"This house believes we should give unconditional free AIDS medicines to Africa"

To all those who attended the debate earlier this evening, thanks for coming. There was a lot I wanted to say but time did not permit. I have thought about the implications of this particular proposition for many years now and have came to the conclusion that due to Africa's current state of affairs free antiretroviral drugs would be the easiest solution to sustaining life, lives that are so vital to the development of the continent. Now, there are those who will claim that anti-aids drugs do not prevent hiv/aids and I will have to agree BUT who said that providing free health care and access to education need be mutually exclusive?

I voted for the proposition for many reasons but I suppose the most fundamental being that as a human being of African descent I cannot possibly sit aimlessly debating politics while I watch my continents workforce wasted away by this unwanted enemy. Those who argue that free drugs to Africa is impractical obviously do not know that some countries in Africa have already started offering free medication to its citizens and the failure or success of these programs have been with regards to how they are implemented and not their pure existence.

During the debate I was quite amazed at the flawed argument given by my Zimbabwean friend, arguing for the opposition, and using ZIM and Botswana as his ONLY examples, he gave two similar numbers of hiv/aids prevalence in these two countries, with Botswana offering HIV/AIDS medication to its citizens and ZIM not. He argued that because of this offering free medication to Africa is in his words "frankly a waste of money". My Zim friend on the other hand, failed to take into account that while Botswana had given free medication to its citizenry, it failed to combine this with adequate preventative education thereby making the situation worse, so while on one hand you have individuals living longer with the disease because of medication more and more people are contracting the disease because of lack of adequate education. My Zim friend also conveniently left out (perhaps for lack of knowledge) the fact that Uganda is also another country which has offered free antiretroviral drugs to its citizens and this program combined with adequate preventative educational system has seen drastic decreases in the numbers of newly infected and the number of deaths in that country. More recently however, Uganda’s shift in prevention policy away from the former "ABC" process towards a US-backed abstinence only program has been responsible for an increase in risky behaviour, why is this? Well, because the lack of comprehensive sex education and condom promotion are no longer preached in the mainstream, so since the ABSTINENCE program HIV/AIDS rate in Uganda has actually increased but not due to access to free medication. There has been no proven link between giving access to free medication, to the increase in the prevalence of the virus, there has however, been a link to the this and longer life among those already living with the virus.Why is it important that these people live? Well, because those dying are the working force of their respective countries, they are the mothers and fathers of children and they are the ones that sustain the economies of their countries. When they die children are left orphaned, the very few jobs available are lost, hence, worsening the already burdened economies of these countries.


Those who claim that providing free medication is some sort of ideal (one you that can only be found in a perfect world) are obviously wrong as proven by extremely poor countries who have tried this method. Contrary to popular belief, drug companies are not going to go bankrupt should that happen. The German drug company Boehringer Ingelheim has offered to provide free of charge the anti-retroviral drug neviraphine to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and so far only two countries have taken the company up on this offer, going to show that some drug companies are willing to cooperate BUT that the lack of political will from some African governments is what makes the notion of the universality of drugs in Africa seem so unattainable. This is what the opposition perhaps got right, (the lack of political will) but they refused to link, how lack of political will of African leaders can translate to their opposition against offering free medication to its citizens. If there is lack of political will then surely the debate should be on finding ways to get these bastards overthrown or perhaps , educating them, BUT not necessarily give up on the whole idea of saving lives altogether.

The opposition also mentioned lack of adequate infrastructure, citing that before we can offer free medication to Africa there must be reasonable infrastructure. Is he saying that by merely introducing free drugs to Africa somehow our healthcare system is so fragile that it would come crumbling down?? The problem with Africa is not lack of infrastructure, it is rather lack of the resources to run and make use of the infrastructure already in place. How can Uganda and several other countries make it work, Uganda is certainly not on the richest country list.


The opposition also mentioned that there is currently medication developed to stop mother to baby transmission BUT they seem to think it helped their argument. If this medication is available (and it is) then surely it should be given away freely in Africa to stop the vast numbers children being born with HIV/AIDS. Mother to child transmission accounts for the vast majority of children who are infected with HIV. If this can be stopped then WHY NOT? Why the politics? In the U.S alone nearly all mother to child transmission have been eradicated the only instances where they occur is when a mother is unaware that she had the virus. WHY ARE WE DEBATING on this point? Surely there should be no price attached to saving a child who did not ask to be born.


Before we make such broad generalisations of a vast continent we should perhaps do some research and see exactly what impact AIDS is having on a continent already beleaguered with troubles. Surely, there are problems on the continent that seem more hopeless than others but HIV/AIDS should certainly not be one of them. I am from Ghana, West Africa a country which has been able to control this disease and trust me we are not a rich country, on the same token there is not a reason why Kenya, Zim, SA, Malawi and all others cannot follow suit. We can sit and debate all day because after all when we are sick we only need to go to the NHS free of charge and buy drugs for less than 10pounds.


