In
another secret diplomatic cable of US Embassy in Paris, France dated
September 09, 2008 and released on January 09, 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states, “Equally troublesome and outdated are certain "secret" portions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 Defence
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 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 interests. 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 Cote D Ivoire had
increasing 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 Cote D ivoire and Rwanda are examples though not mention 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 Africans 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 armless Ivoirians civilians who were protesting against too much French meddling into their activities and the French attempt to "kidnap" their president. 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.
Given the increasing hostility of Africans against
too much French interest and interference in the continent, reliable
sources say France has opted to a diplomatic offensive and serious
lobbying both in 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 its interests by sharing
strategies on how to bring down any internal opposition. The current
situation in Cote D’Ivoire is therefore a test of French influence on
Africa.
You can continue reading the entire confidential cable here