Recovery of African loot should be global priority

Billions of dollars have been stolen from African countries by corrupt leaders who correctly perceived a lack of commitment on the part of the west to stop the rape of a people whose hand-to-mouth existence has made staying alive an iffy proposition. Much of the money has been deposited in banks around the world, including in Switzerland and Britain, which may explain the west's nonchalance. After all, billions of dollars in secret accounts is good for business.
But there is a moral imperative that the United States and other freedom-loving nations are being asked to consider.
"First, we think it is important to establish the principle that it is wrong to steal public funds," says Christopher Kolade, Nigeria's ambassador to Britain. "Second, we're not talking of small money, we're talking of big money, and Nigeria needs all the money it can get for development purposes."
Kolade's government says military dictator Sani Abacha looted oil-rich Nigeria of over $2.2 billion from when he seized power in 1993 until his death in 1998, according to the Associated Press. When democracy was restored and Olusegun Obasanjo was elected president, he launched a formal search for the money the late dictator had stolen. The Nigerians believe that banks in Switzerland, Britain and elsewhere are protecting these ill-gotten gains and have asked for their return -- to no avail.
Morally bankrupt leaders
But it isn't only Nigeria that has suffered at the hands of morally bankrupt leaders. In Kenya, the government of President Mwai Kibaki estimates that his predecessor, Daniel Arap Moi, had stolen and sent abroad up to $4 billion in government assets. Some of the money has been found, but efforts to return it to Kenya have stalled.
Former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba has been charged in Zambian courts with 169 counts of corruption, abuse of power and theft totaling $43 million and 65 counts of state theft totaling $3.5 million. A court in Britain has frozen $24 million worth of assets held by Chiluba.
In Congo, the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko not only stripped the treasury clean, but when the government went to look for the money in banks in Europe, it found that the accounts were almost empty.
These examples of what has been taking place in many countries in Africa not only explain why there is such widespread poverty in the continent, but also why the African Union has remained silent about this crime against humanity. When there isn't money to finance development projects, unemployment rises, adding to the pain and suffering that is the fate of most Africans.
That is why Ambassador Kolade's appeal to the west and other nations to help recover the stolen assets must be taken seriously.
The White House should make this a priority because President Bush faces growing opposition from the American people and members of Congress to his foreign aid initiatives, especially with regard to Africa. The push to cut such aid is gaining momentum on Capitol Hill.
One of the main arguments used by critics of the administration's policy is that billions of dollars sent to Africa have been squandered because of corrupt governments.
Recovering the stolen assets would help appease the critics.