African leaders and eminent Black Americans have warned the US Government to stop harassing African countries that voted No to the vexing US policy to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. They pointed out that every sovereign country has a right to take any stand on issues put up for a vote at the global arena.
They were reacting to the threat made by the American envoy to the UN, Nicky Haley, that President Trump would withdraw US aid to the developing countries that voted against the policy. The East African nation of Tanzania took particular exception to the US threat, pointing out that the country cannot be swayed by foreign aid in its decisions on both local and international affairs.
The Tanzanian President, John Magufuli, declared that, as a sovereign country, Tanzania could not also interfere in the internal affairs of any other country. “We are a sovereign country … our principles on foreign policy decisions are well known internationally. We respect the fundamental human rights enshrined in our laws and international (all) conventions to which we are signatory … we never (seek to) undermine anybody,” he explained.
President Magufuli drove the point home, “To give or not to give aid is purely an internal affair … and that is decided by the respective country … it’s illogical that any one person should be telling another person what to do or what not to in this context”.
However, he asked the media to dwell on issues that are beneficial to the public, instead of wasting time on matters that the nation does not need to handle. A veteran Black American politician, Dr. Pius Crowley, said President Trump had been told by the Congressional Black Caucus that African countries could not be swayed by foreign aid in making decisions on both local and international affairs.
In his remarks, Dr. Crowley said Tanzania’s stand had since sent “a clear message to the world” that the position of African countries on foreign aid had never changed. He went down memory lane, “People should not forget that, since Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s era, Tanzania never accepted aid from any country if there were ‘strings attached … this position has never changed,” Dr. Crowley stressed.
