LUMUMBA'S ASSASSINATION: Sons not satisfied with Belgium's apology

Patrice LUMUMBA


On January 17, 1961,  Patrice Lumumba, the first elected Prime Minister of Congo was murdered. The circumstances leading to his death remained a mystery until forty years later the secret started unfolding. 


Fresh scrutiny and those around at the time have revealed that Belgium, the Congo's colonial masters were behind his assassination.

After the election in June 1960, Lumumba's National Congolese Movement won and emerged as the first Prime Minister of Congo. After the independence celebration of June 30th, Belgium's hostility to Lumumba deepened. Lumumba denounced the harsh brutalities and indignities suffered by the Congolese under the Belgian colonial rule.

A strong friend of Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana; Lumumba made a similar statement of Nkrumah. "You must have strong and visible powers". Lumumba expelled all the Belgian diplomats and called on the United Nations to defend the newly independent state. 

The action affected Belgians to the extent that the king was very angry with Lumumba. The British Foreign Office requested the elimination of Lumumba. The statement read " I see only two possible solutions to the problem. The first is a simple one, the removal of Lumumba from the scene and killing him.

Almost fifty years after his assassination the sons of the Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba are seeking war crime charges against twelve Belgians for the involvement in their father's assassination. 

His youngest son, Guy Lumumba told reporters "We are targeting the assassins. In Belgium, there are twelve of them still alive and we want them to answer for their pathetic acts before justice. The twelve Belgians were in the province of Katanga when Lumumba was killed.

As if the spirit of Lumumba taking revenge, it was reported that one of the twin brothers involved in his killing has gone insane. Lumumba's family lawyer Christophe Marchand said the sons will file a charge against the yet to be named twelve of war crimes in a Brussel criminal court in October. 

Even though Belgium has since apologized to its former colony; no legal action has been taken afterward.

Ng'ang'a Ndeveni: AN ARTIST WITH A MAGIC BRUSH

Artwork by Ng'ang'a Ndeveni

There are many talented artists in Africa. One of them that works have reached far is Ng'ang'a Ndeveni, a member of the Akamba tribe of Kenya. 

With his favorite tools, pen, and paper; he always put on the best sketches which caught the attention of his teacher to introduce him into art galleries in the city of Nairobi.

His combination of some of the highest-quality watercolors is not common within the Kenya art circle. Later on, he started working with alternative mediums as well, like oils. 

However, he says of his own works, "Watercolors give me more satisfaction and joy, and the ability to put onto paper what is in my head. Every so often I visit game parks and my tribal homeland to refresh my memories and revive my inspiration.

His paintings are extremely beautiful He has participated in many exhibitions and now his paintings are in many art galleries on the internet. As one of the admirers of his paintings; I chose one of his works to decorate my blog.

Life And Wild Life In Africa Portrayed On Paintings

Artwork by Ng'ang'a Ndeveni


Africa is a continent many have a reason not to visit. It may be a question of safety, fear, sickness or any other reason that has tarnished the image of the continent. 


But like any other continent, Africa is a continent with the most talented artists.

Each day in Africa passes with joy and hardships. The best part of it is the life experience portrayed in paintings. 

Despite the negative perception the continent has endured, its art, paintings, and wildlife have attracted thousands of tourists.

The Kenyan artist called Ng’ang’a Ndeveni 

Ng’ang’a Ndeveni is a member of the Akamba tribe of Kenya, well-known for their artistic talents and attention to the details of local Akamba life.

For those that love Africa paintings, there are fine collections of African paintings in stock at Amazon.Com. His official website is at https://insideafricanart.com/nganga-ndeveni/

YOUSSOU N'DOUR RETURNS TO SFINKS FESTIVAL

Youssou N'Dour

As large and updated as African music is, one of the names making the Africa music popular is Youssou N'dour. His regal garment in the Senegalese mbalax is thicker than any esteem armor meant to be achieved in the vibrant Tama, percussion, and marimba-influenced style.

A good product truly doesn't need any advert. Youssou has dominated African music for over two decades. He has played, toured widely, and collaborated with many international singers. Sfinks festival is not a new place for him.

