COURSE PACK 2017
AFST: African Intellectual Tradition
4 Readings:
“When Ethiopia Stunned the World.”
Emperor Haile Selassie
Patrice Lumumba
Thabo Mbeki
2-4
5 - 11
12 - 14
15 - 18
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“When Ethiopia Stunned the World.” Review: The Battle of Adwa:
African Victory in the Age of Empire by Raymond Jonas
(Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2011). April Review, 2012.
Review by Robert Clemm
This is the story of a world turned upside down. So begins The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire. While no attribution is suggested, it is likely Raymond Jonas had in
mind the famous ballad played by the British at their surrender at Yorktown. As much as the victory by the colonials was a rebuke to conventional wisdom so the battle of Adwa was to European attitudes towards Africans during the Age of Imperialism.
The Battle of Adwa in 1896 was the result of Italian encroachments south of their colony of
Eritrea on the Red Sea. Though bound by the Treaty of Wichale (1889) to friendship, the Italians
and Ethiopians had different opinions about the nature of that friendship. This was the famous
“mistranslation” where the Italian treaty indicated Ethiopia would be a protectorate of Italy,
while Emperor Menelik II argued no such wording existed in his copy. After the Italians occupied the northern Ethiopian city of Adigrat Menelik summoned his forces and defeated the Italians at the battle of Amba Alage.
In response to this defeat thousands of Italian troops were ferried to Eritrea and, with great
pressure from Rome to attack quickly, General Oreste Baratieri advanced and, due to a series of
blunders by his subordinate commanders, his force was overwhelmed. Aside from numerous casualties, one mission reported roughly 3,600 dead though the exact number remains unknown,
the Ethiopians also captured 1,900 Italians and 1,500 Askari (African soldiers serving in the Italian armed forces). The scope and scale of this victory – the campaign covered more miles than
Napoleon's advance into Russia – should rank alongside any European campaign in the 19th century and assured Ethiopia as the only independent nation, apart from Liberia, in Africa at that
time.
The Battle of Adwa is far from a simple battle narrative. Jonas structures the book into three
sections covering the background, the battle, and the aftermath. By far the greatest effort on his
part was uncovering a treasure-trove of Italian memoirs whose accounts humanize the battle. His
narrative navigates seamlessly between commanders and commoners and sheds new light the
conflict. The most difficult aspect of this review is summarizing this work but three themes
emerge.
First, Jonas illustrates the fractured nature of Italian imperialism. As Adwa is held up as a
symbol of resistance to colonialism it is ironic that Italy is given the position of imperialist
archetype. If any quality typifies Italian colonial efforts it would not be jingoism but apathy. The
Italian statesman Marquis d’Azeglio, after Italian unification, commented that “We have made
Italy. Now we must make Italians.” Italy was divided along religious, political, and regional
lines. It was hoped by some, such as Prime Minister Crispi, that imperialism would improve the
standing of the Italian government within the nation and across Europe. But even this small
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clique of colonialists demanded their aims be accomplished on the cheap.
It was just such pressure to win cheaply and quickly that made General Baratieri advance instead of his preferred defensive stand. The concern for cost was tied to the strong anti-colonial
movement in Italy, due to having so recently been occupied by Austria, which was distinct in Europe. In response to the first defeat at Amba Alage students from the University of Rome
marched through the street chanting “Viva Menelik!” and after Adwa there were legislative calls
to abandon Africa entirely. This domestic scene is important as the willingness of Italy to accept
defeat ensured Adwa was an Ethiopian success.
Second, Emperor Menelik II is shown to be a complex and engaging historical figure as well
as a crafty politician. Too often heroes lose their humanity in the effort to place them on a
pedestal and Jonas does admirable work in fleshing out the reality of Menelik. He documents the
complex political web that Menelik had to navigate, and the admirable support he received from
his wife Empress Taytu. It is hard not to see this marriage, linking the southern Shoa (Menelik)
and northern Tigray (Taytu) regions of Ethiopia, as important as the one between Ferdinand and
Isabella in unifying Spain. Jonas illustrates how Menelik slowly solidified his position, even using the Italians to help crush a rival claimant to his throne, and assured that Ethiopia entered the
Battle of Adwa with a stronger domestic commitment to the conflict than his opponents.
