Posted on 04/26/2006 6:46:30 AM PDT by libertarianPA
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Billions of dollars in aid will achieve "zero" in Africa unless governments on the continent are serious about fighting corruption and poverty, Irish rocker and humanitarian Bob Geldof said.
The 54-year-old political activist, who will be performing in Johannesburg and Cape Town this week, said he saw "many, many optimistic signs and just as many crap signs" that African governments were cleaning up their act.
"The rich world can pour endless billions into the continent of Africa but none of this will work unless African governments are serious," Geldof told a news conference in Johannesburg.
"Corruption is a byproduct of poverty. We have corruption in France, Germany and Ireland. ... We are rich enough so that it doesn't kill us.
"In sub-Saharan Africa, it kills people. And it must stop," he said.
Nominated five times for a Nobel peace prize, Geldof singled out Benin, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa as countries that have earned "plus points" for their good governments.
A member of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission for Africa, Geldof singled out as progress the Group of Eight's decision to cancel the debt owed by some of the poorest countries and double assistance by 2010.
But he added: "None of this works, none, zero, unless the governments of Africa are equally serious about trying to pull their people out of poverty."
The creator of Live 8, a series of concerts held worldwide last year that raised awareness about Africa's plight, will be performing for the first time in South Africa.
Who in his right mind ever went there?
Worry, was confusing Mozambique with that other african hell-hole, Zimbabwe.
I once worked with a former Peace Corp. volunteer who spent several years in Africa. He quit when he realized that it was, in his words, "hopeless". He said that food and supplies never made it to those in need due to hoarding by corrupt government groups. He also said that there was a thriving under ground market for stolen U.N. supplies and goods. This was in 1983.
You can't seriously believe it was President Bush who first stated this.
Welcome to Free Republic, now don't go being an echo chamber.
I recall my younger sister attended one of those... but she's older and wiser now.
During the last rounds of donations to Africa it was indeed Bush who proposed a high level of accountability from African governments for donated money. He caught hell for it but got the accountability measures agreed upon by the other G8 nations.
That's a fact my friend. And keep the insults to yourself.
Oh yes, anyone can get a KBO, a proper knighthood requires you to be British. Even your Colin Powell is a KBO! :)
Whatever. The point is that you don't need to be a Brit to hold a British Knighthood.
"The Order is the fourth-most senior of the British Orders of Chivalry, after The Most Noble Order of the Garter, The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, and The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick."
"Corruption is a byproduct of poverty. We have corruption in France, Germany and Ireland. ... We are rich enough so that it doesn't kill us."
I thought corruption was a by product of immorality....
Snowball fight in hell everybody!
Wow, never thought I would hear common sense like that coming from the likes of him.
Yes, that's the one that Mugabe and Powell both have, in the former case given when Mugabe was still the friend of the UK and US!
And good news, too. It's about time that one of these celebs that urge us to give, finally recognize that we are, we do care and the real problem is and has been the corruption.
Holy cr@p! Who woke him up? More liberals like him need to drink from the Fountain of Logic.
LOL! Too true! Now if we could just get Bono and a few others to drink from the Fountain. ;-)
French, British, Belgian, Italian, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Spaniard, and Arab governments have been saying the same thing about Africa for hundreds of years.
If we take even the most short term view, Bill Gates preceded the White House and Bush on demanding an end of corruption as terms for foreign aid.
Mugabe was given his in 1994.
There are some of those entertainment types who actually do that stuff more to help people than for publicity, or because its trendy. Bono and Geldof are two of those types who really care about what is going on, and are open-minded enough to look at things honestly.
And in 1994 he was still friends with both our nations.
Saying and doing are two different things.
"We have a moral obligation to help others -- and a moral duty to make sure our actions are effective. At Monterrey in 2002, we agreed to a new vision for the way we fight poverty, and curb corruption, and provide aid in this new millennium. Developing countries agreed to take responsibility for their own economic progress through good governance and sound policies and the rule of law. Developed countries agreed to support those efforts, including increased aid to nations that undertake necessary reforms. My own country has sought to implement the Monterrey Consensus by establishing the new Millennium Challenge Account. This account is increasing U.S. aid for countries that govern justly, invest in their people, and promote economic freedom.
More needs to be done. I call on all the world's nations to implement the Monterrey Consensus. Implementing the Monterrey Consensus means continuing on the long, hard road to reform. Implementing the Monterrey Consensus means creating a genuine partnership between developed and developing countries to replace the donor-client relationship of the past. And implementing the Monterrey Consensus means welcoming all developing countries as full participants to the global economy, with all the requisite benefits and responsibilities. "
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050914.html
Bush is the first to go from donor nation to requiring real accountability. And that was my original point.
Apparently this crusader realizes his limitations, ERGO: Learn by solving the simpler problems on the entire continent of Africa, before tackling the impossible problems in Ireland.
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