Access to free health care is on the agenda for me because I realise that I don't live in a fair world, the world I live in is where 66% of people living with HIV/AIDS are in Sub-Saharan Africa, the world I live in is where 75% of deaths from AIDS are in Sub-Saharan Africa, this cannot be fair in any estimation. I believe that I have been given the position to be privileged because I am expected to then advocate for those who would otherwise not have a voice, and do you know what I think those people in Africa living with AIDS are telling me to tell you? They are saying "Please find a way to convince these people that we are worth it, please convince them that our lives matter, please convince them that you cannot attach money to our right to live and please convince them to fight for our cause."

Free medication, free education and free access to information are all the various ways we can stop the virus right in its track. It is a formidable force but since when did mankind ever shy away from its challenges? I watched a documentary recently and I was struck by a particular quote, that our generation would be judged for its actions or inactions, you choose.

Lessons From Today!

Two major events occurred today (well, at least major enough to make me think twice and to write a note) namely; an ACS (African and Caribbean Society) board meeting and watching the movie "The Great Debaters." And I know you are thinking to yourself "how might these two unrelated events possibly be linked?." well I am still asking myself the same question and yet I feel a strong connection. There is something that rings in my head and it seems not a positive ring, it seems to be saying that we as a people are forgetting where we came from and how we managed to get so far "why do you feel this way?" you might ask. I would just as surely answer, "I do not know but I feel it." To sit at a meeting in which a younger black generation can look to you so confidently in the eyes and say "we do not feel a strong connection between ourselves and the next black man (or woman), and we certainly do not have to make it a point to make black people around us feel more at home, than we would for any other race" strikes me deep AND bugs the heck out of me.

Some would explain this away as the next generation being "colour blind", (first of all I have a big issue with the phrase colour-blind, the phrase itself suggests that we would rather love to remain oblivious than accept the reality that we are different, and guess what that's not a bad thing) but I would not even forgive the younger generation (by younger generation I mean those boomers of the late 80's and beyond) by annexing the phrase "colour-blind" to their ignorant state because it attaches with it a sort of legitimacy of which I refuse to accept. It is not colour-blind to acknowledge one's history, neither is it colour blind to embrace one's culture.

Yet out of this frustration I have no solution, it is just the hope that just a few get it, just get it...get the fact that without celebrating the reason of our being or the reason for the success of our people we may be lost moving forward. Now some people may be content with living in a world where nobody has historical or cultural roots and everybody just exists, (when we finally reach that point I pray to be reminded so that I may make my exit out of this world...Mars perhaps) but I think it to be a sorry state . The great Maya Angelou illustrated my sentiments beautifully when she said "no man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place."

As I have no suggestions, or solutions to this plague that disturbs me I shall end here, though I feel a pit in my stomach having to do so....

Personal Time: The Vindicating Interview!

“So why is it that after all your human rights experience you are heading into the corporate arena?” she asked with an ostensible certainty in her eyes that said “hah, I’ve got you now, see how you would get out of this one.” “Well,” I confidently exclaimed while I hurriedly searched for the right words, ”yes it is true that I have had ample experience in the human rights field, with my background training, and an outstanding fellowship with the Commission on Human Rights in Ghana, at which point I gained tremendous insight into the world of advocacy, and experienced the dramatic impact lawyers made in the lives of their clients on a daily basis. I enjoy my work in the field, however, the human rights field also enabled me to realize that for a person with such drive and ambition, I would need a fast paced competitive environment where I can gain more substantive insight into the diversity of practice areas. Your firm seems like the best fit. I was particularly impressed with the firms’ international expertise in cross-border transactions and mergers, acquisitions and the excellent work it is currently doing in the energy sector in Ghana. As for my human rights experience, I do not believe it will be wasted, some skills gained can definitely be amalgamated with new skills learnt in a corporate world, however, for those specialized human rights skills I am positive that when hired my experience would prove to be a much welcomed addition to your firms pro-bono team” I secretly sighed. “Yes as a matter of fact we have a very lively pro-bono department here, and we have a great wealth of human rights work in our profile” she said, and I smiled.

At that point I was sure that all the weeks of hard work had paid of. Yes, I still had the numerical reasoning test to do (of which just the though of frightened the heck out of me, I had only started recapping on the little mathematics I knew about a week before), but I knew that the point at which I needed to really impress was over, I reasoned. “Well if this interview doesn’t get me the job I don’t know what will, I mean I’m sure the numerical test is just a formality, lawyers are not great at math anyway” I tried to reassure myself. I went back to the room where the other candidates were, “how was the interview?” the guy from Oxford asked, “oh it was good, or at least I think it went well, I was able to answer all their questions with some level of ease and funny enough I did not get any commercial awareness questions.” He looked at me as if I had told him a lie but I reassured him that it was not as intimidating as would be expected. “Just be conversational and you’d be fine,” I said.

