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Did you know that hyenas have intelligent hunting skills? 'They surround a toothless old hyena at the edge of the thorny hedged cattle kraal and bite it so hard that the only escape is to push through the sharp thorns. Once an opening is created; an army of fierce hyenas will go into a meat grabbing spree', narrates Songol, a lady residing in Baringo district of Kenya's Rift Valley. Mostly associated with cowardice, hyenas will bite off cows' udders and goats' bowels before they even seek to kill their prey. Hyenas also scavenge for food from graves and feed on the leftovers by lions and cheetahs.

Now, something happened in Africa. Our old kingdoms and chiefdoms were hunted down in the late 18th century to produce modern states. On their departure, the hunters (colonialists) left a big carcass that we literally refer to as governments. Employing the hyena strategy and armed with axes and machetes, African elites have been fighting over the carcass the mzungu hunter left for over 45 years now. No time has been spent by Africans on sharpening hunting tools and moving deep into the forest to get their own animals. They have all taken up the hyena instinct of scavenging what the colonialist left behind.

Reports from United Nations Economic Commission for Africa that corruption absorbs up to 30 per cent of most African countries' gross domestic product (GDP) – and that the continent loses US$148 billion a year – must serve as a wake up call to our 'hyena culture'. So fixated are we on looting and collaborating with those who plunder Africa that instead of pushing for productivity and cutting down on lavish expenditure on political elites, we simply play hyena games on people's earnings. Taxes are increased not to offer services to Africans but simply to feed the carcass-chopping frenzy.

A young breed of hyenas is springing up and learning the art of circling old the ones for another meat-grabbing spree! The crime rate has soared as unemployed youth seek relevance in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. The outlook is not promising when one considers the fact that Africa's youth are sinking deeper in alcohol consumption. According to The Sunday Nation (5 April 2009), an estimated 70 per cent of young Kenyans under the age of 29 are abusing alcohol. That is a threat to the energy and minds needed to join the productive sector. It has become common practice to meet young people in bus parks and public places demanding 'ashara' or 'kinde' (10 shillings) to enable them to submerge their frustrations in alcohol.

As political elites fight for spoils in government, mineral concession contracts and land leases, they neglect the need to build Africa-focused institutions that ought to nurture more game for hunters. According to the African Commission, close to two-thirds of the African population is below 25. The figure is projected to hit slightly over 650 million by 2015. Imagine 650 million hunters unleashed on the African forest, a forest that is continuously being plundered and destroyed by political elites feeding on 54 carcasses! If the young men who beg for kinde got hold of loaded AK-47s and machetes, what would be the result? As if to add fuel to the fire, companies are being taxed to help run expensive government programmes, forcing them to lay off another team of professionals. The mix is a time-bomb!

Faced with a financial crisis and economic slowdown, countries that command 85 per cent of global economic output assembled in London last week to come up with strategies to safeguard their interests. Should Africans, the African Union and African countries continue with business as usual under the circumstances? To paraphrase US President Barack Obama, the threat facing Africa offers a great opportunity for people to offer leadership.

The time is up for Africa to defer to those who simply bring home meat from a carcass that other people once hunted as leaders. Africa cries for institution-building that will reframe our minds to reclaim youth's place as an asset in society rather than a threat. Institutions would make it easier, say, for Africa to develop a sound policy around alcohol and to avert the threat posed by substance abuse on the continent. Too much focus on external assistance has destroyed local investors by driving the majority to informality and forcing our minds to neglect our abilities to harness nature to our advantage.

If Africa does not take quick steps, the continent will be faced with two types of future leaders: those who watch too many TV soap operas and movies and who become mere celebrity political leaders; and those voters hooked on demanding kinde. The kinde and celebrity leadership will provide a perfect avenue for the continent to be sold in exchange for exotic whisky, mirrors and guns. In such a scenario, an external hyena need not use an old guard to gain entry, it can simply walk in and grab yummy meat! Let us get rid of the hyena culture and save Mama Africa.

* James Shikwati is the director of Inter Region Economic Network.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.