Jonas also underscores Menelik’s strategic acumen. For example, the Italians occupied the
city of Adigat for over a year before Menelik confronted them. Rather than a sign of weakness,
as the Italians believed, he used that delay to import European weapons to such an extent that his
artillery outclassed those of the Italians. Jonas even offers the intriguing hypothesis that the supposed “mistranslation” of the Treaty of Wichale, the entire basis for the conflict, was a strategic
choice. Jonas suggests that Menelik used his protectorate status to his advantage, such as a loan
of four million lire from Italy used to purchase weapons, until his position was strong enough to
claim there was a “mistranslation.” These aspects of the story prevent Jonas’ work from becoming a hagiography and leave the reader with respect for Menelik’s decisions. These include his
choices after the battle, such as not invading Eritrea and his care of the Italian prisoners, which
preserved his strong negotiating position and assured he did not undo the effort he made in the
European press, including a colored lithograph in Vanity Fair the 19th century equivalent to a
Time cover, to foster sympathy for Ethiopia.
Third, Jonas illustrates how Adwa became a symbol for African, and African-American, resistance despite Menelik himself. Menelik saw Adwa as a way to solidify his rule and preserve
his independence. The desire to see Ethiopia as a symbol of resistance came from others. Benito
Sylvain of Haiti, a pan-African visionary, traveled to Ethiopia in 1904 to help celebrate Haiti’s
hundredth anniversary of independence. As Haiti was home of the first successful slave revolt,
Sylvain saw a kindred spirit in Menelik. Far from finding a receptive audience, Menelik agreed
that the “the negro should be uplifted” but noted that he was of little value as he was Caucasian.
For a leader who had secured his position with the Dervishes against Italy by appealing to common “blackness” this suggests a malleable definition of race which Menelik would adopt based
on his political goals. Much of the symbolism surrounding Adwa came from others, such as
W.E.B. DuBois and others in the global African diaspora, after the end of the First World War.
Jonas claims that Adwa served as the model for future anti-colonial efforts. His narrative
suggests that other resistance fighters learned lessons from the Ethiopian experience, such as using the press to build public sympathy. But the reader must infer them. In fact, exposing how the
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symbolism of Adwa developed far after the battle and divorced from Ethiopian support undercuts
so much of the received wisdom that it is hard not to imagine most of the “lessons” are ex post
facto rationalizations from other de-colonial conflicts. While he suggests that Adwa “set in motion the long unraveling of European domination of Africa” it is, again, a point the reader must
accept on sentiment rather than evidence. Ethiopia was a shock to European self-assurance but
was quickly forgotten which is why Europe was, again, shocked by Japanese victory against
Russia in 1905.
Whatever the practical lessons Adwa provides, Jonas’ book the Battle of Adwa documents
the figures, both large and small, that took part in such a major turning point in history exceptionally well. His excellent archival work helps the reader see into the decisions made by the
leaders, and humanizes the soldiers facing the consequences of these decisions, on both sides and
leaves the reader leaves with a rich understanding of the significance of a battle which turned the
world upside down.
Published in ORIGINS: Current Events in Historical Perspective, The History Departments
at The Ohio State University and Miami University. Retrieved August 21, 2017 from
(http://origins.osu.edu/review/when-ethiopia-stunned-world).
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APPEAL TO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia
June 1936. Geneva, Switzerland
“I, Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, am here today to claim that justice which is due to
my people, and the assistance promised to it eight months ago, when fifty nations asserted that
aggression had been committed in violation of international treaties.
There is no precedent for a Head of State himself speaking in this assembly. But there is also
no precedent for a people being victim of such injustice and being at present threatened by abandonment to its aggressor. Also, there has never before been an example of any Government proceeding to the systematic extermination of a nation by barbarous means, in violation of the most
solemn promises made by the nations of the earth that there should not be used against innocent
human beings the terrible poison of harmful gases. It is to defend a people struggling for its ageold independence that the head of the Ethiopian Empire has come to Geneva to fulfill this
supreme duty, after having himself fought at the head of his armies.
I pray to Almighty God that He may spare nations the terrible sufferings that have just been
inflicted on my people, and of which the chiefs who accompany me here have been the horrified
witnesses.
It is my duty to inform the Governments assembled in Geneva, responsible as they are for
the lives of millions of men, women and children, of the deadly peril which threatens them, by
describing to them the fate which has been suffered by Ethiopia. It is not only upon warriors that
the Italian Government has made war. It has above all attacked populations far removed from
hostilities, in order to terrorize and exterminate them.
