who is also the United Nations special envoy for climate change, challeng ed developed countries to work towards reducing green gas emissions which is affecting Africa more, even though the continent's contribution to the emissions is very small.
Former Minister of Education in Guinea, Aicha Bah Diallo called for urgent action by the international community to help resolve the political crisis in her country before it degenerates into a major conflict that will threaten the peace in the sub-region.
Dar es Salaam - 15/11/2009
Pana
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