#RolandMartinUnfiltered - EXCLUSIVE: Former AU Ambassador To The U.S. On Her Dismissal, France's Ongoing Influence In Africa

Episode Date: November 7, 2019

The African Union has come under fire for terminating the appointment of Arikana Chihombori-Quao, its ambassador to the United States. A spokesperson for the AU chairman's office says that she has come to the end of her political appointment after spending three years in the position. But her supporters believe that she is being punished for her views about France's ongoing influence across the continent. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, former AU Ambassador to the United States joined Roland Martin in studio to discuss her dismissal and more during Tuesday's edition of #RolandMartinUnfiltered. Watch the 11.5.19 edition of #RolandMartinUnfiltered https://youtu.be/wC1raHrC7Tg - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Ebony Foundation | Home by the Holiday Home by the Holiday aims to reunite Black and Latino families separated by bail, while challenging racial injustice and mass incarceration. For more info visit https://www.homebytheholiday.com/ - 📘 Check out #RolandsBookClub and some of his favorite tech gear http://ow.ly/M5zF50uJPam ✅ NOW AVAILABLE: #RolandMartinUnfiltered Merch - https://bit.ly/2VYdQok ✅ Subscribe to the #RolandMartin YouTube channel https://t.co/uzqJjYOukP ✅ Join the #RolandMartinUnfiltered #BringTheFunk Fan Club to support fact-based independent journalism http://ow.ly/VRyC30nKjpY ✅ Join the Roland Martin and #RolandMartinUnfiltered mailing list http://ow.ly/LCvI30nKjuj - Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. You can make this possible. All right, folks. The African Union has come under fire for terminating the appointment of

Arakanah Chihombori-Kwayo. Is that right? That's correct. Okay, got it. It's ambassador to the United States. Now, a spokesperson for the AU chairman's office says that she has come to the end of her political appointment after spending three years in the position, but her supporters believe that she is being punished for her views. Joining us now for an exclusive interview about her dismissal is the former AU ambassador to the United States.

So, okay, so you were appointed three years ago. Who appointed you? It was the then chairman of the African Union, Her Excellency Nkosazana Lamini Zuma. And who made the decision to end your tenure? It was the current chairperson, His Excellency Mustafa Kim Muhammad. All right. And so did you have any knowledge that they were unhappy with your performance? Or was something that you said, something that you did? Did it catch you completely by surprise? It wasn't really a surprise. I think based on some information I had been privileged to, which I really can't disclose at this time, about five months earlier. So it wasn't

really a surprise as such. And so this is this cause. I mean, this has been lots of discussion back and forth, obviously, from your supporters. And they say that your breakdown of the history of how modern day Africa was created, colonization and the control or impact France has had on many of the many African countries is why you were let go. My supporters feel that way, and there's some suggestion and some evidence. Like I said, I'm not privy to that information, but there is some evidence to that effect, yes. So you believe that France is still trying to silence you? Do you believe that? Let me put it this way. Maybe I lasted longer than I probably would have based on my views on France.

And it's not even my view. It's basically stating the facts in terms of what France is doing to Africa what they're currently doing what they're currently doing and have been doing for decades since the quote-unquote independence of the former French colonies yes so what is happening because look the reality is a lot of Americans are not necessarily hearing about what's happening in African nations. Seven of the top ten fastest growing economies come from Africa.

But you also have a significant impact of the Chinese in many African countries as well. And so do you believe that the government of France still has a lot of control over a number of African nations, of their former colonies? They have significant control over all of their former colonies, specifically 14 of them. Just to give you the highlights of what they did when they were giving the independence, so to speak, to their former colonies, They forced them to sign a document which they are calling the Pact for the Continuation of Colonization. You have to understand, on one hand, they are saying we're giving you independence, which turned out to be mostly political independence,

