Odinga (pictured), who was the chief guest at the closing session of the 42nd Organization of African Trade Union Unity, said it is “painful to see Africans attacking their fellow Africans and destroying their businesses.”/Raila Odinga Press
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 20 – African Union special envoy for infrastructure Raila Odinga has asked African leaders to rise up and take action against xenophobic attacks witnessed recently in South Africa, saying condemning the attacks is not enough.
Odinga, who was the chief guest at the closing session of the 42nd Organization of African Trade Union Unity, said it is “painful to see Africans attacking their fellow Africans and destroying their businesses.”
“It is very disturbing to see fellow Africans burning and looting businesses owned by their fellow African brothers and killing their fellow Africans, it’s a shame and therefore I urge our fellow leaders in Africa to rise up and walk the talk it is not only enough to condemn such acts but very decisive action must be taken to ensure that there is no repeat of such acts” said Odinga.
Odinga said he was puzzled by South African’s violence against their neighbours who hosted thousands of South African exiles during the struggle against apartheid.
This was also raised by former President Jacob Zuma in South Africa’s parliament in April this year.
“We were treated with generosity, dignity and respect by our brothers and sisters on the rest of the continent,” Zuma said then, noting that their solidarity was “critical to the achievement of freedom and democracy we are enjoying today”.
Odinga, however, said that clear rules of engagement need to be put in place to make sure Africa trades within itself without trade being seen as competition.
“Often, the unfortunate happenings of struggling Africans turning against struggling Africans are never government policies. Such happenings result from frustrations with the inadequacies of our economies and the smallness of the ‘ugali,” he said.
The xenophobic attacks left at least 12 dead and massive destruction of businesses owned by multi-nationals, an incident that has been widely condemned.
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