There was a 200-fold increase in the number of charities operating there after 1984, although it remains one of the world’s poorest places. As in other developing nations, this influx of outsiders distorts local priorities and entrenches a corrupt elite in power. These competing charities, constantly appealing for funds, also perpetuate an image of Africa as a basket case in need of Western salvation, rather than a fast-changing and rapidly growing continent of 54 countries. Britain’s last three prime ministers all admitted the pop stars influenced them into spraying taxpayers’ cash around the planet. David Cameron has used Band Aid in defence of his decision to ramp up foreign donations amid austerity at home. Yet even with that 1984 famine, the causes were largely man-made, the legacy of two civil wars and cruel forced re-settlement policies pursued by a ruthless Marxist regime. We were not told there was surplus food elsewhere in Ethiopia.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 11:48:06 +0000
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