but that you also have to sign this document which is titled the Pact the continuation of colonization so you are going to be independent but you have to agree to continue to be colonized so two countries said absolutely not we are not going to sign those two the document most two countries Mali and Guinea okay and what the French did they went into those two countries took everything that they thought they had brought to those two economies poured concrete into the sewage pipes, and completely devastating the two economies. This was done as a way of letting the other countries know that if you do not sign this document, this is the fate that awaits you. How has that negatively impacted those African

countries? It is impacted them terribly terribly terribly. If you look at it you give up your the pact for the continuation of colonization said those countries were expected to deposit 85% of their bank reserves back then with the French central bank under the control of the French Minister of Finance and should those countries wish to request some of those monies because remember they were only left with 15% of their reserves then they would have to submit a financial statement for the country and if approved they could only access up to

20% of whatever they had deposited the year before as a loan at commercial interest rates. The only difference now is the 85% deposits have now been lowered down to maybe between 50 and 60 percent but the countries are still forced and required to deposit their bank reserves with the French Central Bank. So picture this situation You are depositing all your monies with France. Should you need some of your money, you get it as a loan at commercial interest rates. So immediately you have a credit with France, but you begin to owe France. This has been going on and continues to this day. So combined, the 14 countries are giving to France cash, cold hard cash, over $500 billion every year.

And France takes that money and invests it in its own stock market under the French name. And the countries may or may not know the returns. Currently, for every $14 billion that France takes out of Africa, by the time they finish investing it in the French stock market, they are realizing upwards of 300 billion. So you do the math to see how much money France is taking out of Africa every year. And yet France has the audacity to then look at African countries and call them poor countries. Why would poor African countries give $500 billion to France year in and year out. What really gets me the most is how does the world sit back and watch this carnage take place in Africa? Where is the United Nations? This is the body that's supposed to be looking out

for any violations of human rights. It is my humble opinion that singularly what France is doing to Africa is the biggest violation of human rights. Women and children are dying of starvation, youth unemployment when the same poor countries are giving $500 billion to France. It simply does not make any sense. And I don't know how the world can sit back and watch all this unfold and nobody is saying anything. It's unacceptable. It is wrong and we're simply asking France to do what is right, what is just and what is fair with the Africans. I attended the event that took place at the embassy here and we actually ran your speech where you gave the history of what took place and how modern day Africa was carved up. For the folks who don't know, explain the Berlin Conference.

The Berlin Conference was our colonizer's way of saying to it that Africa and her children are forever defeated and dominated. They came together in Berlin at the invitation of the then Chancellor of Germany, Bismarck, to divide up Africa. 1891? November 1884 to February of 1885. They met and chopped up Africa into the tiny little economies that we see today. Economies that clearly cannot survive on their own. Economies that are easy to destabilize should they begin to look like they're having a leg up.

Economies that will make it very difficult for these countries to trade with each other. You see, economic development is increased productivity from one production cycle to the other. If you interfere with the ability of countries to trade, you immediately mess with economic development. So that partitioning of Africa back in 1884 and those partitionings remain in place today is responsible for a lot of what has happened in Africa, our inability to grow our economies, our inability to travel from one country to the other. You look at tourism. If you need to go to Africa and visit three different countries, you've got to send your passport to D.C. three different times. And each time your passport comes back,

you've got to send it again to another country, two, three, four weeks before you get your passport back. And then you've got to send it back to Washington. At times, those embassies are on the same street. You could have walked from one embassy to the other, to the other, but you can't do it. And by the time you get your passport back with the third visa, the visa for the first country is expired. Who needs to go through all that? So you say, forget it. I'm not going to Africa. I'm going to Europe. At every level, what we see happening today in Africa that affects economic development is directly related to what was done in 1884. You try to go from one part of Africa to the other, it's easier to fly into Europe and then come back down why a lot of the air

spaces were closed all of it thanks to the Berlin conference so people don't realize that that decision has everlasting implications on what goes on in Africa and at the end of the day it crystallizes down to our failure to grow our economies because it is very expensive to do business between from one country to the other so i'm going to ghana in um in december so if i'm in ghana and i want to fly to nigeria or go to kenya what's that process nigeria is almost impossible because it's gonna take you a while to get a visa to go to Nigeria I'm not so sure about Kenya but

