Open letter of the African French
speaking countries CSO’s leaders to HE Mr. Barack OBAMA, President of the
United States of America
Subject :
USA-Africa Summit
Friday 4th
July, 2014
Mr.
President,
We learned
through the press that you have invited the leaders of 47 African countries to
participate in a summit at the White House, from fifth to sixth of August 2014.
Among the countries noticeably absent from this list: Zimbabwe, Sudan, Guinea
Bissau, but also Egypt and Madagascar, because these countries "do not
have good relations with the United States or are suspended from the African
Union." Does this mean that all those present are free of blame in relation
to this criterion alone? Is this the standard by which the United States of America,
a powerful nation, evaluates its partner countries?
We, members
of the African Civil Society in Francophone countries, believe that your
criteria are very limited and do not reflect the reality of our lives with
those who are supposed to lead our countries.
All these
countries colonized by France share a glaring lack of democracy, mismanagement
of national resources, widespread poverty of their populations, while for the
most part, their ground is full of natural resources sold at exorbitant prices,
a flagrant lack of transparency in the management of public affairs, a monarchical
conception of power and dynastic succession to power unacceptable for so-called
democratic countries. And we consider France as the main actor in the
oppressive situation in which our people live.
In
soliciting your attention, we are not asking for alms.
We denounce
the duplicity of the great powers, which according to their own interests, tend
to keep the African people under oppression and misery by supporting
dictatorships.
Through our
voice, these people cry out for justice and appeal to your sense of the common
good. The United States is a country that was created and developed through the
goodwill of a few great men who fought against injustice and for the liberation
of minds: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, etc.
In this
context, we expect from you a strong speech, one in which the United States of
America, as a nation embodied in rights, stands with oppressed peoples in
Francophone Africa and requires respect for human rights and good
governance.
We expect
that the United States strongly condemns any attempt at electoral fraud,
manipulation of the constitution and use of the country's resources for personal
purposes. Yourself, had addressed the issue quite explicitly in Accra, on 12
July 2009: "A country cannot create wealth if its leaders exploit the
economy to enrich themselves."
You know,
Mr. President, poverty, bad governance, dictatorship are not inevitable in
Francophone Africa. And you mentioned in your historic speech in Accra:
"Development depends on good governance. It is the ingredient that has failed
in too many places for too long. This is the change that can unlock Africa's potential.
And this responsibility can only be endorsed by Africans."
Therefore,
we respectfully invite you to materialize in concrete terms the hopes that you
raised that day in Accra because like you, we believe that "Africa does not
need strongmen, but strong institutions, guarantor of a true democracy. "
Please
accept, Mr. President, the assurances of our respectful greetings.
Signatories
[Countries
Pays
Surnames
and Names
Title
Organization
Contacts
Phone and email]
BENIN
Aurélien ATIDEGLA
Président
La Dynamique des Organisations de la Société civile
d’Afrique Francophone (OSCAF)
02 BP 1947 Cotonou (Bénin)
www.oscaf-inter.org
Tel : +229
21301089
Gsm :
+22997891163/+229 95955478
Email: acaurelien@hotmail.com ou
reid_consulting@yahoo.fr
GABON
Marc ONA ESSANGUI
Prix Goldman
Brainforest
E-mail prof : marc.ona@brainforest-gabon.org (Prof.)
Bureau : (+241) 07978425
Mobile : (+241) 07294140
Skype : marcona1661
Blanche SIMONNY ABEGUE
Présidente, Forum des Indignés du Gabon
Coordinatrice nationale, Dynamique OSCAF
Tél. : +241
06 49 08 39
blanche.simonny@gmail.com
GUINEE
Aliou Newton BARRY
Honorable, Président
Commission CNT
Coordinateur du ReFID
+224 62 21 59 97/67
aliou.newton@gmail.com
Mamadou Taran DIALLO
Président
AGT
mtaran2@yahoo.fr
+224 628 55 5898
MALI
Mamadou GOÏTA
Directeur Exécutif
IRPAD/Afrique
BP: 2729 Bamako (MALI)
Tél. B: (+223) 20 23 89 20
Fax : (+223) 20 23 89 21
E-mail : mamadou_goita@yahoo.fr/ mgoita@irpadafrique.org
(Prof.)
skype: mamadou.goita
Web:
www.irpadafrique.org
NIGER
Ali IDRISSA
Coordinateur
National du ROTAB
Représentant des OSC au CA de l'ITIE
International PCQVP
BP:11.260
Niamey/Niger
ali.idrissa1@gmail.com
Skype : ali.idrissa
Site Web : www.rotabniger.org
Ligne Direct bureau : 00227 20 35 21 02
Cel : + 227 90 50 70 32 /+ 227 94 95 59 93/ + 227 96 47
10 57
Alarou SOULEY
Conseiller du Coordonnateur National
Réseau des ONGs de Développement et Associations de
Défense des droits de l’Homme et de la Démocratie (RODADDHD)
souleyalarou@hotmail.com
Cel : +227 96 97 25 43
REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE
DU CONGO (RDC)
Jean Claude KATENDE
Maitre, Avocat au Barreau de LUBUMBASHI
Président National de l'ASADHO
Tél : + 243 811 729 908, + 243 9970 32 984
Skype:
jckatende1
site web:
www.asadho-rdc.net
SENEGAL
Ababacar DIOP
Président
JONCTION
( http://www.jonctions.org )
HLM Grand-Médine N° 512
BP : 4126
Dakar - Sénégal
Tel : +221 776454246
jonction_jonction@yahoo.fr / bab_kone@yahoo.fr
TOGO
ESSO Elise
Ama
Coordinatrice
Nationale
OSCAF TOGO
Tél :+228 90 01 39 67
Email : arspong@yahoo.fr
P.M. : Pays francophones d’Afrique
Algérie, Bénin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun,
Comores, Congo, Côte-d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinée, Guinée Équatoriale,
Ile-Maurice, Madagascar, Mali, Maroc, Mauritanie, Niger, République démocratique
du Congo, Togo, République centrafricaine, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sénégal, Tchad,
Tunisie.
(end of the letter)
African diaspora members in the US will be protesting against presence of dictators at that Summit