Youssou has played there a couple of years ago. Surprisingly, the 35 edition of this year's festival has brought him back to the podium to entertain the people.

Youssou has succeeded in transporting mbalax to the far extreme of the global platform. His concerts in Europe and America attract a large audience. 

Born in Dakar- Senegal 1959, N'dour is a singer endowed with remarkable range and poise, as a composer and producer. He absorbs the entire Senegal musical spectrum in his work.

Named "African artist of the century" by the English publication Folk Roots, at the threshold of the year 2000, Youssou has made mbalax famous throughout the world more than twenty years of recording and touring out Senegal.

He remains a revered figure in his country and in the ever-growing worldwide Senegalese diaspora. 

He has a duet with many international stars, including Peter Gabriel and Neneh Cherry. For more information on his second appearance at the Sfinks festival, go to http://www.sfink.be/.

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THE ROLE OF SWISS BANK AIDING CORRUPTION IN AFRICA

Ex-Nigerian leader Sani Abacha stole millions of dollars from the country and deposited them in foreign banks



Dishonesty, immorality, decay and accepting of bribes summed up to corruption, which is an epidemic in many parts of the world including Africa. 

Every year, large sums of money stolen from the coffers in Africa end up at Swiss Banks, other parts of Europe and the United States of America. Hypocrisy is a national phenomenon. 

Most European leaders keep on attacking and criticizing African leaders about corruption, however; they are quite happy about what’s going on due to the benefits of the stolen money in Europe.

The exploitation of Africa has taken place in many ways by the Europeans. Slavery was the historical exploitation, whilst assisting or helping corrupt leaders to deposit money in developed countries is the modern version of exploitation. 

They use that money to finance their projects while Africa wallows in poverty. Yet they tagged Africa a corrupt continent while they chose 'misappropriate of funds' to refer to their own corrupt immoral standard in Europe. 

Every penny taken from state funds in Africa hinders and retards its development and it was a mark of double standards to label African leaders as corrupt, and be ready safe-keepers of looted funds.

Arguably, Switzerland has one of the best banking systems in the world and this unique system has attracted to that country's banks a chunk of global foreign financial lodgments. Unfortunately, over the years, a large number of depositors included people with dubious sources of wealth, especially from Africa. 

According to a report from Global Financial Integrity, total illicit outflows from Africa between 1970 to 2008 may be as high as $1.8 trillion; Sub-Saharan African countries experienced the bulk of illicit financial outflows with the West and Central African region posting the largest outflow numbers. 

The top five countries with the highest outflow measured were: Nigeria ($89.5 billion) Egypt ($70.5 billion), Algeria ($25.7 billion), Morocco ($25 billion), and South Africa ($24.9 billion).

According to an investigation conducted in Europe by a group of African journalists, many African leaders have amassed wealth in Swiss banks. In order not to be detected some of the accounts are in the names of their relatives. 

In France alone, an investigation revealed that one of the leaders of a French Speaking country in Africa has 19 mansions. Further investigations revealed that he earns 15,000Euros per month. The question is how could they own houses that one is estimated to cost more than a million euros when their salary can't buy.

In Europe and America, Africans are taken for granted. An African is seen as corrupt, criminal and uneducated because of the magnitude of corruption that lays in the African sovereignty our educational certificates and credentials are considered to be fake, because in a country like Lagos and parts of Asia, one could buy a fake certificate as a doctor or dentist. 

The British Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria has seized most of these documents applicants tried to use for visa application. Under the hard cane of our teachers, we were taught and forced to know mentally that “wheat from Canada, meat from Argentina, coffee from Brazil, etc, yet don’t be surprised to get “I don’t know” for an answer when you asked about 40 percent Europeans the capital town of Ghana or Sierra Leone. What do they care about Africa or interested to let them learn about the continent?.

In regard to development, Africa has a long way to go. China was nothing years back, today they rub shoulders with the advanced countries. A well-balanced economy and highly technically developed. Their success doesn’t mean that there is no corruption in China. 

There is but they develop their own country. Greed doesn’t permit African leaders to know the destruction and harm they are doing to their country through corruption. The Europeans used stolen monies deposited at banks to develop their countries and call African leaders morons.

