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Elliot Ziwira Senior Writer
Colonialism, like imperialism, is a practice of domination and subjugation of a people by another. The desire to own and control other people’s territories is central to colonialism, a phenomenon that is neither new nor accidental.

European colonisation of African societies did not come by chance, as it was premised on a well calculated desire to acquire raw materials and cheap labour for expanding industries. With opportunities availing themselves through industrialisation, and slavery on the wane, capital had to find a vent to expand; and the natural route became Africa, as the Middle East and Asia proved unprofitable (Williams 1944).

Because it is a form of conquest, colonialism relies heavily on the might of the imperial power, and follows a pattern that makes it difficult for the colonised to be fully decolonised without exerting a corresponding dosage of violence in retaliation, for it impacts on the psyche through cultural erosion and a deliberately structured education system (Fanon 1967).

A people’s land is its pride and hope, for it informs their identity and shapes their aspirations. As Nilene Omodele Adeoti Foxworth writes in “Bury Me in Africa” (1978), “a people without land are like cattle on naked ground, with nothing to graze they mope around hopelessly”.

He who controls the land controls all that is worthy of life; mineral wealth, rivers and all that wriggles in their bellies, birds and all. Land does not diminish in value, as such with the passage of time, it can be pawned for anything.

Many would consider a rocky and sandy piece of land today as barren, only for it to turn into a diamond or gold mine tomorrow, so it should always be guarded jealously. Liberation struggles across the African continent were spurred on by the promise of repossession and ownership of the land; an ancestral heritage.

Africans cannot really consider themselves free if freedom does not translate to ownership of the land; total ownership of the Motherland. There had been hideous bloodbaths because of the burning desire to control the land, because of its significance in Man’s survival matrix. Land is an inheritance whose value is equitable to life and thus cannot be measured in monetary terms.

Africans are inseparable from their land.

It is sad nay disheartening, therefore, that an African country remains colonised in the 21st century, not by the usual European land grabbers, but by a fellow African brother. That the people of the Western Sahara, also known as the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), remain colonised, or were ever colonised by Morocco, an African neighbour in the first place, who is supposed to play a “brother’s keeper” role, smacks of avarice, insensitivity and outright selfishness.

And that the Western world, the so-called champions of democracy turn a blind eye is telling of “othering”; gives the term globalisation a bad name, exemplifies double standards and spits in the face of international justice. That Africa watches as a fellow brother is mauled, mutilated and left for dead, is as heart-rending as it is intrinsically rooted in the colonial apparatus that the continent endured, and still endures with its attendant trauma.

Ironically, Morocco is a member of the African Union, formerly Organisation of African Union (OAU), whose protagonists and founders were ideologically clear on what they sought to achieve; total liberation of the African peoples. With the Saharawi people yoked to the colonial machinery of a fellow brother, one wonders where the continent’s fathers are, and whether brotherhood has assumed a new moniker.

Well, whose hand is Morocco dealing? Whose winning cards drops on Africa’s poker table? And whose roulette wheel is the African Union spinning and to what end?

If Morocco is sincere about being African, and what it feels to be African, as enshrined in the African Union’s Constitutive Act to which it is a signatory, then the noble thing to do is behave in the spirit of Africanness. It is rather hypocritical of Morocco to be part of an organisation that advocates total freedom from the clutches of colonialism, yet parodying the Empire’s circus train.

It is in this spirit of fighting in each other’s corner like brothers as it is wont to be that SADC reaffirms commitment to the decolonisation of Western Sahara under Moroccan colonial shackles since 1975. The regional body met in Pretoria, South Africa, recently in solidarity with the Saharawi people in their despair over their plundered land and blazing dreams.

Speaking at the SADC Solidarity Conference with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, President Mnangagwa pointed out that without a free SADR Africa’s dreams remain locked in a vault somewhere else, therefore, the liberation of the traumatised brother should be top priority.

