When London, New York punishes their élite workers with travel bans

Have you ever wondered why Europe and North America find “travel bans” a fitting punishment for the alleged serious crimes of African leaders?

Yes, just a travel ban – and a grabbing of any properties and also stealing monies from their bank accounts – for supposedly serious crimes and violations? Just a travel ban. While it looks like a joke to many of us – and should be surely seen as such – in their eyes, a travel ban is a big deal. Why?

Let me set this puzzle differently: Why would a public servant – not an international businessperson – be affected by a visa restriction to Europe and North America? (Not to their immediate region, nor the entirety of the African continent).

Consider this: if whatever a public servant needs from abroad can be brought in by technical people and businesspersons, why would denying them the chance to personally travel abroad be a big deal?! Why does Europe and North America view their capitals as coveted trophies, heavenly destinations for African politicians?

It was Franz Fanon who told us that in the later years of neo-colonialist exploitation of the continent, leaders of so-called independent Africa will find satisfaction in working for the imperial machine: thus, they will find immense happiness — and yes, satisfaction — in visiting the capital cities of Europe and North America; owning apartments in Paris, New York or London; fat bank accounts in European and American banks; and will find immense pleasure in dinning – and taking normal pictures and selfies – with their former colonisers.

These African leaders will auction off entire country resources to agents of former colonisers so as to earn them a chance to educate their children at colleges in Euro-America, and receive complex medical procedures in Europe and North America. It will be ugly for the continent, Fanon prophesied.

Yes, this is the reason, Europe and North America find travel bans a fitting punishment for the so-called crimes of African leaders. Because they know, denying these vanity-driven leaders the chance to visit London or New York will hurt them so bad.

Consider that these leaders have given their entire adult lives, auctioned off entire national resources to Europe and North America, denying them travel to their dream destinations looks like betrayal and hurts so bad.

So, that is why, while us wananchi might find travel bans akin to stupidity — and the banned folks tend to sound bellicose and unaffected — Europe and America perfectly understand their comrades down south (with lowly southern dreams)!

IRONIES, DUPERY, CONTRADICTIONS

There are two ironies – in fact, contradictions – with this entire travel ban nonsense, and these are meant to hurt the banned leaders on the one hand, and dupe us wananchi on the other. The first is that these so-called crimes and violations of African leaders are committed in the service of Europe and North America.

Leaders such as Yoweri Museveni, William Ruto, Felix Tshisekedi or Emmerson Mnangagwa are workers of the western world. Their actions and inactions – in all its egregious excesses – are part of the entire package of servitude to the western world. They do not abuse the rights of their compatriots (including torture, gunning down, wanton imprisonment, stealing elections, and land and other dispossession) for the sake of themselves.

Yes, it appears like they are doing these things to advantage themselves – and yes, there is a bit of that. But in all fairness, torture, murder, imprisonment, and dispossession is the tyranny with which the so-called “free markets” reproduce and sustain themselves.

Because the imposition of free market economics ruined African economies – impoverishing entire populations especially through interest rates, taxes, and collapse of government investments – African leaders had to strengthen the arm of coercion so as to sustain these free markets.

Because, not to do so would be to let empty regimes collapse as people remain entirely angry with these colonial outposts manned by natives. Consider violent land dispossession, for example, by German Coffee company, Neumann Gruppe/ Kaweri Coffee in Mubende, or removal of Masai from so-called game parks under green colonialism, or clearing people away from slums in Nairobi.

These are meant to advantage and privilege businesses from the western world who nowadays own plots in game parks, et cetera. The second contradiction is that while these leaders are allegedly banned from travel, Europe and North America continues to buttress their regimes.

Again, they are not propped because they have to serve their compatriots, but the imperial machine. They will send them money and weapons under the claims of fighting terrorism. They will gift them with loans through the ‘colonial mission institutions’ called the World Bank and IMF to support their frail regimes. They know fully well that the long-term price will be borne by us the wananchi but the immediate benefit goes to their workers inside the regime.

Their corporations such as Total, Heritage, Glencore Plc., Dan Gertler International (DGI), will continue entering contracts with these travel-banned leaders! The dupery is for Europe and North America to project themselves as interested in human rights and good governance. In truth, they aren’t.

BELIEVE THEM AT OWN PERIL

The sad part is that they have conscripted many of us within their ranks. We celebrate these travel bans, and chant empty slogans about human rights and democracy.

Dear Africans while we abhor our leaders — these colonial emissaries — for their crimes against us, celebrating those appearing to punish is doubly costly.

It is not just the ignominy and fakery of these travel bans, but these self-styled police officers of human rights are, at the same time, the benefactors of the people superintending over our lives. To appear to punish them is not just playing with us, but is also a way bullying their workers into more concessions.

yusufkajura@gmail.com

The author is a political theorist based at Makerere University