There is no way corruption will cease in Africa but there are measures that could ensure that financial institutions in Switzerland will no longer provide a safe haven for illicit wealth. The Swiss government is trying to prevent stolen assets into its banks. 

This is the way to discourage the mass flow of wealth from Africa to its banking institutions. The question is, how serious are they on this issue? Time will tell. Until then Africa leader must realize the responsibility lying on their shoulders to restore the dignity of the countries they are ruling.

EUROPEAN UNION TRADE POLICY AND ACP COUNTRIES

EU-ACP trade negotiations



The European Journalism Center (EJC) and the European Commission’s DG Trade co-organized a two-day seminar recently to discuss the trade between the European Union and ACP countries. 


The seminar also provided an overview of the current EU-ACP trade policy and analysis of trade limitations. EJC journalists Mr. John Hammond, Cristina Romero and the seminar moderator Juliane Von Reppert-Bismarck of Mlex Market Intelligence, actively interacted with the ACP journalists from both English and French-Speaking countries.

As a matter of fact, trade relations between the European Union and countries of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) regions have been entangled by many arguments. 

In the wake of the global economic and financial crisis, ongoing negotiations over Economic Partnerships Agreements (EPAs) have led to often-heated debates over agreements today from Lomé to Cotonou to EPAs, as well as key issues such as accountability in trade and relevant case studies involving the implementation of EPAs until now

The seminar brought many speakers including Mr. Peter Thompson, the director of Trade and Development, Mr. Julius Sen, Senior program Advisor, Mr. Ralph Kamphoene, Senior Advisor International Trade/GSP, Euro Commerce among others to discuss on various topic ranging from the overview of EU-ACP Trade Policy, From Lome to Cotonou to EPSs, Defining Accountability in Trade, Reworking Trade and Development Tools: Relevant case studies

Many traders from the Caribbean and Pacific Countries trading with the European Union, believe that the new trade agreement between the EU and ACP, though compatible with the World Trade Organization rules, was planned to the benefit of EU, as a result, they fear that could affect the economy of the ACP countries. 

One argument is, for example, the prices of goods offered by the EU are very poor, compared to what they demand their products. Another point that was presented is that developing countries cannot compete with their more advanced European counterparts.

The speakers lecturing on different trade subjects made many points clear to the ACP journalists. For example, it was explained that EPAs were not forced onto the ACP countries, but rather they were designed to meet the WTO rules. 

A visit to the Port of Antwerp revealed how goods from Europe are handled and shipped to the various destination including ACP countries. The port combines a long tradition break-bulk cargo, with a state of the art infrastructure. Handling around 15 million tonnes of steel, forest products, fruit, food and project cargoes every year.

The Port of Antwerp boasts the capacity, productivity and full range of services you would expect from one of the world’s largest ports. Offering the most convenient inland connections by road, rail or barge, it isn’t surprising that the Port of Antwerp leads as Europe’s number one break-bulk port. 

At the end of the seminar and the trip to the Port of Antwerp, the ACP journalists were delighted and requested for a similar seminar in the future. In fact, it is important that many ACP countries take this advantage to come and visit these international ports and learn how to manage the high volume of workload in the future.

THE ROUTE TO EUROPE WITH AFRICAN PRODUCTS

Africa's textile export to Europe and the US

Are you a successful farmer, manufacturer, or trader aiming to export your product to Europe? There are trade preferences that the European Union is offering to the developing world. 

To export any product to Europe, there are many issues that the exporter has to take into consideration. 

First of all, find out if your product will sell and if yes, which are the countries that you need to export your products to and the standard of the labeling requirements for the products within the European Union.

Diverse and confusing labeling rules remain a trade barrier between Africa and Europe and probably with other smaller economies around the world.

Opportunities exist for unique labeling standards and to make sure that national and international rules are clear and that the process that develops them is predictable. 

Diversifying exports and switching to higher-value goods is identified by many, not least Africa needs to trade if it is to make money for developments of other infrastructure in the continent.

Until recently, agricultural trade for Africa has generally meant exporting a readily available, little-processed commodities such as coffee, tea or cocoa. 

Many of these agricultural products are of low value. In addition, they are frequently vulnerable to swings in the world market price which can leave a country's economic base in a very precarious position.

