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  • The Way The Dice Falls

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    Akinyi Yimbo
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    Akinyi Princess of k'orinda-yimbo says the West associates Africa with animals, wildlife, lions and zebras. She says if it were an African country, the West would have been up in arms threatening sanctions. The European Union has sent observers to just about every election held in Africa and the developing world, she says.

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    The Way the Dice Falls

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    Akinyi Princess of k'orinda-yimbo says the West associates Africa with animals, wildlife, lions and zebras. She says if it were an African country, the West would have been up in arms threatening sanctions. The European Union has sent observers to just about every election held in Africa and the developing world, she says.

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    16 views1 page

    The Way The Dice Falls

    Uploaded by

    Akinyi Yimbo
    Akinyi Princess of k'orinda-yimbo says the West associates Africa with animals, wildlife, lions and zebras. She says if it were an African country, the West would have been up in arms threatening sanctions. The European Union has sent observers to just about every election held in Africa and the developing world, she says.

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    The Way The Dice Falls

    By Akinyi Princess of KOrinda-Yimbo During my lectures in intercultural communication, I have a short interlude where I bring in an association quiz. I ask the students to tell me within two seconds what they associate with a word or a name I call out to them. If I, for example, say LOS ANGELES, Im most likely to get HOLLYWOOD or the name of some famous actor/actress. If I say NAIROBI I get nothing but puzzled looks, or a question-marked AFRICA? But if I treat Africa like the single country/village it is to the West and simply say AFRICA, no matter what class I have (managers or college students), the answer will be along these lines: ANIMALS! WILDLIFE! LIONS! ELEPHANTS! ZEBRAS! You get the gist. Something in the Western subconscious negates the African people. And so when I went to Brussels to buy some of the African food products Id never find anywhere in Germany, it struck me that this nation where the European Union has its headquarters has not had a government for over a year. If this had been an African country or any country in the developing world, the Western governments and their media from Australia across Europe all the way to Canada would have been up in arms issuing deadlines and threatening sanctions. Not so in the case of Belgium from where the EU sends election observer missions to just about every election held in Africa and the developing world. Belgium has had no government since their elections in June 2010, following the resignation of the prime minister and his government two months earlier. The results of those elections were inconclusive. The consequences were that ethnic politics took over and dominates Belgian political scene. The Flemish and French ethnic groups of the Belgian population insist on their individual group interests and entrenched positions to dominate the countrys political landscape. And thus theyve had no government for over a year, which is a world record, pushing Iraq to second place. The ethnic politicians are unable to agree among themselves to form a coalition government in the national interest. Yet this has made no headlines in the Western media. Nor have Western governments, ambassadors, mega NGOs like Oxfam and Plan International, the UN or NGIs (non-government individuals) taken to the roofs to daily shout homilies 24/7 about the values of democracy and a central government to ensure the health and security of the citizens. If Belgium had been a nation in the developing world, it would have been assailed with such shouts and press conferences giving ultimatums and threats of sanctions. Its a clich, yes, but I must say the double standard is still walking across the entire chessboard in the 21st century. What amazes me is, why do the governments, ambassadors, media, NGOs and NGIs of Africa and the developing world not summon such press conferences and tell Belgium their opinions and threaten sanctions of exporting their abundant natural resources to the country? Is it out of fear, complacency, irresponsibility or because theyre lackeys, scared of having a Patrice Lumumba (DRCongo), Omar Torrijos (Panama) or Mossadegh (Iran) done on them? Might can never be right if we would not let it be.

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