What Blair and Geldof didn’t see

Abstract

A journalist who has worked a great deal in Africa, Thembi Mutch paints a portrait of Ethiopia that raises serious questions about government integrity in that country. She writes: "After 14 years of living and working in Africa, I have mixed feelings about aid, although you can never generalise on the experience of one country. Ethiopia undoubtedly is hampered by unfair trade agreements and the restrictions of having a hugely under-developed infrastructure. The solution is not simply aid, but better human rights, the promotion of free speech, and crucially, local and international structures that promote equality. This includes the protection of local and international journalists. If we are to send British aid money and skilled British people to work in Africa, then the host country must value us, in the same way, as it must start valuing all of its citizens. At the very least we need to listen to local, African experts, journalists and commentators, who often speak from more informed, critical and realistic perspectives... It is not enough to "feed the starving": we have to know that the poor, the vulnerable, wherever they are, are getting the food and money we give and their human rights and have not become merely political pawns to their own governments. Here in Britain, it's time to face up to some unpalatable truths about the regimes we support."