The State of Africa 2003-04: A Thematic and Factual Revision

The peoples of our continent, the Cradle of Humanity, cry out every day for a better life of hope rather than despair. And yet millions wake up daily to a life of seemingly unending poverty. Millions have resigned themselves to a life of restless nights and days of lethargy caused by empty stomachs. Even where they only have water to fill the void, as they drink they expose their frail bodies to waterborne illnesses. Millions are ravaged by diseases, which can be cured or managed, but nevertheless envelope helpless millions, imposing avoidable morbidity and early death. They crowd together in urban slums preying on one another through criminal misconduct, like beasts informed by the instinct of the survival of the fittest, slowly suffocating from the foul smell of the open sewers and rotting piles of accumulating refuse and the stench of poverty. The clean air and the quire of the countryside and the pleasing sights of nature hide a reality of life without hope. Unable to read or write, they are imprisoned behind an impenetrable wall of darkness that condemns them to the periphery of the human world, as others advance in the continuous flight from ignorance and unknowing. They can never be certain that tomorrow the guns will not bark once again, portending death and added misery as the poor engage in a bitter struggle to claim first place in a scramble for scarce resources and opportunities. They do not know whether the following day another soldier will not elevate himself, assisted by guns in his hand, to proclaim himself the ruler who cannot and shall not be questioned.