Thhis clarion call was shared by fellow SADC leaders, who felt that the politics of divide and rule at the instigation of the Empire should be shunned with the contempt it deserves.

“The quest for sustainable peace and collective prosperity in the implementation of Africa’s Agenda 2063 will not be fully realised while the people of the Saharawi toil and suffer in a cycle of oppression and deprivation, perpetrated by another member of the African family. The liberation of the Saharawi people should stand at the forefront of our continental priorities,” said President Mnangagwa.

“We completely reject, in toto, the notion that the African Union (AU) has no locus standi in the dispute over Western Sahara. The belligerent parties are Africans fighting over territory in Africa,” he reiterated.

Yes, how can the AU purport incapacitation in reining in one of its own going against the grain? The principle of “animalism” that says all animals are equal should apply to all members, regardless of clout.

Morocco should not run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, and the United Nations should not treat Morocco with leniency when it comes to application of international law and sovereign rights of colonised peoples. Why should Morocco, known as a coloniser or illegal occupier to euphemise it, be allowed to be part of both the UN and AU? It really boggles the mind.

The AU should be privy to the fact that colonialism remains the cause of universal social neurosis in post-colonial societies because of the way it affects individual thought and behaviour. It is a kind of permanent psychological imprisonment.

According to Lacan (1973) in “The Seminar of Jacques Lacan: Book 111”, neurosis is deeper than a specific condition, but assumes the form of “legible” delusion that is structured like a language. Because of its impact on the psyche, colonialism is a kind of disease (neurosis) that is not curable, in the sense that to the oppressed it is a condition that is lived and relived; generation after generation, thus becoming an intricate social system.

Granted, Africans are conscious of the subtle nature of colonialism and its impact on the psyche; precursors to liberation struggles, so why would they play blind to the plight of the Saharawi people, and deaf to their cries. Whereas solidarity may last for a season, and bolsters conviction, it is not enough if it is only confined to conference rooms. The plight of the Saharawi goes beyond conference solidarity, and, indeed, beyond regional groupings.

If SADC is divided, and SADC is not Africa, and certainly not AU, what are the chances that the gagged voice of the oppressed and colonised people of Western Sahara find articulation at the UN? If justice wears so many shades, like deceptive shades of grey, whose justice do AU and UN be advancing when they confer in the absence of either Morocco or Saharawi, or in their presence even?

Grappling with its own internal woes, Morocco should not burden itself or be held accountable for the woes of the Saharawi. The resources of Western Sahara belong to its people, and not Morocco, France, Spain or any other plunderer. Any form of negotiation for decolonisation should respect the will of the Saharawi people. As a neighbour and fellow brother Morocco needs Saharawi as much as Saharawi needs Morocco, thus they should find each other in the spirit of brotherhood, for the common good of their peoples.

Peace, peace and more peace is what their volatile region clamours for if prosperity is to see the light of day and remain illuminated. Hence, Morocco and the POLISARIO Front, a movement pushing for the independence of Western Sahara, should engage urgently and sincerely.

Colonial trauma shapes societies, generations after colonisation, because individual experiences of the coloniser (master) and colonised (native), shape the way they think, hence, in the end contradictory neurotic behaviour ensues, as purveyed in Spivak’s “retrospective hallucination” (Spivak 1967:275). Having endured 43 years of impunity, violence, abuse and pillage of their natural resources the Saharawi people cry out for help, especially from fellow brothers who understand what it means to be chained, having experienced the same.

Africans should violently confront colonialism, and reject any tactics to keep them fettered, for that is the only way to decolonise both themselves and their societies (Fanon 1967). They should speak with one voice, and listen to the dejected wails of one of their own.

But could theirs be a muted cry in the wilderness?

As President Mnangagwa emphasised: “The African Union and all member states have a vested interest in this matter. In this regard, we call on all AU member states to extend their full support to the former president of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, in the execution of his mandate as the AU High Representative to the Western Sahara.”

That is the spirit; that is the way to go, for Africa is our land, our Motherland! No member of AU should remain a colony.