When heading home from the interview I knew I had performed to the best of my ability, however, I was still unsure of how the other candidates had performed (they sure enough sounded extremly intelligent). I mean I was competing with some seemingly smart guys and I was the only woman in the room (black woman). Albeit, it was incontrovertible that I had put in a tremendous effort the sight of my competitors succinctly brought me back to reality. I was sure that I would not get the position, however, surprignsly the thought of it did not bother me nor made me feel sick to my stomach. I sank into a deep sense of pride for I had pushed myself to a level I had never done before, and I now knew my limit. On the two hour train ride back home from London to Exeter, I gazed at my reflection in the window next to me, sighed and fell asleep.

I woke up prematurely and realized I nearly missed my stop, ”Exeter St. Davids” said the conductor and I quickly grabbed my bag and rushed out. I was exhausted. I had two hours sleep the night before and was ready to head home and crash into bed, “oh contract law can wait till tomorrow,” I thought to myself. Upon opening my door and dropping my bags, I kicked off my shoes, un-hooked my bra and jumped into bed. It felt as if I was reliving Iyanla Vazants’ “Yesterday I cried”, except I wasn’t crying I was sleeping. “I came home, went straight to my room, sat on the edge of my bed, kicked off my shoes, unhooked my bra, and I had myself a good cry.” But in my case substitute the “cry” for ’sleep.’ It was going to be a good sleep.

I was in my REM sleep (rapid eye movement), when I heard the phone ring. It was either a class-mate who needed some answers to workshop questions, a family member or a friend who just wanted to chat unnecessarily, at which point I did not want to speak to neither. Surprisingly I picked up the phone (it was an unknown number, which is rare, even my mum’s calls from Ghana does not appear unknown). “Hello” I said trying very hard not to sound tired and defeated. “Hello may I speak to M” the sophisticated voice on the other side said, she sounded familiar too. “This is she, how can I help you” in my sweetest tone. “This is L from D&L” she said. “oh gosh, she is from the firm and is already calling me to tell me, you were a great candidate but we are sorry the others were better than you, but I was ready to accept it” I reassured myself. “Hi L, how are you? long day huh?” I tried to slip in a joke, obviously, it did not work. “M, I would like to say, that we were very impressed with you today, and would like to invite you to our summer clerkship program.” My heart skipped a beat, I searched for the words, they were not coming out, my mind stood still and in a very controlled manner I managed to utter “It would be an honour to join you this summer,” gosh “an honour??” I thought to myself, “that’s so corny.” I hung up and let out a huge "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" (in the most feminine tone I could amass) it felt good. The sleepy feeling was gone. I sat up and thought about the course of events in the day, it seemed unreal, I knew that at this point I had been vindicated.

Democracy…don’t get it twisted!!

Discussions of ‘democracy’ in our times would lead to several understandings. One tendency (what I would call the evolutionary approach) would be to vilify the past and subconsciously historicise our understanding of democracy as though we have come to enjoy democracy with the passing of time, for as we become more civilized and more intelligent as a species we veer to be more democratically inclined in practice.

Another clearly misunderstood line of thought is to look at democracy as belonging to a certain group of people (the chosen approach) who only deserve it because of cultural practices or as some sort of divined gift. Or lastly the view of democracy as a set of rules where, if one society follows other benefits will likely flow into place, a sort of cause and effect panacea, thus, democracy becomes an end in itself (the cause and effect approach).

Well, I am here to destroy all these notions of democracy, while they are incontrovertibly important in the discourse it is important to focus on a different (less advertised) system of thought, one that examines democracy more as a struggle within any society and views it not in itself as an end but as a means towards a certain structure where struggles for change never cease, and where one success will easily lead to the fight for another (what I dub, the continual democratic struggle). It is imperative to keep in mind that these various struggles may and often have manifested themselves in countless ways depending on the case at hand.

So ultimately, the challenge I pose to you the reader is simple. Re-deliberate on your understanding of Democracy. Don’t for a second think that you have reached your peak and always keep in mind that a Democracy is continual not an end but rather a means towards it.So as you examine your current “Struggle for Democracy” ask yourself, What are my interests?How can I relay this interest to the general populace?Do I have a coalition?Are my interests Universal?

If you are poor, your democratic struggle is being able to feed yourself and your family and sustaining a good salary, so obviously you have not reached your peak. If you are wealthy, your interest is to acquire more and in this sense you democratic interests would be securing a political environment that tolerates your interest.

As I hope I have demonstrated, our democratic struggles are solely based on our needs and our desires. Don’t let anybody convince you otherwise.Democracy is not solely the ability or the freedom to perform freely in the political sphere, but also the ability and the freedom as individuals with varying levels of need to assert our values or communicate our stance in society and see change.If a poor person dies poor, he or she has not lived in a democracy for somehow someway someone did not listen to his or her need. Realize your constant struggle and vote accordingly!