By Frank Mulekwa
There is something we need to start talking about more openly. Some African political figures are increasingly using anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric to gain cheap political support. That is dangerous for the future of our continent.
We can debate immigration, illegal entry, crime, jobs, and pressure on public services. Those are legitimate issues. But there is a big difference between enforcing laws and turning fellow Africans into enemies.
When politicians tell their people that Africans from another country are the root of all their problems, they manufacture hatred where there should be cooperation. Today it is a Ugandan, Zimbabwean, or Nigerian being targeted. Tomorrow it could be anyone else. And once that hatred is planted, it does not go away easily. It festers and spreads, and before we know it, we are fighting each other instead of building together.
This is why we must recognize leaders across the continent stoking these fires, while voices like Julius Malema in South Africa stand out. We may not agree with him on everything, but on this, his courage in bravely fighting xenophobia instead of using immigrants as political scapegoats deserves real tribute. He understands that the real enemy of the African is not another African. It is poverty, underdevelopment, and the systems that keep us weak.
On the flip side, we have leaders like M7 championing true Pan-Africanism, pushing hard for the East African Federation, and consistently driving home the idea that Africa must become a powerful center of gravity in the world. He sees the bigger picture. He knows that a divided Africa is a weak Africa, and a weak Africa will always be exploited.
Yet, how are we going to turn Africa into something like the US, the EU, or even China with this kind of self-inflicted disunity? How do we expect to create that center of gravity when Africans themselves are busy fighting and turning against one another? What investor would put money in a continent that cannot even trust its own people?
“Ani yaloga omufirika?” (Who bewitched Africans?) This time, we cannot blame our colonial adversaries. This is entirely of our own making, and we shall have ourselves to blame. The colonialists are long gone, but the division they planted is still being watered by our own leaders.
At a time when the world is debating artificial intelligence, advanced technology, and the next industrial revolution, we are busy disuniting ourselves over trivial, petty issues. Instead of building bigger markets, stronger institutions, and easier movement, we are creating more walls. While others are integrating, we are fragmenting.
Sometimes it genuinely feels as if Africa was destined to remain doomed, but our biggest problem is not what others did to us. It is what we continue doing to ourselves.
Africa needs to wake up. We cannot build a strong and prosperous continent while teaching our people to fear and hate each other. The future belongs to those who unite, not those who divide. And if we do not learn this lesson soon, we will remain exactly where we are, watching the rest of the world move forward without us.
Let us disagree on policies, but let us not destroy the soul of African unity in the process. Africa belongs to all of us. Pan-Africanism must mean something in practice, not just in speeches.
