...the apology that never came...

It is interesting how easily the world forgets..could this be attributed to the fact that events in today's world are so dynamic that it is often easy to lose interest in one subject and accord more attention to another? I say this in light of the situation in Zimbabwe...It is almost as if it were ages ago when we talked about Zimbabwe being at the verge of (if not having already attained) an economic and democratic downfall. Even the media in the western world was flashed with headlines of their newest cerebrity- Robert Mugabe...Today the silence on Zimbabwe is the loudest..just recently, i heard of the EU deciding to remove some sanctions that they had initially imposed in abid to pave way for a peaceful and credible constitutional referendum to be held later this year in Zim. This sort of 'woke me up' from my 'Zimbabwe slumber.' I wondered why Mugabe was no loger making headlines. Could this be because the situation in Zimbabwe had significantly improved? Or had the world simply given up in hope for a 'natural' solution (which Malawi and Ethiopia have recently 'benifitted' from) ? :) Or perhaps it is because of much graver situations, like that of Syria, which have 'stolen' the attention from Zimbabwe? In any case, i decided to find out how the situation in Zimbabwe was faring and from my brief sampling of the news, i could see that the more things changed, the more they remained the same. But there was one thing that caught my eye...one writer eloquently wrote on the background of the 'Zimbabwe crisis' and attributed it a long history of social and political problems. Yet again, the land reform programme was brought to the limelight. As i read on, my mind was again consumed with anger and frustration when i considered the fact that the land reform programme was an important and necessary measure to remedy existing land inequalities created by colonial injustice. But instead the whole programme was overshadowed by the greed for political power resulting into implementation that never really benefitted the people who needed it the most. But does the fact that the issue was overtaken by political misshaps give excuse for it to be entirely overlooked? It is a shame that Mugabe has himself tarnished a concern that is very legitimate and pertinent not only for Zimbabwe but for many African countries. My mind reverts to the controversial Constitution of Zimbabwe (Amendment Act no. 16 of 2000) introduced by the Zim government which provided that the people of Zimbabwe have the right to regain ownership of their land that was unjustifiably taken away by colonial rule. What interests me the most is the provision that states that Britain (as the former colonial power) has an obligation to pay compensation for the land under resettlement to affected individuals, failing which the Zimbabwe government will not provide such compensation. Ofcourse what transpired later was not an equitable and transparent land distribution programme as one would have hoped for. Nevertheless, my interest rests upon the aspect of compensation by the former colonial power in the land resettlement process. Is Britain (or any other former colonial power in this instance) entitled to compensate its colonies for colonial injustices such as those that have arisen under the Zimbabwe scenario? I am not one who would like to blame all our continent's misfortunes on colonialism but i am not one to deny either that Africa shall never completely recover from the scars of colonialism. The Lake Malawi border dispute is one recent example of a colonial 'hangover' and other ethnic tensions can also traced to colonial action i.e. rwanda and burundi. In any case, Italy (in 2008) agreed to pay 5billion dollars to Libya as compensation for its 'wrong doings' during colonial rule. (i wonder how Gadaffi managed to pull this one off). Perhaps it was easier for Italy to take such a step as it was not necessarily a major 'coloniser,' as compared to ....ahem.... 'thy Great Britain.' I know there has been some debate going around as to whether such an action would be expected of Britain. In a flash of a moment, i would state quite boldly that Britain has an obligation to pay compensation for its colonial misdeeds in Africa. But then i also ask myself how feasible this would be..for instance, how many African countries did Britain colonize? I can almost envisage a situation where the whole British economy would collapse should Britain embark upon such a task. And how best would we calculate what is due to us? Could money ever really be enough? Apparently, there are assertions that the Libyan government still considers the compensation from Italy inadequate if compared to the misdeeds that occured during colonialism. But even if any such money were paid, what would our leaders do with it (in cases where victims are not easily identifiable)? Create a fund to assist in development projects? i must admit that im abit skeptical...i see a scenario where most of it would go into politicians' pockets and the people would never really see the benefit of it. Could this be the reason why Britain has perhaps been reluctant to take such a step in Africa? I am aware that Britain has already taken such a step in some instances i.e. Maori tribe in New Zealand where compensation was made by Britain for the land seizure during colonialism. I do not know if any concrete steps of such a nature have taken place in the African context. (Im yet to see the verdict on the Mau Mau suit against Britain) Could it also be that the gloomy picture currently existent in Africa gives the impression that we would not have been any better in any case (regardless of colonialism)? But even if the idea of monetary comepensation is too far fetched, but doesnt Britain at least have a moral obligation towards its African former colonies? In line with this, some have indeed argued that the development aid that Britain currently contributes to Africa is a sort of 'pay back' undertaken by the British to 'cleanse' their guilt..But if it is a form of giving back what duly belongs to us, what can we make of the numerous conditionalities attached to such aid? The burdensome conditionalities that comes with development aid is a clear indication that it is merely an act of charity on their part and not a 'repayment.' If anything, others go further to claim that this is a strong indication of a new form of 'colonialism.' But still thinking under the ambit of moral obligations, has Britain ever issued any formal statement of apology to the African former colonies for its action.  If money cannot do, perhaps an apology would? some sign of remorse (if any)? You may wonder, of what benefit is a verbal official expression of apology? i would say that though of no monetary value but it could be of some moral value...it could restore a sense of dignity perhaps...a sense of humanity...a form of closure...a spirit of equality and oneness... I am aware that Britain has often made some lofty inferences to their 'regret' over 'some misfortunes'  arriving out of colonialism..it almost sounds like a 'give in with one hand and take with another' kind of statement. On the other hand, perhaps they fear opening 'floodgates' of claims based upon any issuance of apology which may be perceived as an admission of 'guilt' for all wrongful conduct. I for one  sense a denial of responsbility by the British government; the feeling that why should a current government pay for actions done by a previous colonial administration so long ago? but then again, one can also rebut this query by the mere assertion that the British government of today still benefits from the colonial injustices of yesterday and as such acquires some sense of responsibility towards correcting it (if possible) or issuing a symbolic gesture such as an apology. The fact that nothing of that sort has ever been expressed leads me to think that perhaps African countries are so insignificant that such a simple humble gesture of that sort may never be forthcoming from Thy Great Britain...But for dignity's sake, for humanity's sake, for equality's sake, i honestly wish i could hear an unconditional 'im sorry' from the British government...thats all...