At the beginning, towards the end of 1935, Italian aircraft hurled upon my armies bombs of
tear-gas. Their effects were but slight. The soldiers learned to scatter, waiting until the wind had
rapidly dispersed the poisonous gases. The Italian aircraft then resorted to mustard gas. Barrels
of liquid were hurled upon armed groups. But this means also was not effective; the liquid affected only a few soldiers, and barrels upon the ground were themselves a warning to troops and to
the population of the danger.
It was at the time when the operations for the encircling of Makalle were taking place that
the Italian command, fearing a rout, followed the procedure which it is now my duty to denounce
to the world. Special sprayers were installed on board aircraft so that they could vaporize, over
vast areas of territory, a fine, death-dealing rain. Groups of nine, fifteen, eighteen aircraft followed one another so that the fog issuing from them formed a continuous sheet. It was thus that,
as from the end of January, 1936, soldiers, women, children, cattle, rivers, lakes and pastures
were drenched continually with this deadly rain. In order to kill off systematically all living creatures, in order to more surely to poison waters and pastures, the Italian command made its aircraft pass over and over again. That was its chief method of warfare.
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Ravage and Terror
The very refinement of barbarism consisted in carrying ravage and terror into the most
densely populated parts of the territory, the points farthest removed from the scene of hostilities.
The object was to scatter fear and death over a great part of the Ethiopian territory. These fearful
tactics succeeded. Men and animals succumbed. The deadly rain that fell from the aircraft made
all those whom it touched fly shrieking with pain. All those who drank the poisoned water or ate
the infected food also succumbed in dreadful suffering. In tens of thousands, the victims of the
Italian mustard gas fell. It is in order to denounce to the civilized world the tortures inflicted
upon the Ethiopian people that I resolved to come to Geneva. None other than myself and my
brave companions in arms could bring the League of Nations the undeniable proof. The appeals
of my delegates addressed to the League of Nations had remained without any answer; my delegates had not been witnesses. That is why I decided to come myself to bear witness against the
crime perpetrated against my people and give Europe a warning of the doom that awaits it, if it
should bow before the accomplished fact.
Is it necessary to remind the Assembly of the various stages of the Ethiopian drama? For 20
years past, either as Heir Apparent, Regent of the Empire, or as Emperor, I have never ceased to
use all my efforts to bring my country the benefits of civilization, and in particular to establish
relations of good neighbourliness with adjacent powers. In particular I succeeded in concluding
with Italy the Treaty of Friendship of 1928, which absolutely prohibited the resort, under any
pretext whatsoever, to force of arms, substituting for force and pressure the conciliation and arbitration on which civilized nations have based international order.
Country More United
In its report of October 5th 193S, the Committee of Thirteen recognized my effort and the
results that I had achieved. The Governments thought that the entry of Ethiopia into the League,
whilst giving that country a new guarantee for the maintenance of her territorial integrity and independence, would help her to reach a higher level of civilization. It does not seem that in
Ethiopia today there is more disorder and insecurity than in 1923. On the contrary, the country is
more united and the central power is better obeyed.
I should have procured still greater results for my people if obstacles of every kind had not
been put in the way by the Italian Government, the Government which stirred up revolt and
armed the rebels. Indeed the Rome Government, as it has today openly proclaimed, has never
ceased to prepare for the conquest of Ethiopia. The Treaties of Friendship it signed with me were
not sincere; their only object was to hide its real intention from me. The Italian Government asserts that for 14 years it has been preparing for its present conquest. It therefore recognizes today
that when it supported the admission of Ethiopia to the League of Nations in 1923, when it concluded the Treaty of Friendship in 1928, when it signed the Pact of Paris outlawing war, it was
deceiving the whole world. The Ethiopian Government was, in these solemn treaties, given additional guarantees of security which would enable it to achieve further progress along the specific
path of reform on which it had set its feet, and to which it was devoting all its strength and all its
heart.
6
Wal-Wal Pretext
The Wal-Wal incident, in December, 1934, came as a thunderbolt to me. The Italian provocation was obvious and I did not hesitate to appeal to the League of Nations. I invoked the provisions of the treaty of 1928, the principles of the Covenant; I urged the procedure of conciliation
and arbitration. Unhappily for Ethiopia this was the time when a certain Government considered
that the European situation made it imperative at all costs to obtain the friendship of Italy. The
price paid was the abandonment of Ethiopian independence to the greed of the Italian Government. This secret agreement, contrary to the obligations of the Covenant, has exerted a great influence over the course of events. Ethiopia and the whole world have suffered and are still suffering today its disastrous consequences.
