I suppose Jackson could say this, being a mega- star with mega-bucks to boot. Michael Jackson did not have to wake up in Africa, the hell-hole that our mother continent is today. The same Michael Jackson must be commended however, for penning another song Heal the World, which should be made the continental anthem at all African Union meetings.
If we too did not wake up to pictures of children of needless starvation in Somalia, raped women in the Congo, the madness of the King of Swaziland, and the “babazonke”-bent ruling class in Zimbabwe, staring the abyss in Eritrea, growing instability in Malawi and being held to ransom by a former disc jockey in Madagascar, I could assure Jackson and his legions of fans worldwide that we too would start living and stop existing.
Jackson may not have been aware that we opt for existence as opposed to living, not by choice. We are robbed, insulted, raped and in some cases murdered for trying to live. If the air that we breathe could be sold, we would stop existing too. Trying to live is a dangerous undertaking in Africa.
We should, of course, thank the media for their courage. They bring pictures of our terrors and horrors to the living rooms of our leaders and other peoples of the world.
They can change the channels, but they can never escape the fact that the rest of the world is watching — which should serve as a constant reminder to our leaders when they prance around on the world stage, making complete idiots of themselves.
News that Tanzania and South Africa are the only two African countries assisting the children of Somalia in this moment of severe deprivation should make the other 50 countries sit up.
Chris Veremu
