From Itai Muchena in Oregon, USA

AFRICAN leaders meet in Kampala, Uganda, mid this month amid revelations by the United States of America that the continent is growing in military, strategic and economic importance to the super power’s foreign policy.

"Africa’s emerging potential as a major oil, diamonds producer and supplier to the United States, has been of interest to the Sub-Committee on Africa that I’ve chaired for some time.

"The sub-committee held a hearing to look at this topic in 2000. It’s clearly in our national interest to diversify our energy supply, especially given the turbulent political climate in key parts of the world today. The expansion of energy production in Africa matches to that interest…,’’ said the US State Department last week.

Zimbabwe’s diamonds marketing, war-torn DRC, war in Uganda and Somalia are other examples where African leaders should come up with proper mechanisms to contain outside influence and enable the governments there to perform.

This is big-money talk rather than a humanitarian outrage. On January 2 2002, a Washington DC symposium held to discuss African oil came up with a document entitled "African oil: A priority for US national security and African development", which paved the way for the rest to happen.

It was attended by Washington’s Africa heavyweights, people like: Barry Schutz, a Bush administration specialist on Africa; Lieutenant-Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, a high-ranking air force officer; and Walter Kansteiner, Bush’s under-secretary of state for African affairs.

Pending legislation, "The Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act 2009," being pushed by Representative Ed Royce would empower AFRICOM not only to give technical support but to physically go to war with the armed groups that both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo forces have not been able to dislodge.

An analytic eye sees the meeting as an opportunity to ring-fence Africa’s unity, independence, liberation war gains, indigenisation projects, governance and exploitation of natural resources.

It will be folly for African leaders not to analyse why America has suddenly identified the continent as being of strategic importance to its foreign policy. Issues around this, are expected to take centre stage given that African leaders are becoming more and more aware of the threat paused by super power ambitions to be in sole control of Africa’s resources as the expense of the African themselves.

However, many nations on the African continent continue to rely on the international community for assistance with security concerns and the leaders have a challenge to come out with specific strategies to ensure that the continent is not manipulated as the super powers focus their mineral resource attention on Africa.

Solving the continent’s puzzle in the troubled spots might be a bigger issue especially when you see Africa’s reliance on foreign forces who have their own agenda.

This is the sole reason why, from an analytic point of view, the US has set up Africom, to bully any other nation that tries to interfere or disturb its quest to exploit the mineral resources of Africa.

AFRICOM is a Unified Combatant Command of the US Department of Defence, responsible for US military operations and military relations, with African nations, except Egypt. This is a dangerous military unit which Africa will rue the day it ever allowed it to stay on its soil, so Africa should say a big no!

Egypt is obviously US’ point country in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and will not be dealt with like all other ordinary African countries.

The US African Command was established on October 1, 2007 and formally activated on October 1, 2008 at a public ceremony at the Pentagon attended by selected representatives of African nations.

With time, it has become categorically clear that the idea was not primarily to fight against ‘‘Islamic terror’’, which was said to be growing in influence, but to protect and help expand American military and economic interests, mainly in the energy sector.

As the African leaders meet in Uganda, it is prudent for them to come up with sector specific solutions and strategies to deal with issues that surround independence, indigenisation, governance, democracy, and accountability that will make the continent free from recolonisation.

What is interesting is that diamonds in Zimbabwe and the DRC have taken centre stage and that the American and their kith and keen do not want Zimbabwe to sell its diamond stockpile, worth US$1,7 billion.

All people with good and reasonable brains can tell that anyone with interest or at least good will on Zimbabwe would have been happy that the country has some natural resource to sell and help it climb out of its economic problems. The ordinary people of Zimbabwe matter inasmuch as the ordinary American matters.

Source: http://www1.herald.co.zw/