(Angolian Army picture from EUCom)
This is little piece will be about the irony of how we spend our money. It will also address how the ten African countries spend their money.
List of Top ten African countries with highest military spending with % of GDP:
1. Eritrea – 6.30%
2. Burundi – 5.90%
3. Mauritania – 5.50%
4. Madagascar – 5.10%
5. Morocco – 4.80%
6. Algeria – 4.30%
7. Guinea-Bissau – 4.30%
8. Sudan – 4.20%
9. Zimbabwe – 3.80%
10. Namibia – 3.70%
(Source: Daily Monitor Uganda)
Number 1: Eritrea
Isaias Afewerki the Eritrean president, who has run the country since 1993.That after being the boss of the independence against Ethiopia. So that he is paranoid of the big brother in Addis Adeba isn’t surprising at all, especially since there is still border conflicts between them. Also Afeweki isn’t famous for neither democratic rulings nor elections so a dictator or totalitarian leadership style sure need some more then meagerly coins to suppress its citizens.
Number 2: Burundi
Pierre Nkurunziza the Burundian president has been in charge since 2005. He is of for his third term and not careering about limits to the stay power. So I am sure that he needs some forces to keep his company to continue to be commander and chief. In 2010 most parties boycotted the elections which gave Nkurunziza a second term. Also, Pierre is famously having a regime that is interrogating, harassing and tales about ghosting journalist. That Human Rights Watch has addressed with a lot of instances. They have parts of the army in Somalia as AMISOM; the forces of Nkurunziza aren’t just to tangle his own citizens. Some do other stuff also it seems.
Number 3: Mauritania
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz the Mauritanian president who has been that since 2009. After the election the man hasn’t been the most popular president. The unemployed youth isn’t supporting him anymore. I am sure it’s helps to become the Chairman of AU in 2014. The most embarrassing moment in his own career was while in France in 2012: That he was shot in the stomach and had to go to the hospital in Paris. Mauritania has had issues with the military groups that comes from Northern Mail, so that has to one of many reasons why the country is using such much resources on the army!
Number 4: Madagascar
Hery Rajaonarimampianina 25. January of 2014 he became the president of this island republic. He took over after the famous DJ Andry Rajoelina who took over in the coup of 2009. So that the army has monies to spend to keep things in order is understandable. The army has proven to be a bit unstable, especially in 2012 when there was a mutiny at an army-base outside of the airport in the capitol of Antananarivo. That is when the army used it force and shut the mutiny down. Also the same year the military forces used aggressive means to shut down teacher strikes in 2012. So what is up next for them in Madagascar and Mr Rajaonarimampianina doing with it…? Time will tell.
Number 5: Morocco
Abdelilah Benkirane was appointed by the Moroccan King in 29. November 2011. Morocco has reasons to be armed up – first is the control over Western Sahara and the citizens there who is struggling for their independence. Secondly is the armed race between Morocco and Algeria. Morocco has been a part of the peace mission in Kosovo until 2014. Where the forces will do missions now is something I don’t know.
Number 6: Algeria
Abdelaziz Bouteflika has ruled the country since 27. April 1999. In 2011 the country was finally out of state of emergency. Even though the country has after the Arabian Spring seen more outside guerrillas whom is connected to Al-Qaeda. The oil rich country has been in armed race with Morocco for a while even had some shooting on the border crossings with the neighbor. The other uses for the army have also taken 40 missiles near the border to Libya. So the use is there, also to keep control over the citizens like all strong forced governments.
Number 7: Guinea-Bissau
Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo has acted as president since 11. May of 2012. The president who has had a tough stay in charge that being said: the month long treatment in Germany in 2013. The incidents of the military chief of staff General Jose Americo Babu Na Tchucu arrested in USA for drugs. That other military learders is being accused of trafficking drugs as well. So the army isn’t just shooting, they are travelling with powder. Usually the troops has been used for coup d’etat at many times like in 1980s, 1998,1999, 2003, 2005(2 coups), 2009, 2010 and yet again in 2011 and 2012. The Government and army is tangled together. Time will tell before the next coup d’etat is happening!
Number 8: Sudan
Omar Al-Bashir the man who took charge of the big country through a coup d’etat in 1989. He has been elected 3 times after that, I am sure they been rigged and secured to get more than 51 % of the vote to secure him the seat. The civil war between the North and South lasted for 19 years from 1983 – 2005. That led to the South becoming a independence state out of the government of Khartoum. The Bashir government has supported the LRA against the Ugandan government because President Museveni supported the rebellion army of SPLA who fought for sovereign South-Sudan. The Janjaweed has also made issues in Darfur and made it a bigger crisis. The last one is in the border regions towards South Sudan. Because hey, Al-Bashir misses all that oil money, secondly if he can establish anarchy in the regions, he can regain control! That is what he wishes and he is using all of the military power that he has and wants to.
Number 9: Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe has been in charge since 1987. He was the shiny light of independence struggle from British colonial powers and making Rhodesia to what is todays Zimbabwe. He used the forces to initially get Zapu and PF into Zanu-PF. This is where Mugabe has made the country his. He runs it and controls it. Ever since that he had used the force to keep his power in a way of rigging elections and destroying the powers of those who oppose him. The army was also used for a time during the wars in the 90s in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the support of the deceased Laurent Kabila. So it’s no surprise that the army is on a certain level to both control his citizens and also do business where ever that makes money for the chief!
Number 10: Namibia
Hifikepunye Pohamba has been the ruler of the country since 21. March 2005. He has claimed that the civil servants have issues with the government projects therefore he surely needs an army to shut that down. During the great struggles Nambian forces have had bases in Angola. That was while they were shooting at the UNITAS to get rebel forces done and out of Angola. The Namibian army was also involved in the diamond trade of war in Democratic Republic of Congo so they sure has had the need for a great army. So they have had their uses outside the borders and sure the government of Namibia is happy for that. The army chiefs of Namibia have promised to use their forces to help Zimbabwe to fight of imperialist – that is in 2014. So they sure need a big sized army.
As we see they are using the armies and monies being used. Sure it’s all necessary! Peace.
MinBane 