This first violation of the Covenant was followed by many others. Feeling itself encouraged
in its policy against Ethiopia, the Rome Government feverishly made war preparations, thinking
that the concerted pressure which was beginning to be exerted on the Ethiopian Government,
might perhaps not overcome the resistance of my people to Italian domination. The time had to
come, thus all sorts of difficulties were placed in the way with a view to breaking up the procedure; of conciliation and arbitration. All kinds of obstacles were placed in the way of that procedure. Governments tried to prevent the Ethiopian Government from finding arbitrators amongst
their nationals: when once the arbitral tribunal a was set up pressure was exercised so that an
award favorable to Italy should be given.
All this was in vain: the arbitrators, two of whom were Italian officials, were forced to recognize unanimously that in the Wal-Wal incident, as in the subsequent incidents, no international
responsibility was to be attributed to Ethiopia.
Peace Efforts
Following on this award. the Ethiopian Government sincerely thought that an era of friendly
relations might be opened with Italy. I loyally offered my hand to the Roman Government. The
Assembly was informed by the report of the Committee of Thirteen, dated October 5th, 1935, of
the details of the events which occurred after the month of December, 1934, and up to October
3rd, 1935.
It will be sufficient if I quote a few of the conclusions of that report Nos. 24, 25 and 26 “The
Italian Memorandum” (containing the complaints made by Italy) was laid on the Council table
on September 4th, 1935, whereas Ethiopia’s first appeal to the Council had been made on December 14th, 1934. In the interval between these two dates, the Italian Government opposed the
consideration of the question by the Council on the ground that the only appropriate procedure
was that provided for in the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928. Throughout the whole of that period,
moreover, the despatch of Italian troops to East Africa was proceeding. These shipments of
troops were represented to the Council by the Italian Government as necessary for the defense of
its colonies menaced by Ethiopia’s preparations. Ethiopia, on the contrary, drew attention to the
official pronouncements made in Italy which, in its opinion, left no doubt “as to the hostile intentions of the Italian Government.”
From the outset of the dispute, the Ethiopian Government has sought a settlement by peaceful means. It has appealed to the procedures of the Covenant. The Italian Government desiring to
keep strictly to the procedures of the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928, the Ethiopian Government
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assented. It invariably stated that it would faithfully carry out the arbitral award even if the decision went against it. It agreed that the question of the ownership of Wal-Wal should not be dealt
with by the arbitrators, because the Italian Government would not agree to such a course. It
asked the Council to dispatch neutral observers and offered to lend itself to any inquiries upon
which the Council might decide.
Once the Wal-Wal dispute had been settled by arbitration, however, the Italian Government
submitted its detailed memorandum to the Council in support of its claim to liberty of action. It
asserted that a case like that of Ethiopia cannot be settled by the means provided by the
Covenant. It stated that, “since this question affects vital interest and is of primary importance to
Italian security and civilization” it “would be failing in its most elementary duty, did it not cease
once and for all to place any confidence in Ethiopia, reserving full liberty to adopt any measures
that may become necessary to ensure the safety of its colonies and to safeguard its own interests.”
Covenant Violated
Those are the terms of the report of the Committee of Thirteen, The Council and the Assembly unanimously adopted the conclusion that the Italian Government had violated the Covenant
and was in a state of aggression. I did not hesitate to declare that I did not wish for war, that it
was imposed upon me, and I should struggle solely for the independence and integrity of my
people, and that in that struggle I was the defender of the cause of all small States exposed to the
greed of a powerful neighbor.
In October, 1935. the 52 nations who are listening to me today gave me an assurance that the
aggressor would not triumph, that the resources of the Covenant would be employed in order to
ensure the reign of right and the failure of violence.
I ask the fifty-two nations not to forget today the policy upon which they embarked eight
months ago, and on faith of which I directed the resistance of my people against the aggressor
whom they had denounced to the world. Despite the inferiority of my weapons, the complete
lack of aircraft, artillery, munitions, hospital services, my confidence in the League was absolute.
I thought it to be impossible that fifty-two nations, including the most powerful in the world,
should be successfully opposed by a single aggressor. Counting on the faith due to treaties, I had
made no preparation for war, and that is the case with certain small countries in Europe.
