In 2020, George Floyd, an unarmed black American was killed by a white police officer. Videotape of the murder shows the police officer pressing his knee on the neck of the prostrate man. The video is harrowing to watch. George, who is not resisting arrest and is handcuffed, is heard begging the officer to let him breathe. George died from a lack of oxygen.
The killing of George sparked outrage in the US and the world. In Africa, several governments wrote letters of protest to the US Government. Some even summoned US ambassadors for a dressing down. The African Union released a statement condemning the killing and police brutality against blacks.
A grouping of African intellectuals co-signed a furious letter calling police killings in the US “state sanctioned murders”. The letter demanded speedy investigations into the killing and prosecution of those responsible. This worldwide show of solidarity demonstrated the power of humanity rising above race, religion and nationality to demand justice for a fellow human being.
My profound bewilderment, however, is why we don’t see similar global solidarity with those killed by police in Africa. Some months after George’s slaying, Uganda police killed over 50 unarmed protesters. About 40 of these were murdered in one day.
A video obtained by a BBC investigation team showed police riding along a street on a truck shooting indiscriminately and casually into buildings and sidewalks. Yes, police in uniform doing gangland-style drive by shootings! Black organisations did not write furious protest letters to Museveni.
There were no global demonstrations in solidarity with the Ugandan people. Not a single African government summoned the Uganda ambassador to their country for a lecture. The African Union “forgot” to release a statement condemning the casual executions.
Then on June 25, 2024, hooded Kenya police officers killed tens of unarmed youth who were protesting punitive taxation by an irredeemably corrupt regime. Some of the dead were executed by snipers the regime had planted on rooftops. To date, over 60 youth have been murdered.
Another 40 were abducted by a hooded police death squad. Some of the abducted were later found dead and dumped in a quarry. The lucky ones were found barely alive from horrendous torture. The whereabouts of some of the abducted are still unknown. Hundreds are nursing life-altering injuries. The regime also deployed the army against its own people. The people of Kenya were now enemies of the state.
Yes, there were small protests against the killings in some Western capitals. But we didn’t see the kind of global solidarity with the people of Kenya like in the case of Floyd. Curiously, the African countries that had protested George’s murder remained quiet in the face of these executions, disappearances and torture of the unarmed youthful protesters.
Not a single African country summoned Kenyan ambassadors for a dressing down. African intellectuals did not co-sign a letter demanding justice. Is the world insensitive to African deaths? Or is conscience dictated by ideology?
