By Abdul Tejan-Cole
Last week, I discussed the circumstances that led to the death of George Floyd and some of the reforms needed, especially in the criminal justice system and in the police in the United States. This week as George Floyd was buried next to his mother in Houston, Texas, and hundreds of protests against police brutality and racism continue in America and around the world, I examine the repercussions for Africa.
Like many others, several African leaders condemned George Floyd’s killing and embraced the slogan “Black Lives Matter.” The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, strongly condemned the murder of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement officers and extended his deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.
He recalled the historic Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU) Resolution on Racial Discrimination in the United States of America made by African Heads of State and Government, at the OAU’s First Assembly Meeting held in Cairo, Egypt. He reiterated the African Union’s rejection of the continuing discriminatory practices against Black citizens of the United States of America. He further urged the authorities in the US to intensify their efforts to ensure the total elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race or ethnic origin.
The Deputy Chairperson of the AU, Kwesi Quartey, tweeted that “@_AfricanUnion is distressed to witness the unwarranted execution of another African-American male - George Floyd for no other reason than BEING BLACK. This is one too many. Africa demands full investigation into this killing.”
ECOWAS followed the footsteps of the AU. It conveyed its deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr. Floyd and stated its belief “that the democratic traditions of the United States of America will inspire efforts to find a permanent solution to the unfortunate phenomenon.”
Some African leaders also issued statements of condemnation. On his Facebook page, Ghana’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo stated that “Black people, the world over, are shocked and distraught by the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer in the United States of America. It carried with it an all too painful familiarity, and an ugly reminder. It cannot be right that, in the 21st century, the United States, this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism. On behalf of the people of Ghana, I express my deep condolences to the family and loved ones of the late George Floyd. We stand with our kith and kin in America in these difficult and trying times, and we hope that the unfortunate, tragic death of George Floyd will inspire a lasting change in how America confronts head on the problems of hate and racism.”
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged his country’s solidarity with the African-American community following protests against George Floyd’s murder by police. The killing of George Floyd, he said, has opened up deep wounds for us all, but these are “the wounds that our brothers and sisters in United States live with day-in and day-out, week-in and week-out, year-in and year-out.” He expressed the wish that American people can reconcile as South Africa did, and close once and for all the doors of racial injustice.
Namibia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, pointed out that “Racism is a crime against humanity and should have no place in any society anywhere in the world” and called on the government of the United States “to deploy all efforts at ensuring that the rights and human dignity of all its citizens, including in particular the African-Americans and all other minorities are upheld, respected and protected under law.”
Protests over George Floyd's killing took place in a number of African countries, including Liberia, Kenya and Nigeria. In Ghana, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the Office of Diaspora Affairs and others held a memorial service in honour of George Floyd. In Kibera, Kenya, a mural in memory of George Floyd was painted with the text “Haki” which translates to “Justice” in Kiswahili next to it. In Zimbabwe, the US Ambassador, Brian A. Nichols, was summoned following comments by a national security advisor, that countries such as Russia, China, Iran and Zimbabwe were adversaries that were using the unrest to stoke tensions in the United States.
Dozens of writers from across Africa and the diaspora including two of Sierra Leonean descent, Aminata Forna and Pede Hollist, co-signed a letter of support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement noting in dismay that what Malcolm X said in Ghana in 1964 that "for the twenty million of us in America who are of African descent, it's not an American dream; it's an American nightmare" remains true for 37 million in 2020. African artists, academics and leaders including Youssou Ndour, Akon, Salif Keita, Dikembe Mutombo, Samuel Etoo, Djimon Honsou and Isha Sesay, expressed solidarity and pointed out that “We cannot remain silent because we know how much we have in common with our brothers and sisters in our global black community – our African Diaspora. We know how your ancestors continued the resistance, and the struggle for emancipation and dignity during the solitary traumas lived in the hulls of slave boats and the humiliation of plantations, and on the islands of freedom they built through the ages. That is the determined struggle for civil rights that you continue to wage fearlessly. Africans on the continent and around the world are grateful to African Americans and black leaders, writers, and thinkers for sharing with our elders the emancipatory idea of Pan-Africanism and for being connected with our struggles against colonialism and, of course, apartheid.”