When the danger became more urgent, being aware of my responsibilities towards my people, during the first six months of 1935 I tried to acquire armaments. Many Governments proclaimed an embargo to prevent my doing so, whereas the Italian Government through the Suez
Canal, was given all facilities for transporting without cessation and without protest, troops,
arms, and munitions.
Forced to Mobilize
On October 3rd, 1935, the Italian troops invaded my territory. A few hours later only I decreed general mobilization. In my desire to maintain peace I had, following the example of a
great country in Europe on the eve of the Great War, caused my troops to withdraw thirty kilometers so as to remove any pretext of provocation.
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War then took place in the atrocious conditions which I have laid before the Assembly. In
that unequal struggle between a Government commanding more than forty-two million inhabitants, having at its disposal financial, industrial and technical means which enabled it to create
unlimited quantities of the most death-dealing weapons, and, on the other hand, a small people of
twelve million inhabitants, without arms, without resources having on its side only the justice of
its own cause and the promise of the League of Nations. What real assistance was given to
Ethiopia by the fifty two nations who had declared the Rome Government guilty of a breach of
the Covenant and had undertaken to prevent the triumph of the aggressor? Has each of the States
Members, as it was its duty to do in virtue of its signature appended to Article 15 of the
Covenant, considered the aggressor as having committed an act of war personally directed
against itself? I had placed all my hopes in the execution of these undertakings. My confidence
had been confirmed by the repeated declarations made in the Council to the effect that aggression
must not be rewarded, and that force would end by being compelled to bow before right.
In December, 1935, the Council made it quite clear that its feelings were in harmony with
those of hundreds of millions of people who, in all parts of the world, had protested against the
proposal to dismember Ethiopia. It was constantly repeated that there was not merely a conflict
between the Italian Government and the League of Nations, and that is why I personally refused
all proposals to my personal advantage made to me by the Italian Government, if only I would
betray my people and the Covenant of the League of Nations. I was defending the cause of all
small peoples who are threatened with aggression.
What of Promises?
What have become of the promises made to me as long ago as October, 1935? I noted with
grief, but without surprise that three Powers considered their undertakings under the Covenant as
absolutely of no value. Their connections with Italy impelled them to refuse to take any measures
whatsoever in order to stop Italian aggression. On the contrary, it was a profound disappointment
to me to learn the attitude of a certain Government which, whilst ever protesting its scrupulous
attachment to the Covenant, has tirelessly used all its efforts to prevent its observance. As soon
as any measure which was likely to be rapidly effective was proposed, various pretexts were devised in order to postpone even consideration of the measure. Did the secret agreements of January, 1935, provide for this tireless obstruction?
The Ethiopian Government never expected other Governments to shed their soldiers’ blood
to defend the Covenant when their own immediately personal interests were not at stake.
Ethiopian warriors asked only for means to defend themselves. On many occasions I have asked
for financial assistance for the purchase of arms That assistance has been constantly refused me.
What, then, in practice, is the meaning of Article 16 of the Covenant and of collective security?
The Ethiopian Government’s use of the railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa was in practice a hazardous regards transport of arms intended for the Ethiopian forces. At the present moment this is the chief, if not the only means of supply of the Italian armies of occupation. The
rules of neutrality should have prohibited transports intended for Italian forces, but there is not
even neutrality since Article 16 lays upon every State Member of the League the duty not to remain a neutral but to come to the aid not of the aggressor but of the victim of aggression. Has the
Covenant been respected? Is it today being respected?
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Finally a statement has just been made in their Parliaments by the Governments of certain
Powers, amongst them the most influential members of the League of Nations, that since the aggressor has succeeded in occupying a large part of Ethiopian territory they propose not to continue the application of any economic and financial measures that may have been decided upon
against the Italian Government. These are the circumstances in which at the request of the Argentine Government, the Assembly of the League of Nations meets to consider the situation created
by Italian aggression. I assert that the problem submitted to the Assembly today is a much wider
one. It is not merely a question of the settlement of Italian aggression.
League Threatened
It is collective security: it is the very existence of the League of Nations. It is the confidence
that each State is to place in international treaties. It is the value of promises made to small States
that their integrity and their independence shall be respected and ensured. It is the principle of
the equality of States on the one hand, or otherwise the obligation laid upon small Powers to accept the bonds of vassalship. In a word, it is international morality that is at stake. Have the signatures appended to a Treaty value only in so far as the signatory Powers have a personal, direct
and immediate interest involved?
