YUs,

Your analyses of Kofi Annan's role on  African issues is quite apt.  In as
much as we understand the constraints of his position given the bullying
tactics of the west(notably the U.S and the U.k), Annan could have used his
position to champion African issues more vigorously.

As you mentioned in earlier postings that part of his brief is being a
provocateur, one would have expected more from him.  However, the role of
the U.N in Rwanda of which Annan happen to be directly responsible then as
the head of Refugee Issues demonstrated a very feeble attitude towards
African problems. It is a fact that he never acted on reports coming from
Rwanda.  He even went to the extend of silencing the then Canadian General
responsible for U.N troops in Rwanda. It is saddening whilst Rwanda was
sinking Annan was busy with the problems of the former Soviet satelites(
Yuguslavia and he rest).  His indifference to African issues was profound
when he visited Gambia.  He could have highlighted the issue of governance
with the irksome moron we have the Gambia.

The former Unesco Director, the Senegalese Historian Amadou Makhtarr Mbowe
stood up to the bullying of the Reagan and Thatcher govt.  During his twelve
year tenure he was able to initiate a lot of positive projects on African
Culture and Education.  He was faced with all form of negative propaganda.
He was accused of corruption and being extravagant.  His wife was not even
spared by the media.  An attempt to sully the integrity of the lady was made
by the Reagan and Thatcher acolytes in the press.  In the end all they could
do was to withdraw their subscriptions to UNESCO.

Whatever, the short-comings of Mbowe, his legacy demonstrated a proactive
role by an African in the running of a world organisation.

Africa needs a more proactive voice in the U.N and any other organisation.

We should also review  the role of the our own organizations(ie OAU) whose
record is rather unremarkable.

Regards,

MBoge

regards,


MBowe


>From: Yusupha Jow <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: The role of Kofi Annan revisited
>Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2000 22:13:51 EDT
>
>A while ago we had a discussion Kofi Annan's lack of participation in
>African
>affairs. His tireless efforts spent mediating the dispute between the
>Palestinians and the Jordanians proves my point that the man has some
>leverage. Leverage which he could definitely use better to influence
>African
>crises.
>
>In my piece, I described the UN Secretary General as part negotiator and
>part
>provocateur, roles which he is fulfilling in the present Mideast crisis.
>However, based on his lack of participation in present and past African
>crises, I believe his tenure as Secretary General will be marred by his
>unwillingness to help his own continent in times of extreme need.
>
>
>
>JERUSALEM (Oct. 14) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan worked into the
>early
>hours of Saturday trying to arrange a summit to halt the explosion of
>Israeli-Palestinian violence.
>
>Palestinian President Yasser Arafat met his advisors in Gaza to weigh his
>options after meeting Annan on the 16th consecutive day of battles between
>Palestinian and Israeli troops.
>
>Annan said after a late-night meeting on Friday with Arafat that he
>expected
>a summit within 48 hours, involving Israel, Palestinians, the United
>States,
>Egypt and the United Nations.
>
>He said that Arafat was to give him an answer, which he predicted would be
>positive, by telephone during the night.
>
>''I am quite confident that a cease-fire can be achieved and a summit can
>go
>ahead,'' Annan told reporters before flying to Tel Aviv to brief Israeli
>Prime Minister Ehud Barak on the meeting.
>
>Egypt's government press center reported that Annan would meet Egyptian
>President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday to discuss how to bring about an end to
>the bloody clashes.
>
>But Nabil Abu Rdainah, an adviser to Arafat, played down the prospects for
>a
>Middle East summit.
>
>''It's too early to talk about convening a summit since the conditions are
>not fulfilled yet in spite of the appreciated international efforts,'' he
>told reporters on Friday night.
>
>Diplomats said the Palestinians were still seeking conditions that Israel
>has
>called unacceptable.
>
>Israel's acting foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, said no decision had been
>taken regarding Israeli participation and that the government did not want
>a
>''fiasco'' like last week's Barak-Arafat talks in Paris.
>
>As international pressure mounted on Arafat to attend a possible meeting,
>the
>United States tried to clear the way for a meeting on Egyptian soil, and
>dropped its insistence the two sides commit themselves to ending the
>clashes
>before they hold a summit.
>
>But White House spokesman Jake Siewert told reporters in Washington ''we
>have
>not made any decision'' on whether to hold the summit.
>
>The United States has vowed that a suicide attack on a U.S. ship in the
>Yemeni port of Aden on Thursday that killed seven sailors will not stop it
>trying to broker a Middle East peace.
>
>European Union leaders added their voice to appeals for an emergency
>gathering to end the violence and rescue the shattered peace process.
>
>ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS DISAGREE ON SUMMIT
>
>Diplomats said that Palestinian conditions for participation in the talks
>include withdrawal of Israeli tanks from the West Bank, reopening
>Palestinian
>territories, and agreeing to an international commission of inquiry into
>the
>violence.
>
>Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said on Israeli television he would not
>pay
>Arafat a price for attending a summit. ''We are not ready to pave the way
>there with prizes for violence... There can be no reward for violence,'' he
>said.
>
>He added that he had asked Ariel Sharon, a leading opponent of peace deals
>and the man blamed by Palestinians for provoking the current violence with
>his September 28 visit to a Jerusalem shrine, to join him in a ''national
>emergency government.''
>
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