I think it should be obvious by now that international relations are
governed by the interests of the governments concerned.

While the OAU has been appropriately described as a paper tiger, it has
already sent $100,000; a paltry sum compared to the current situation in
Mozambique. The fundamental problem is that most OAU member states are
seriously delinquent in their contributions.  Then to make matters worse the
OAU spends a lot of their budget on incessant and often useless conferences
in order to pocket per diem.

I understand from PANA that Ghana has sent relief items worth of $100,000
and Mauritius has topped this with another $100,000.

Those heads-of-state whose countries are not grappled by civil wars can dip
into their Swiss Bank accounts and set an example.

As regards Africa's relationship with the West, I would rather go by the
principle, "respect yourself first before somebody respects you".  The West
cannot do our own homework for us whenever such situations arise.  We have
at least to lay the first block.

In Africa, a few government functionaries would often misappropriate funds
and loans from international donor agencies and divert them to Western
financial institutions. If this 1-2-1 mirror effect is not broken, the donor
community will never take us seriously.

Hamadi.

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