No subtlety can change the problem or shift the grounds of the discussion. It is in all sincerity that I submit these considerations to the Assembly. At a time when my people are threatened
with extermination, when the support of the League may ward off the final blow, may I be al lowed to speak with complete frankness, without reticence, in all directness such as is demanded
by the rule of equality as between all States Members of the League?
Apart from the Kingdom of the Lord there is not on this earth any nation that is superior to
any other. Should it happen that a strong Government finds it may with impunity destroy a weak
people, then the hour strikes for that weak people to appeal to the League of Nations to give its
judgment in all freedom. God and history will remember your judgment.
Assistance Refused
I have heard it asserted that the inadequate sanctions already applied have not achieved their
object. At no time, and under no circumstances could sanctions that were intentionally inadequate, intentionally badly applied, stop an aggressor. This is not a case of the impossibility of
stopping an aggressor but of the refusal to stop an aggressor. When Ethiopia requested and requests that she should be given financial assistance, was that a measure which it was impossible
to apply whereas financial assistance of the League has been granted, even in times of peace, to
two countries and exactly to two countries who have refused to apply sanctions against the aggressor?
Faced by numerous violations by the Italian Government of all international treaties that
prohibit resort to arms, and the use of barbarous methods of warfare, it is my painful duty to note
that the initiative has today been taken with a view to raising sanctions. Does this initiative not
mean in practice the abandonment of Ethiopia to the aggressor? On the very eve of the day when
I was about to attempt a supreme effort in the defense of my people before this Assembly does
not this initiative deprive Ethiopia of one of her last chances to succeed in obtaining the support
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and guarantee of States Members? Is that the guidance the League of Nations and each of the
States Members are entitled to expect from the great Powers when they assert their right and
their duty to guide the action of the League? Placed by the aggressor face to face with the accomplished fact, are States going to set up the terrible precedent of bowing before force?
Your Assembly will doubtless have laid before it proposals for the reform of the Covenant
and for rendering more effective the guarantee of collective security. Is it the Covenant that
needs reform? What undertakings can have any value if the will to keep them is lacking? It is in ternational morality which is at stake and not the Articles of the Covenant. On behalf of the
Ethiopian people, a member of the League of Nations, I request the Assembly to take all measures proper to ensure respect for the Covenant. I renew my protest against the violations of
treaties of which the Ethiopian people has been the victim. I declare in the face of the whole
world that the Emperor, the Government and the people of Ethiopia will not bow before force;
that they maintain their claims that they will use all means in their power to ensure the triumph
of right and the respect of the Covenant.
I ask the fifty-two nations, who have given the Ethiopian people a promise to help them in
their resistance to the aggressor, what are they willing to do for Ethiopia? And the great Powers
who have promised the guarantee of collective security to small States on whom weighs the
threat that they may one day suffer the fate of Ethiopia, I ask what measures do you intend to
take?
Representatives of the World I have come to Geneva to discharge in your midst the most
painful of the duties of the head of a State. What reply shall I have to take back to my people?”
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11
Independence Day Address of The First Prime Minister of the Congo
Patrice Lumumba
June 30, 1960.
Men and women of the Congo,
Victorious fighters for independence, today victorious, I greet you in the name of the Congolese Government. All of you, my friends, who have fought tirelessly at our sides, I ask you to
make this June 30, 1960, an illustrious date that you will keep indelibly engraved in your hearts,
a date of significance of which you will teach to your children, so that they will make known to
their sons and to their grandchildren the glorious history of our fight for liberty.
For this independence of the Congo, even as it is celebrated today with Belgium, a friendly
country with whom we deal as equal to equal, no Congolese worthy of the name will ever be
able to forget that is was by fighting that it has been won [applause], a day-to-day fight, an ardent
and idealistic fight, a fight in which we were spared neither privation nor suffering, and for
which we gave our strength and our blood.
We are proud of this struggle, of tears, of fire, and of blood, to the depths of our being, for it
was a noble and just struggle, and indispensable to put an end to the humiliating slavery which
was imposed upon us by force.
This was our fate for eighty years of a colonial regime; our wounds are too fresh and too
painful still for us to drive them from our memory. We have known harassing work, exacted in
exchange for salaries which did not permit us to eat enough to drive away hunger, or to clothe
ourselves, or to house ourselves decently, or to raise our children as creatures dear to us.
