The forgotten orphans of the Sahara

The forgotten orphans of the Sahara

“The sequel of my article is a passionate wish for the Maghreb Arabs and Tuaregs to never tire from their pursuit for justice and self determination. The least that the French and Mali can do is compensate them as they have suffered enough from the horrors of unwarranted exploitation and slavery.

MUSYOKA NGUI writes

Watching the international media cover Africa is painful. I live in Africa. Kenya. My country has had its own unfair share of negative publicity cast by the international press. I wonder where they gather their news about Africa from.

As an authority in what constitutes news I can say that news values have been overlooked grossly by these global cameras, pens and mouths.

The bias is conspicuous. The unfairness, the subjectivity and staging is like a window dressing exercise laced with secret economic interests. Are these media at the beck and call of their financiers who are the former African colonial masters and America?

In this gloom and doom gospel I have stumbled upon an outlet with flair for objectivity, professionalism, openness and honesty.  Al Jazeera English may not be the most popular news organization in Africa but it is the most faithful. Currently its network called Al Jazeera World has been carrying a compelling documentary called the Orphans of the Sahara. Open the links below to download it from Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmq3RTkUFGU- Episode 1: Return

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbGUCQ1oocg- Episode 2: Rebellion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBLMjGnJreg –Episode 3: Exile

In this treatise I discuss with my readers the highlights of this well researched and thought out piece of journalism.

The three-part series documents the journey of the Tuaregs . Tuaregs are the indigenous inhabitants of the Sahara desert straddling West Africa’s Mali, Libya, Niger and Algeria. The spotlight glares at the unspeakable atrocities meted out by the Mali and French governments to the Arabs and Tuaregs. The French are the former colonial masters of Mali and a number of West African states and it wields a lot of power and influence.

The documentary alleges that the former conspires to loot the mineral resources of the Tuaregs. This exposes Tuaregs to grinding poverty, illiteracy, lack running water and electricity and die daily from poisonous radioactive emissions wafting from the mines sanctioned by both French and Mali governments.

As a result, the Tuaregs remain marginalized, weak and orphaned. As I streamed the tube, I could not help but think about South Sudan and occasionally Somalia. They are so much similar: ethnic wars, poverty, separatist ambitions and the unashamed African regimes who won’t mind to go to bed with their former colonial masters at the expense of their citizens.

I write this with much grief. Statistics say that the Tuaregs are the poorest people in the world. Yet they sit on energy resources of extreme worth. The Sahara desert is home to uranium, gold, oil, gas and diamonds. These colossal deposits have done little to change the fortunes of the inhabitants. On the contrary, the Arabs and Tuaregs have been condemned to go to exile in Libya, Burkina Faso and Algeria. In the eyes of the French and Mali regimes the Tuaregs and Arabs are terrorists. What more insult and humiliation do these people need? I mean, to them they have seen it all: they have fought seven uprisings ad rebellions since independence and lost all. They have lost their dearest families and friends and seen their properties run over by military tanks against the backdrop of deafening gunfire and shelling of bombs.

In effect, the inhabitants are boiling with despair, anger and frustration. The pain is immense. Take for instance the uranium mines conducted by the Areva Mining Company. The locals and animals (read camels) are not spared. They suffer and succumb to complications of cancer. Expectant mothers give birth to deformed infants who die shortly after. Others die in the womb. Some go crazy in search of water in a poisoned oasis. The company denies any pollution has occurred despite overwhelming evidence that the consequences are dire.

The aftermath of climate change lead to encroachment of the largest and hottest desert in the world is death and exile. The dreams of Sahara people are dashed by the combined invasion of the Tuaregs and Arabs by the French and Mali armies. The dream of Tuaregs to form their own independent State of Azawad is a nightmare of slow suffering.

The Tuaregs have been accused of working with Al Qaeda Maghreb operatives. It is also alleged that they capture French miners and demand hefty ransom. But this must not be used to deny them their autonomy. I do not support religious extremism. No. Mali has never shown the slightest interest to negotiate with the Tuaregs despite the Tuaregs being the foremost freedom fighters of the Malian independence from the French. Mali has resisted the investigation into the environmental impact of uranium mining. Such betrayal is hypocrisy of a government that claims to be democratic and just.

The sequel of my article is a passionate wish for the Maghreb Arabs and Tuaregs to never tire from their pursuit for justice and self determination. The least that the French and Mali can do is compensate them as they have suffered enough from the horrors of unwarranted exploitation and slavery.

To the bold Al Jazeera correspondent and her production team who covered the plight of the forgotten I take off my hat for you.

Dear readers, savour the Sahara souls’ songs of patriotism in a world that would rather choose to forget the Orphans of Sahara.

Our history is written in the mountains

they are our guardians

our elders died because of it

and the children became the guardians….

Greeting to my homeland

where I left my family

greetings to my homeland….

When I left my people

only God knows how my soul was burning

when I left my people….

The writer studies Bachelors of Arts Degree in Communication and Media at Chuka University. He blogs at musyokangui.blogspot.com

Email your thoughts to musyokangui02@gmail.com