Umm Muhammed Umar

On the African Report, Radio Islam spoke to the head of Africa Desk at the Media Review Network and Dean of the Faculty of Languages at the Somalia National University, Dr Mustafa Mehta.

Discussing elections at the Pan African Parliament elections, Dr Mehta said that the SADC candidate, Zimbabwe’s Chief Fortune Charumbira won.

Moving on to the Russia – Ukraine war and Africa, Dr Mehta said that the ramifications of the war were getting worse by the day. He said, “There is no African country that is not affected especially in economic terms.” He added, “prices are beginning to shoot up – the oil, the petrol, diesel, kerosene, and certain foodstuffs, like grain, cereal and bread.” Dr Mehta said that divisions were emerging amongst African countries, as well, politically. There were those who were not towing the line and those who were independent and exercising their sovereignty. He added that there were many ramifications of the war, for Africa.

Regarding Moroccan police having fired on African migrants on the Morocco – Spain border, Dr Mehta said that Morocco was a ‘problem’. He emphasized that it was incomprehensible that Morocco had been allowed to return to the African Union. He said, “Morocco has a colonial mentality, Moroccans don’t actually consider themselves African.” He added, “They consider themselves to be superior from the others, with a policy that is very, very destructive. Scores of migrants died last week at the frontier between the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Africa and Morocco. Dr Mehta said that the Moroccan Royal police had killed the African migrants in cold blood, beating them with truncheons and firing on them. He was outraged that in South Africa, the Moroccan Ambassador had denied the massacre altogether. Dr Mehta was emphatic that a march should be held to the Moroccan Embassy in Pretoria to tell them to go back home and that they are not wanted in the AU. He said, “We don’t want a country in Africa that calls itself African, and behaves European.  They are actually doing the bidding for Europe.” He asked, “why kill those innocent and unarmed civilians?  Those are economic migrants – all they want is to land a job and do work and buy a little bit of things; send money home. Why don’t you just arrest them and take them back to their countries?”