No more offside scoring in Africa

By Mosibudi Mangena

I heard on the radio on April 1 that Tuareg rebels, who are fighting for the creation of their own separate state in the north, and their allies, the Azawad National Liberation Movement, had overrun the ancient city of Timbuktu in northern Mali. My mind started racing. What does that mean? You see, several years ago, former president Thabo Mbeki paid a state visit to Mali and, among other places, toured Timbuktu. He was so impressed by its huge collection of African scholarly material, dating from the 12th century, that he immediately agreed with his hosts that SA would team up with Mali in the translation, cataloguing and preservation of the treasure. I visited Mali to sign a science and technology agreement with the minister responsible for this portfolio so that we could collaborate in the digitalisation of the manuscripts, while our arts and culture colleagues dealt with other aspects of the project. At a centre at a university in Bamako, I visited a group of people translating those scholarly writings from Arabic to English. I was fascinated by the fact that in the same essay you would find mathematics, astronomy, medicine, law, philosophy, religion and other subjects discussed together.

Although their treatment of these disciplines was rudimentary, it seems that an interdisciplinary approach came naturally to those early scholars. In a ramshackle aircraft operated by a Lebanese businessman that prompted one to say a little prayer before take-off, I flew to Timbuktu – the real centre of that ancient African scholarship. It is a hot, dry and sandy place inhabited by mainly desperately poor people. It was 45ºC on the day we visited. With our bodies oozing copious amounts of sweat and with bottled water in hand, we entered one library after another, all with piles and piles of those manuscripts, almost all turning brown with age, frayed at the edges, brittle and falling apart. It was mind-boggling that these poor people had preserved so much material on their own, and for so many centuries. The building of a new and modern library, initiated and supported by Mbeki, was in progress in one of the city’s neighbourhoods.

News of the seizure of Timbuktu by the rebels got me wondering whether those special people, the manuscripts and the libraries were safe, or if they had become casualties of war. Apparently the rebels took advantage of the confusion caused in Bamako by the military overthrow of the legitimate government of President Amadou Toumani Touré, to advance quickly southward to occupy what they claim to be their territory. Some among the rebels are reported to have fought on the side of Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya and to have entered northern Mali with weapons from that country. Meanwhile, the AU and the Economic Community of West African States had, rightly, adopted an uncompromisingly hostile stance towards the coup. Mali was summarily suspended from the membership of both bodies, while Ecowas imposed tough economic sanctions against the military government in Bamako headed by Captain Amadou Sanogo. For landlocked Mali, this meant they would not be able to use the seaports of west Africa, while both the land and airports would be sealed. Banking facilities that Ecowas member states utilise together would be closed, making it almost impossible for Mali to conduct business and to pay its civil servants. This is as it should be. The Malian junta has transgressed the rules that Africa, through the AU, has made for itself. The continent has decided that it will no longer tolerate regimes that come to power through unconstitutional means such as coups or wars. So the Malian military government will not be recognised. You cannot score from an offside position, period.

The problem comes with inconsistencies. The rules cannot be applied selectively. Why is the rebel regime in Libya recognised when it also came to power through violent means? Is it because the Libyan rebels had the support of powerful Western countries? Are we to understand that if you have the backing of the West, the AU rules do not apply to you, and therefore you can score goals from an offside position? Where is the justice and fairness in that? There is an understanding that once the junta in Bamako restores power to an democratically elected government, Ecowas is prepared to put together a military force to restore the territorial integrity of Mali. Unless the Tuareg rebels are prepared to withdraw peacefully, there are prospects of more fighting in the north, including Timbuktu. So the concerns remain. Nevertheless, the Ecowas intervention is commendable, except that it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. We should play the game fairly, with no one allowed to foul others and score illegitimate goals.

source: Originally published by The Star