Therefore, exporters from countries like Tanzania and Ghana have been riding the rollercoaster of fluctuating world prices for coffee and cocoa for decades now and the IMF and World Bank, as economic partners but Africans can gain more from export trade to Europe.

What are the rules that organic products need to comply with to be exported to Europe? On 1 January 2009 new EU regulations went into effect for the production, control, and labeling of organic products, however, some of the new provisions on labeling did not take effect until 1 July 2010. 

In June 2007, the European Council of Agricultural Ministers agreed to a new Council Regulation on organic production and labeling of organic products. This new Council regulation contains clearly defined goals, principles and general rules for organic production.

Export documentation; ensuring a smooth passage; organizing the right paperwork can make the export process much simpler and smoother. This applies if you are exporting tonnes of goods for sale or just taking a few samples to a trade show in Europe.

More importantly, than ease of movement, not having the right paperwork can result in an importer not being able to accept the goods and the exporter not being paid. Certified export documentation is required by many countries. 

It is important to understand some of the most commonly used documents, and when they are required, to export successfully.

Certificates of origin verify the place of growth, production or manufacture of goods contain a certification by an empowered authority. 

Certificate of Origin is a document, required by foreign governments, declaring that goods in a particular international shipment are of a certain origin. 

Even though the commercial invoice usually includes a statement of origin, some countries require that a separate certificate be completed. 

Custom offices will use this document to determine whether a preferential duty rate applies to the products being imported. Certificates of origin also are important because of trade agreements and regulations that might apply to goods coming from the United States.

The data required for a certificate of origin is generally the same as for a commercial invoice. Basic information includes a description of the goods, the gross and net weight of goods, a number of packages, mode of transportation, date, and origin of the shipment, and an address for the seller and buyer. 

The certificate will also include a brief statement as to the origin of the goods. A few countries require specialized, unique certificates of origin that might include more detailed information and/or require a specific wording for its origin declaration.

While some countries require certificates of origin for all products, others may only require them for certain types of products. Almost all Middle Eastern countries require that certificates of origin accompany all shipments. 

Most Latin American and European countries, however, only require the certificate for certain products, such as textiles. Certificates of origin are generally unnecessary in Asia unless requested by the importer. African nations run the gamut of requirements.

WHAT ARE THE IMPORT TARIFFS FOR MY PRODUCTS?

Importers are expected to pay an import tax on virtually every item they import, but few know how much they owe until their shipments arrive in Europe. 

Many importers are overcharged by Europe Customs at the border because they did not purchase a copy of the Europe Harmonized Tariff Schedule and properly classify their imports. Import taxes are based on the type of item you are importing and where it’s coming from.

Getting started? And you need assistance in determining if a certificate of origin is required for a particular country, please contact the Export Helpdesk website: http://exporthelp.europe.eu/

Having enough information before you start will do you a lot of good and save you cost too.

SOUTH AFRICA: WHAT IS NEXT AFTER THE WORLD CUP?

Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa after 27 years in prison but he hadn't any magic wand to solve all the problems invented by Apartheid leaders


As a matter of fact, South Africans have suffered a great deal from grim terrorism, segregation, mass killings, and imprisonment without trial under the minority white rule, before the fall of Apartheid. 


The coming of Nelson Mandela as the first elected president of the Republic of South Africa, gave hope to many South Africans, with the idea that poverty is over and everyone will have the chance for better education and job opportunities.

Unfortunately, their thoughts are what one could call wishful thinking. Nelson Mandela hasn't the magic wand to heal a nation that has been crippled for ages with Apartheid virus which has created a big difference of "white rich and black poor." 

Unemployment soared, coupled with a high rate of crime. The suffering escalated when the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome started taking its toll on them.

Under the administration of Jacob Zuma, South Africa hosted the just concluded World Cup  Prior to the match South Africans thought the tournament will help to create job opportunities for them. Unfortunately, the game has ended with South Africans facing another bleak future.

The World Cup has certainly put South Africa more firmly in a global perspective as the first African country to host a world cup tournament. The question now is "what is next after all the money made in this world cup? 

Would that create more jobs to improve the welfare of the people? Time will tell or God only Knows.