Date Of Article: 7/18/2002
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Gaddafi hits at the West
By: Gedion Munthali
Visiting Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi yesterday took a swipe at Western nations, accusing them of still wanting to colonise Africa and called on all African states to unite and fight imperialism. Speaking to an excited crowd that welcomed Gaddafi and his host President Bakili Muluzi with a din of cheers, ululating, whistling and hand-clapping that reverberated around a jam-packed Chichiri Stadium, the fiery orator said after taking Africans as slaves, the West has always demeaned African people, stigmatising the continent as impoverished and where “nothing positive could come from”. Gaddafi, speaking through an interpreter, said formation of the African Union was the first step towards emancipating Africa and finding solutions to problems of poverty, disease, illiteracy, economic underdevelopment, conflicts and disunity. “The formation of the African Union is a message to the West that Africans can stand on their own and map out their own destiny. They must know that we are just as good as them, created by the same God and living under the sun. “The Almighty God could not have created some people just to be slaves for others. He created this world for all of us, black or white. However, we have always been downtrodden, and the West has plundered our continent, taking away all its goodies,” said Gaddafi. He said the West should stop painting a negative picture of Africa, saying: “If we are as bad as they have always wanted the world to believe, why do they still come to our continent and exploit our resources? “They want all our good things for themselves. They turn green with envy when they think of our minerals and see the beauty of our continent depicted through our mountains and lakes.” In his speech, Muluzi outlined a number of problems the country is facing and asked Gaddafi for assistance so that goals for Malawi’s poverty alleviation programme could be realised. He praised his visitor for championing the formation of the African Union, saying it would bring peace, progress and facilitate the fight against poverty. Earlier in the morning Gaddafi visited Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, but failed to meet and cheer patients, according to Hospital director Ibrahim Idana. Idana speculated that it might have been a security precautionary measure as Ward 4A (a female surgical ward), which he had been scheduled to visit, was congested. “He was on his way to the ward, which was designated because it is one of the most crowded wards in this hospital, but was turned back by his security personnel,” said Idana. The Ward, with 32 beds, had about 68 patients yesterday, some of them sleeping on the floor. Only a few patients on beds were sleeping on mattresses. Others were using either straw mats or bed covers. The other people in the room were medical staff and about five journalists. Idana explained that the Libyan leader instead visited an administration block and the library. “I outlined all our problems to him,” said Idana, “but he did not make any pledges.”
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