AFRICA! HOME THAT IS NOT YET A HOME

Today we the children of the soil call this continent that we were born in our home, we say it is our land and we do all that we can to protect it. But we perhaps need to pause a bit and ask if truly this is our home, what is it about Africa that makes it our home? Is it the European buildings it has? Or is it the fact that majority of our people are finding it hard to live in this continent? Why do we say this continent is our home? To me, this continent is not fit to be called home by those who are of the same color of my skin, yes it is a continent that we were born in, but not a home. A home has peace, a home has care, and a home looks like those who call it a home.

Most land in Africa is owned by multi-national companies that originate from European countries, not only do they own the land, they own most of what it produces and they also control the politics that govern that land. With them owning vast majority of African land, Europeans have been influential in changing the land-scape of Africa in many ways than one can note. They have built cities with buildings of their own taste and culture, they have erected infrastructure to suit their ways of trading and their way of life, never thinking of anything that will benefit those of African descent. It is these same cities and infrastructure that today many Africans call their own but cannot maintain or advance without the permission or assistance of the real owners of these cities.

Multinational companies and their brothers who for years controlled political affairs of this continent did not only change the African environment, they also shaped the mind of an African and totally redefined what it means to be an African and who is an African. Through the missionary churches and other formations, Africans were fed the white man’s education, they were brainwashed to be be ”better” slaves and so the way of which they view the world was totally altered. This is why today the land produces so called “Academics” and “Intellectuals”  who work hard to maintain the image of Africa that was painted by the European settlers, these poor souls are so sure that their existence is a blessing to this continent and that their task is one approved by God himself, little do they know that they are assisting those who are not for Africans in taking away the total control of Africa from Africans, they are taking away the dignity of the African soul.

Majority of Africans do not have space in their own continent, they are forced to live in shanty towns, in environments where a rich man will never even let his puppy visit for just a day. In these spaces, Africans are finding it hard to make a living, to go through a day, in a place they are supposed to call home. A home has food enough for its household, but tons of Africans die from starvation, with all the good fortune that their land makes for “some” people. There is no care for an African soul in this so called “home”, Governments watch and do nothing as black people are exploited daily in Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Maputo, and Kinshasa by companies that pay the bills of these ones we call leaders.  Billions are blown by politicians every year throughout Africa yet its own people still do not have access to proper housing and medical care. Does that sound like a home to you?

If you still feel like it is logical to call Africa a home then it is up to you, continue calling the land you do not own a home. But if you agree to me that we need to find means to take up ownership of this continent and change its image, then welcome to the party, me and you are part of those who owns the Africa that belongs to Africans. Me and you work hard every day to change this continent for the better and truly make it a home that has the love, care, and unity that  Africa once had. Lets create this Africa we envisage.

Till we meet!

Regards

Baanetse Machona

Baanetse.machona@gmail.com