Original Article by: Aloysius Agendia
In another secret diplomatic cable of US Embassy in Paris, France, dated September 9, 2008, and released on January 9, 2011, by Wikileaks, it has been revealed that France has the obligation to intervene militarily to defend the neo-colonial Government and secure its interests under the France-Afrique secret deals signed with Cameroon in 1960 and later modified in 1974 and that which was signed with the Gabonese Government in 1960.
The cable titled "France's Changing Policy in Africa part III", states, "Equally troublesome and outdated are certain "secret" portions of some of the Agreements. According to Marechaux, the Defense Agreements with Cameroon and Gabon, for example, contain "absurd" provisions obligating France, upon request, to provide internal security in case of domestic unrest in those countries."
Though the document further notes that President Nicholas Sarkhozy of France had promised to put an "end" to the funny neo-colonial France-Afrique exploitative agreement and bring up new ones based on equality and partnership, the truth remains that the Sarkhozy rhetoric is far from the reality on ground.
Proof of this is that as tension mounted in Gabon following the alleged rigging of elections to impose Ali Ben Bongo on Gabonese, the French secretly flew in 300 special paratroopers to quell down any opposition and protect French interest. The BBC was the lone western media organ which wrote about this. The Wikileaks cable also reveals that, according to the France-Afrique documents, "some of the Agreements contain "secret" clauses giving France monopoly rights to exploit natural resources in the countries concerned." It also admits that some countries like Ivory Coast had increasingly become hostile over such colonial agreements.
This is certainly true reason and why the French have become very hostile toward any regime that fails to respect the agreements. Their hostility towards Ivory Coast and Rwanda are examples though not mentioned in secret diplomatic notes. Paradoxically, Ali Bongo is quoted though not in the cable, as saying the law suits filed against him and some president in Paris is because some French politicians do not want to admit that some African leaders want to totally break with the colonial past.
It should be noted that another cable published on December 31, 2010, revealed how the colonial administration in the Central African sub region CEMAC, in collaboration with the regional Bank BEAC and in connivance with their political master in France embezzled several billions of African tax payers' money to fund French politics and French politicians. Sarkhozy himself who pioneered the rhetoric against the neo-colonial France-Afrique agreements was a beneficiary of the stolen funds.
In 2004, French soldiers shot and killed over 100 unarmed Ivoirian civilians who were protesting against too much French meddling into their affairs and the French attempt to "kidnap" their president, Laurent Gbagbo. The French who initially denied the report, later admitted to killing "only 20" people. Since then, those who claim to speak for the international community have never uttered a word against France nor have those who order the killings been brought to justice.
The French equally blamed the Government of Ivory Coast for the mysterious bombing of French base in Bouake during which nine French soldiers were killed. It has never been established if the military of Ivory Coast was really the one behind the bombing. It is widely beliefed that it was a smokescreen by the French military to destroy the air force of Ivory Coast which was launching an assault against the French backed northern rebels in bid to reunite the country.
Given the increasing hostility of Africans against too much French interest and interference in the continent, reliable sources say France has opted for a diplomatic offensive and serious lobbying both in the African and in the western world to strangle regimes which are hostile to its influence. The same source equally says French intelligence help regimes favourable to interest by sharing strategies on how to bring down any internal opposition. The current situation in Ivory Coast is therefore a test of French influence on Africa.
In another secret diplomatic cable of US Embassy in Paris, France, dated September 9, 2008, and released on January 9, 2011, by Wikileaks, it has been revealed that France has the obligation to intervene militarily to defend the neo-colonial Government and secure its interests under the France-Afrique secret deals signed with Cameroon in 1960 and later modified in 1974 and that which was signed with the Gabonese Government in 1960.
The cable titled "France's Changing Policy in Africa part III", states, "Equally troublesome and outdated are certain "secret" portions of some of the Agreements. According to Marechaux, the Defense Agreements with Cameroon and Gabon, for example, contain "absurd" provisions obligating France, upon request, to provide internal security in case of domestic unrest in those countries."
Though the document further notes that President Nicholas Sarkhozy of France had promised to put an "end" to the funny neo-colonial France-Afrique exploitative agreement and bring up new ones based on equality and partnership, the truth remains that the Sarkhozy rhetoric is far from the reality on ground.
This is certainly true reason and why the French have become very hostile toward any regime that fails to respect the agreements. Their hostility towards Ivory Coast and Rwanda are examples though not mentioned in secret diplomatic notes. Paradoxically, Ali Bongo is quoted though not in the cable, as saying the law suits filed against him and some president in Paris is because some French politicians do not want to admit that some African leaders want to totally break with the colonial past.
It should be noted that another cable published on December 31, 2010, revealed how the colonial administration in the Central African sub region CEMAC, in collaboration with the regional Bank BEAC and in connivance with their political master in France embezzled several billions of African tax payers' money to fund French politics and French politicians. Sarkhozy himself who pioneered the rhetoric against the neo-colonial France-Afrique agreements was a beneficiary of the stolen funds.
In 2004, French soldiers shot and killed over 100 unarmed Ivoirian civilians who were protesting against too much French meddling into their affairs and the French attempt to "kidnap" their president, Laurent Gbagbo. The French who initially denied the report, later admitted to killing "only 20" people. Since then, those who claim to speak for the international community have never uttered a word against France nor have those who order the killings been brought to justice.
The French equally blamed the Government of Ivory Coast for the mysterious bombing of French base in Bouake during which nine French soldiers were killed. It has never been established if the military of Ivory Coast was really the one behind the bombing. It is widely beliefed that it was a smokescreen by the French military to destroy the air force of Ivory Coast which was launching an assault against the French backed northern rebels in bid to reunite the country.
Given the increasing hostility of Africans against too much French interest and interference in the continent, reliable sources say France has opted for a diplomatic offensive and serious lobbying both in the African and in the western world to strangle regimes which are hostile to its influence. The same source equally says French intelligence help regimes favourable to interest by sharing strategies on how to bring down any internal opposition. The current situation in Ivory Coast is therefore a test of French influence on Africa.
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