again you need a visa but to those countries but if I was in France and I wanted to go to Germany or I wanted to go to another European country. As a U.S. citizen with a U.S. passport, you're fine. You can just go. If you're from another country, you can actually just apply for what they call a Schengen visa. A Schengen visa allows you to travel throughout Europe. One visa will allow you to travel throughout Europe. Okay, but what I'm trying to understand is uh so those rules that were set up that prohibits me from being in ghana and deciding to say hey i want the next three days i want to go

to nigeria uh those rules were set up when those rules were set up back in 1884 however we as african now, are beginning to realise that we need to do something about this. So a lot of them now, within Africa, we have what we're calling visa on arrival, where you show up at the borders and you can apply for a visa and you get it. But not all countries are doing visa on arrival. So you have to check the website of every country to see what, for your particular passport, what are the visa on arrival. So you have to check the website of every country to see what, for your particular passport, what are the visa requirements? This is, go to my, actually it went away. I'm trying to pull this map up. And once we have it

up, I want to pull it up because I want to show, so give our folks a sense of Africa before the Berlin Conference and after, because when I look at this map, what I see is I don't see as many countries as we see today. So we see, Henry, go to my iPad, please. So this is a map of Africa before the Berlin Conference. Correct. So what we were prior to the Berlin conference were massive powerful kingdoms, kingdoms with well-established religious and educational systems, kingdoms that preceded the Greek civilization, the Roman Empire. If the truth be told, civilization began in Africa. Have you ever wondered why when they talk about Greek philosophers, the mathematicians, they were sent to Egypt for training, to Egypt for advancement.

It's because Africa already had it. The pyramids, the Zimbabwe ruins, they were there over 2,500 years before the Greek civilization, 2,500 years before the Roman Empire. It all started in Africa. That's part of the history that was cut out and they set out to get us to forget that life as we know it began in Africa. Civilization as we know it began in Africa. The Europeans stole it from us. Explain the difference between the AU and the AU and AUC the African Union is the membership of all the 55 African heads of states the African Union Commission is the working organ of the African

Union so the African Union has a president who's always another head of state and that membership is for one year. The working organ of the African Union is the African Union Commission and it also has a chairperson. That term is four years and that's who Chairman Mustafa Kimmahamat is. Jason? So, you know, I wanted to ask a question and if you knew, I have a friend who's from the Comoros Islands and he was telling me about the difference between some of the other islands and in particular one island that's under French control called Mayotte. I was wondering if you could expand on that and tell me a little bit about.

Well, basically, it's like when you go to the Caribbean, you can even go to St. Martin. You have one part which is Dutch and the other part which is French. They just chopped up these islands and these countries arbitrarily. It depends on who wanted what. You take, for example, part of Kilimanjaro was supposed to all be in Tanzania. But I think it was one of the queens, the English queens, was visiting. And the story goes that the granddaughter says, oh, but

grandma, I like that mountain. And so the grandma just said, okay, no problem, let's just move the border a little bit into Tanzania so my granddaughter can have part of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was so very random depending on who felt what. You look at how the DRC

dips into Zambia in a very funny way. It's because Leopold decided he wanted a little bit more of the copper in Zambia, so he just carved it out the way he wanted it. It was all very arbitrary, and if you had a voice and the ability to do so and say, this is what I want, okay, no problem, we'll put the border here. You mentioned earlier how you don't understand how the UN or any other global humanitarian entity has not interfered and acted on behalf of AU, AUC, etc. I have that same concern now that I'm listening to you.

