Coup d’état in Africa is a revolutionary movement to reclaim countries and their wealth — PLO Lumumba

Sep 11, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – World renowned Kenyan lawyer and activist, Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba has described the current move by military and civilian groups in various countries of Africa as a revolution to reclaim African territories and their wealth from European control.

Consequently the well-known African academic has voiced his support for the recent military takeovers seen in the African continent. According to him, the coups are necessary because the leaders of the affected countries are using all manner of unlawful methods to stay in power. “We have what is described as coup d’état in former French colonies but from where I sit these young men and women in uniform are rising up against a colonial power that refuses to leave and continues to control their affairs,” Lumumba said in public commentary to an African news channel.

The Kenyan lawyer stressed too that because the civilians are helpless they are rising up against their oppressor. “…They coming out of the barracks and saying we must put a stop to this continued colonisation by the French; they control our politics, they control our economy; the control our resources and what we must do therefore is support these initiatives and ensure the dividends that are earned are then converted very quickly into civilian rule…,” explained Lumumba.

He continued, “If they don’t do that then young men and women who are dissatisfied who can see their countries being raped will continue to rise up in the manner that they are”
The activist emphasised therefore that he would not condemn the coups because they had been necessitated by an overbearing neo-coloniser; the French. He suggested: “What needs to be done is that people must reclaim their territory and those who are elected into public office must stop being pawns in the political chess boards of neo-colonisers. They must serve their people; they must do what is right in the interest of their people whether it’s in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger or Chad.”

“This is a very unfortunate state, we should not have loyalty to anybody we should be local to ourselves and when we are loyal to ourselves then we will engage with the world on terms that are to us and to them,” Lumumba said. The African continent has been hit with at least 10 coups since 2020 including two in Burkina Faso, one in Guinea, two in Mali and one in Niger, and one in Chad. There were also two coups in North Africa and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, in Guyana, Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall said he believes that worse crimes are being perpetrated against the nation by corporate oil giant, Exxon Mobil. Lall has consistently condemned the Government of Guyana with regard to their management of the oil sector.

During his weekly radio commentary on ‘The Glenn Lall Show,’ the Publisher continues to lament on the absence of independent meters at the exploration pumps within the Stabroek Block to verify how much oil is being pumped. Lall noted that this has been the position since oil started pumping four years ago. He pointed out, “There is no ring fencing on the five oil projects which allows ExxonMobil to thief billions of US dollars every year. The government is not verifying or auditing Exxon Mobil’s inflated bills and expenses. Government is not capping the interest rates on the projects’ costs.”

Lall noted, “Govt. is joining with the oil companies to fight the citizens in court, who are only trying to get the oil companies to provide the nation with an unlimited parent company guarantee from an oil spill.” To buttress his position, the Publisher referenced the fact that Exxon Mobil hunch Guyana USD$214M on some bills supplied by the oil companies – he noted that “Guyana found that out in just one investigation they carried out, and our Govt. went behind the back of GRA and reduced that 214M to 3M.”

“Exxon Mobil is supposed to give us an insurance policy, and instead the policy comes from a reputable international insurance company, it comes from an insurance company owned by Exxon, and when questioned about that Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo defended it,” he said.

Lall stressed too that Guyana discovered oil eight years ago and the government has not put together an independent petroleum body to properly manage and take control of the oil industry. As a result, he said the oil companies are walking away with USD $9 billion a year in earnings, while the country receives just over USD $ 1 billion a year.

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• Africa, colonisation, European control, French, Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba, reclaim countries, Wealth

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