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Band Aid has done a huge amount of good, but Ed Sheeran's right: it's portrayal of the continent where I grew up is outdated, writes ESTHER KRAKUE
Just as Britain no longer sends missionaries overseas to convert benighted inhabitants of far-flung countries, its wrong for the West to treat Africa as a problem to be fixed, says Esther Krakue.
Ed’s bound to be keenly aware of the backlash endured by TV presenter Stacey Dooley after she was accused of posing as a ‘white saviour’ five years ago when she was photographed cuddling a small boy in Uganda for Comic Relief. No one can deny that the charity appeal launched by Boomtown Rat Bob Geldof in 1984, in response to a devastating famine in Ethiopia, has done a huge amount of good and it continues to raise significant sums of money from generous people in the UK and around the world. The charity’s former 1980s field director, John James, told the Daily Mail in 2010: ‘I would be surprised if any less than 10 to 20 per cent of funds were diverted to the rebels.’ And he hinted that some donations could have gone to buy guns: ‘We would not have tolerated any direct assistance in the purchase of arms or condoned it, but just remember it was a highly complex situation.
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