While the response from the African Union and the continent was timely on this occasion, it was too little too late. George Floyd’s death was not the first. It is the latest in a long line of killings of black people in the United States. Africa did not raise its voice when Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Ahmaud Arbery, Aiyana Mo'Nay Stanly-Jones, Tony McDade, Pamela Turner, Matthew Ajibade, Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and so many others were killed. It did not raise its voice overwhelmingly when 41 shots were fired by the New York Police Department (NYPD) at one of its own, Amadou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant. It waited until the rest of the world had raised its voice before it joined the chorus.
Africa must play a leadership role in promoting and advocating for the rights of black people worldwide. In its 1964 resolution on Racial Discrimination in the United States of America, the then OAU was “deeply disturbed by continuing manifestations of racial bigotry and racial oppression against Negro citizens of the United States of America” and reaffirmed “its belief that the existence of discriminatory practices is a matter of deep concern” to Africa and urged “Government authorities in the United States of America to intensify their efforts to ensure the total elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race, colour, or ethnic origin.” Africa must genuinely treat racial discrimination as a matter of “deep concern.”
Although some African countries, like Sierra Leone, may be hampered from criticizing the USA because we have blatantly racist laws in our lawbooks, the main reason Africa is ambivalent is apparent – too many of its governments have skeletons in their cupboards. Police killings and brutality are common in many countries on the continent. A day after George Floyd was killed, a “drunk” police in Nigeria shot 17-year-old Tina Ezekwe in Iyana Oworo area of Lagos State. She died a few days later. During the COVID-19 lockdown between 13th April and 4th May 2020, the Nigerian Human Rights Commission (NHRC) noted that “the Nigeria Police Force was responsible for seven deaths, while the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nonstate Actors and the Abia State Task Force on COVID-19 were responsible for one death each.” The NHRC noted that the victims of police brutality outnumbered those killed by COVID-19.
During the first ten days of Kenya’s dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19, at least six people died from police violence. Reports indicate that police broke into homes and shops, looted, extorted, beat and shot at people returning home. Kenya’s Independent Police Oversight Authority said that while enforcing the curfew police have killed 15 people, including 13-year-old Yasin Hussein Moyo, and are accused of 31 cases of torture and injuring people. Human Rights groups note that the police continue to kill crime suspects and protesters in cold blood despite persistent calls to end the killings and the use of excessive force.
Police and military shot and killed at least six people in Kampala, Mityana, Katwe and Gomba in Uganda, during protests against security forces’ abusive conduct in the period around the Arua by-election. Police and gendarmes in Cameroon arbitrarily shoot and kill protestors in the English speaking regions. In South Africa, police and security forces killed Collins Khosa and 40-year-old Sibusiso Amos. The two are amongst 11 Black men unjustly killed in South Africa by the police and South African National Defence Force (SANDF) during enforcement of the COVID-19 lockdown. The story is the same in many other countries on the continent. The enforcement of the Covid19 lockdown regulations led to horrific forms of police brutality across the continent.
Several African leaders would have been heartened when President Donald Trump tweeted, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Many of them can now easily refer to events in the USA to justify their repressive actions. This is most unfortunate! Africa can lead by example. We must get our police to embrace a culture of accountability, and respect the human rights not only for those in power but for all citizens. The rest of the world watches how we treat our own people and treat us the same way when we are abroad. We cannot shout BLACK LIVES MATTER and maintain a nauseating silence at police brutality and other acts of discrimination and injustice in our own countries. Significantly, George Floyd died on May 25 - Africa Day. If his death is to make any difference on the continent, we must appreciate that the destiny of black people the world over is inextricably linked and work to ensure that #blacklivesmatter not just in the US but in Africa as well.
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