But has there been a process? Is there a process to to act against France legally regarding the U.N., the Hague, anything? Because this to me seems like a clear violation of humanitarian laws, especially your recollection of them dumping concrete into sewers. It is a serious violation against humanity. Well, let me say, over the years, we have had some heads of states who have tried to pull out of the pact for the continuation of colonization. Sadly, there were coups in those countries

and they found their heads, you know, simply put on the chopping block. They were assassinated. So the realities and the fear that countries might have are real because of the consequences from France should they decide to pull out. So there really hasn't been. Lately, we heard about the vice prime minister of Italy. They were sick and tired of the young African youth crossing the Mediterranean and ending up on the southern borders. And so they challenged France and said, listen, next time we receive these refugees,

we are going to bring them to France because you are the one who's taking all those funds out of Africa. That's why African economies cannot develop themselves because of what France is doing in Africa. But there hasn't been a coordinated effort to really say, France is doing in Africa. So, but there hasn't been a coordinated effort to really say France enough is enough you have got to stop this and I think as a black woman as a mother I'm at a point where I've had enough. Well what then something needs to be done. What would that take for a coordinated effort? If all of Africa could come together if the entire continent could come together.

But our reality is, because of the stronghold that France has on Africa, France can destabilize any of its former colonies with the push of a button. So the reality is, trying to push back against France, it's mission impossible at this time. Which is why we are very pleased that finally the African heads of states were able to come together and agreed on what we are

calling the African Continental Free Trade Area. You got to understand back in 1963, when open African leaders came together and created the Organization of African Unity, they were trying to undo the damage done by the Berlin conference But unfortunately when they went to Addis Ababa, but they were divided We had the Casablanca group who were Ghana Guinea Mali Egypt Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia They were outnumbered by the others who had the nationalists who said let's go slow the Casablanca group who said Africa for the Africans at at home and abroad, African Union now. Had

we won, had the Casablanca group won in 1963, Africa would be in a very different place. Because all these borders would have been eliminated back then. They came up with a compromise, which we are calling Organisation of African Unity. Year

in, year out, for 55 years, the African heads of states met, the issue of an Africa speaking with one voice, one continent, one Africa was tabled, and year in and year out, we failed to reach consensus until last year, March 2018, when they finally agreed that enough is enough. Africa must speak with one voice. Africa must enter the world stage as one customs union, as one continent speaking with one voice. That is the only way that Africa can begin to take her rightful place on the world stage. So it's been a lengthy process, thanks to the legacy of colonization. It seems to me that this should have been a slam dunk.

It's common sense. But because of interferences from former colonizers that just kept getting in the way. You look, for example, now West Africa is trying to have the West African echo and have one currency for West Africa. Even that process, it has taken decades because they keep getting interference from outside. So yes, efforts have been made, but not in a coordinated way because of influences and interruptions, interference from the outside.

Ambassador, may I ask another question? And that is about Kwame Nkrumah. Do you think that France and some of these European powers were involved in the death of Kwame Nkrumah. Do you think that France and some of these European powers were involved in the death of Kwame Nkrumah? Not so much France. France was mostly involved in coups that took place in its former colonies. We've had a total of 67 coups on the continent and 26 countries were involved. And of the 26 countries, 16 countries were former French colonies. I just wanted to just mention very quickly, this is a lot.

It's overwhelming. Yes, it is. And thank you for your bravery and even speaking out. But one of the things that I was sitting here and I was actually going to the comments, and I guess I don't have a question that's so much as a statement. The education that you're giving us, you know, I've never really considered the Berlin conference. I've never considered. That's what set all this in motion. Yeah. I mean, I've really never considered that. But to hear you really just give us that timeline in the parallel to what's happening here in the United States as far

as European influence and to hear what's going on in Africa and the things that have kept the African, you know, African citizens, you know, the motherland, have kept them behind, you know, the money, the $500 billion, you know, to France and things like that. You know, it's a lot, but it to real I can listen to you all day you know I should say that but the parallel that I'm really just if we read these things in history books and we talk a lot of in politics about you know and a lot of people don't want to hear it because they say well you know there was a long time ago well look at the result of what's happening now so what do you

want African what can African Americans do to help? I want the African Americans to understand their history, to understand that what goes on in Africa is your problem. You must own it. As a person of African descent, Africa is home. Africa is your anchor and that you need to realize that until you fill that void, the average African American, if not all African Americans, whether they realize it or not, there is a void from not knowing where you come from. And that void has got to be filled in. It is a void that is very in the subconscious, deep in your subconscious. First, you must realize that void is there.

