05/12/2021
FRENCH HAVE CAUSED CHAOS IN AFRICA .
Mumbi waMbui lays the story of how the French have contributed to the misery of all French former colonies in Africa .
I captured her entire article and I want to acknowledge and thank her for the in-depth analysis about the French . I have said the same about the French double standards in Africa
Below is Mumbi âs analysis
GUINEA:
When SĂŠkou TourĂŠ of Guinea decided in 1958 to get out of the French colonial empire, and opted for the country's independence, the French colonial elite in Guinea got so furious, and in a historic act of fury, destroyed everything in the country which represented what they called the "benefits of French colonization".
Three thousand French left the country, taking all their property and destroying anything that could not be moved:
schools, hospitals, public administration buildings were crumbled; cars, books, medicine, research institute instruments, tractors were crushed and sabotaged; horses, cows in the farms were killed, and food in warehouses was burned or poisoned.
The purpose of this outrageous act was to send a clear message to all other colonies that the consequences for rejecting France would be very high.
Slowly fear spread through the African elite, and none after the Guinea events ever found the courage to follow the example of SĂŠkou TourĂŠ, whose slogan was âWe prefer freedom in poverty to opulence in slavery.â
TOGO:
Sylvanus Olympio, the first President of Togo found a middle ground solution with the French. He didnât want his country to continue to be a French dominion, therefore he refused to sign the colonisation continuation pact that Charles De Gaulle (French President) proposed, but agreed to pay an annual debt to France for the so called "benefits" Togo got from French colonization.
It was the only condition for the French not to destroy the country before leaving. However, the amount estimated by France was so big that the reimbursement of the so called âcolonial debtâ was close to 40% of the country's budget in 1963.
The financial situation of the newly independent Togo was very unstable, so in order to get out the situation, Olympio decided to get out the French colonial currency FCFA (the Franc for French African colonies), and issue the country it's own currency.
On January 13, 1963, three days after he started printing his country's own currency, a squad of illiterate soldiers backed by France killed Olympio.
Etienne Gnassingbe who led the soldeirs, supposedly received a bounty of $612 from the local French embassy for the hit man job.
Olympioâs dream was to build an independent and self-sufficient and self-reliant country. But the French didnât like the idea.
MALI:
On June 30, 1962, Modiba Keita, the first President of Mali, decided to withdraw from the French colonial currency FCFA which was imposed on 12 newly independent African countries.
For the Malian President, who was leaning more to a socialist economy, it was clear that colonisation continuation pact with France was a trap, a burden for the country's development.
On November 19, 1968, like, Olympio, Keita became the victim of a coup carried out by another ex French Foreign legionnaire, the Lieutenant Moussa TraorĂŠ.
In fact during that turbulent period of Africans fighting to liberate themselves from European colonization, France would repeatedly use many ex Foreign legionnaires to carry out coups against elected Presidents.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC:
On January 1st, 1966, Jean-BĂŠdel Bokassa, an ex French foreign legionnaire, carried out a coup against David Dacko, the first President of the Central African Republic.
BURKINA FASO:
On January 3, 1966, Maurice YamĂŠogo, the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, now called Burkina Faso, was victim of a coup carried by Aboubacar SangoulĂŠ Lamizana, an ex French legionnaire who fought with French troops in Indonesia and Algeria.
BENIN:
On 26 October 1972, Mathieu KĂŠrĂŠkou who was a security guard to President Hubert Maga, the first President of the Republic of Benin, carried a coup against the President, after he attended French military schools from 1968 to 1970.
SENEGAL:
In 1958, scared about the consequence of choosing independence from France, Leopold SĂŠdar Senghor declared: âThe choice of the Senegalese people is independence; they want it to take place only in friendship with France, not in dispute.â
Its clear that France accepted only an âindependence on paperâ for its colonies, but signed binding âCo-operation Accordsâ, detailing the nature of their relationship with France, in particular ties to the colonial currency (the Franc), France educational system, military and commercial preferences.
In fact, during the last 50 years, a total of 67 coups have happened in 26 countries in Africa, 16 of those countries are French ex-colonies, which means 61% of the coups happened in Francophone Africa.
As these numbers demonstrate, France is quite desperate but active to keep a stronghold on his colonies what ever the cost, no matter what.
In March 2008, former French President Jacques Chirac said:
âWithout Africa, France will slide down into the rank of a third [world] powerâ
Chiracâs predecessor François Mitterand already prophesied in 1957 that:
âWithout Africa, France will have no history in the 21st centuryâ
As I write this article, 14 African countries are obliged by France, through a colonial pact to put 85% of their foreign reserves into the French Central Bank under the control of the French Minister for Finance.
Till this day, 14 African countries still have to pay colonial debt to France. African leaders who refuse are killed or are victims of coups.
Those who obey are supported and rewarded by France with lavish lifestyle while their people endure extreme poverty, and desperation.
The glaring opulent lifestyles of Mobutu, Bongo and Paul Biya (who lives in Switzerland but visits Cameroon three times an year), are testaments of how France rewards it's collaborators.
This Article was by Mumbi Wa Mbui a political strategist and Historian in Kenya .
Thanks for the contribution and we need more of such an exposure for our people on the continent to read .
