USA Africa Dialogue Series - United States of Africa 2017

Dear Mwalimu Abdul,

I'm a staunch advocate of the idea of a United States of Africa, and I
thank you for posting the letter to Gaddafi. I googled "USAfrica 2017"
and found the website for the project.

I have said this before on other forums, and I would like to say it
here as well: the success of this idea of a United States of Africa
will largely depend on equal amounts of advocacy both in the Diaspora
as well as on the African continent. It was easier to have discussions
on this topic with friends and colleagues when I used to be in the
diaspora. Now that I'm back home, in Malawi, there are no such
discussions going on here on the ground. The few times I have seen
this idea mentioned in the media, it has been to demonize the very
idea and dismiss it as misguided, impossible, and backward.

I used to find it very thrilling whenever I heard African leaders
mentioning this issue at the African Union summits, but was
demoralized to notice that whenever they return home, they never
mention the issue. My own president, Bingu wa Mutharika, is an
example. He makes wonderful statements about this at the summits
outside Malawi, but once back home in Malawi he never discusses it.
He just finished his one-year term as Chairperson of the African Union,
and not once did I hear him promote the idea to Malawians or to Africans
in his extensive travels. No wonder the only mention of the idea one sees
in the media, at least here in Malawi, is one of ridicule and derision only.

I hope the USAfrica 2017 Task Force has ideas on how to foster
discussion on this important idea on the continent.

Steve

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[Afrika Aphukira] http://mlauzi.blogspot.com/
[MaBloga] http://mabloga.feedcluster.com/
[Mlauzi's Bloglines] http://www.bloglines.com/blog/mlauzi
[Global Voices Malawi]
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/-/world/sub-saharan-africa/malawi/
[Global Voices Author] http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/author/steve-sharra/

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