African-Americans and descendants of former slaves around the globe they are the only ones who struggle with the issue of where do I come from I had a conversation with one of my girlfriends and African American about seven years ago and I honestly can't believe that in my old age and all these years that I've lived in this country it had never occurred to me that the issue of where do I come from is an issue. Because I've never had to ask myself that. Until one day I'm having a conversation with her,

and she just looked me straight in the face and says, you know, those of you from the continent, you never have to deal with the issues that we deal with as African Americans. The simple issue of where do I come from? And for a split second, I stopped and I put myself in her position to say I wonder what it feels like to not know where you came from I had this overwhelming sadness and I quickly snubbed myself out of it now can you imagine living in that sadness of just not knowing where you come from

can you imagine and and since then I have been looking for it when I interact with my African-American friends. I remember one time we had an event and this top executive was one of the speakers, but she spoke after me. And I talked about this void and the need to reconnect. She started encountering one of an experience she had while just on a retreat with co-workers. And everybody was talking about where they come from. I'm German-American, I'm Irish-American. And as they were getting closer to her, it dawned on her that she didn't know where she came from and she didn't know what she was going to say. And right there on the stage, she broke down. I mean, she could not stop sobbing. I had to go on the stage to hug her because she never,

she said, I didn't come here to break down. She never realized that there was this void that was so painful. But because of the environment we were in, she was able to go there. And once she got there, her feelings, she was able to express her feelings. So I want the African-Americans to know that Africa is home, that what is going on in Africa is your problems and you must get involved until you reconnect with your anchor, which is Africa. You'll always be like a palm tree. When the wind blows this way, here we go. When the wind blows that way, here we go. Africa is home. Accept it. It is who you are. Your DNA is the DNA of an African. Your DNA is the DNA of originality. You are the origin of humanity. And Africa is home. Reconnect. The African heads of states, they agreed on a

decision this year, which they called R 400. 400 are standing for return 400 standing for the 400 years they declared once and for all that descendants of former slaves Africa is their home and that you must come home understand that you are welcome and don't let anyone make you believe that your suffering was worse than those who stayed on the continent do you believe that your suffering was worse than those who stayed on the continent Do you believe seriously that where they took your your forefathers? They left a bed of roses. They left a milk of land of milk and hurry honey. The answer is no Look at what Leopold did in the Congo of a 75% of the population was killed Look at what the British did to the Kikuyu. Look at what the Germans

did in Namibia. The carnage continued. And to this day, actually, the carnage in Africa continues. The colonizers have never left Africa. They must get out of Africa. Whatever it takes to get the colonizers to treat Africa fairly,

we are simply asking what anybody else on earth would be asking for, to be treated fairly and for them to do the right thing. What's next for you? Well, I'm going to continue with the movement. I think we people of African descent must understand that Africa is home. But my priority is to see to it that France abolishes the pact for the continuation of colonization. We, the poor African countries, can no longer continue to give billions of dollars to France. That has got to stop. And if it is the last thing that I do before I die, I will stay on it until it's done. Ambassador Chiambo-Riquel, we appreciate it. Thank you so very much.

Thank you. All right, folks, back to our Worldmark unfiltered video in just one moment. All right, folks, it's the holiday season. This is when you think about spending time with family and friends. This is also when you count your blessings and support those less fortunate. This year, be a holiday hero and change someone's life forever. Right now, hundreds of thousands of Americans are sitting in jail without being convicted of a crime. Why?

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Sometimes justice needs just us. To join the fight, you can donate 25, 50 bucks or more to help the Ebony Foundation bring our brothers and sisters home by the holiday. To donate, go to homebytheholiday.com. That's homebytheholiday.com. Now back to your Roland Martin Unfiltered video. I know a lot of cops.

They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports.

This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them.

Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org. Brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.