We have known ironies, insults, blows that we endured morning, noon, and evening, because
we are Negroes. Who will forget that to a black one said “tu,” certainly not as to a friend, but be cause the more honorable “vous” was reserved for whites alone?
We have seen our lands seized in the name of allegedly legal laws which in fact recognized
only that might is right.
We have seen that the law was not the same for a white and for a black, accommodating for
the first, cruel and inhuman for the other.
We have witnessed atrocious sufferings of those condemned for their political opinions or
religious beliefs; exiled in their own country, their fate truly worse than death itself.
We have seen that in the towns there were magnificent houses for the whites and crumbling
shanties for the blacks, that a black was not admitted in the motion-picture houses, in the restaurants, in the stores of the Europeans; that a black traveled in the holds, at the feet of the whites in
their luxury cabins.
Who will ever forget the massacres where so many of our brothers perished, the cells into
which those who refused to submit to a regime of oppression and exploitation were thrown [applause]?
All that, my brothers, we have endured.
But we, whom the vote of your elected representatives have given the right to direct our dear
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country, we who have suffered in our body and in our heart from colonial oppression, we tell you
very loud, all that is henceforth ended.
The Republic of the Congo has been proclaimed, and our country is now in the hands of its
own children.
Together, my brothers, my sisters, we are going to begin a new struggle, a sublime struggle,
which will lead our country to peace, prosperity, and greatness.
Together, we are going to establish social justice and make sure everyone has just remuneration for his labor [applause].
We are going to show the world what the black man can do when he works in freedom, and
we are going to make of the Congo the center of the sun’s radiance for all of Africa.
We are going to keep watch over the lands of our country so that they truly profit her chil dren. We are going to restore ancient laws and make new ones which will be just and noble.
We are going to put an end to suppression of free thought and see to it that all our citizens
enjoy to the full the fundamental liberties foreseen in the Declaration of the Rights of Man [applause].
We are going to do away with all discrimination of every variety and assure for each and all
the position to which human dignity, work, and dedication entitles him.
We are going to rule not by the peace of guns and bayonets but by a peace of the heart and
the will [applause].
And for all that, dear fellow countrymen, be sure that we will count not only on our enormous strength and immense riches but on the assistance of numerous foreign countries whose
collaboration we will accept if it is offered freely and with no attempt to impose on us an alien
culture of no matter what nature [applause].
In this domain, Belgium, at last accepting the flow of history, has not tried to oppose our independence and is ready to give us their aid and their friendship, and a treaty has just been
signed between our two countries, equal and independent. On our side, while we stay vigilant,
we shall respect our obligations, given freely.
Thus, in the interior and the exterior, the new Congo, our dear Republic that my government
will create, will be a rich, free, and prosperous country. But so that we will reach this aim without delay, I ask all of you, legislators and citizens, to help me with all your strength.
I ask all of you to forget your tribal quarrels. They exhaust us. They risk making us despised
abroad.
I ask the parliamentary minority to help my Government through a constructive opposition
and to limit themselves strictly to legal and democratic channels.
I ask all of you not to shrink before any sacrifice in order to achieve the success of our huge
undertaking.
In conclusion, I ask you unconditionally to respect the life and the property of your fellow
citizens and of foreigners living in our country. If the conduct of these foreigners leaves something to be desired, our justice will be prompt in expelling them from the territory of the Republic; if, on the contrary, their conduct is good, they must be left in peace, for they also are working
for our country’s prosperity.
The Congo’s independence marks a decisive step towards the liberation of the entire African
13
continent [applause].
Sire, Excellencies, Mesdames, Messieurs, my dear fellow countrymen, my brothers of race,
my brothers of struggle-- this is what I wanted to tell you in the name of the Government on this
magnificent day of our complete independence.
Our government, strong, national, popular, will be the health of our country.
I call on all Congolese citizens, men, women and children, to set themselves resolutely to
the task of creating a prosperous national economy which will assure our economic independence.
Glory to the fighters for national liberation!
Long live independence and African unity!
Long live the independent and sovereign Congo!
[applause, long and loud]
14
The African Renaissance – A Statement
Deputy President, Thabo Mbeki
SABC, Gallagher Estate, 13 August 1998
A struggle for political power is dragging the Kingdom of Lesotho towards the abyss of a violent conflict. The Democratic Republic of Congo is sliding back into a conflict of arms from
which its people had hoped they had escaped forever.
The silence of peace has died on the borders of Eritrea and Ethiopia because, in a debate
about an acre or two of land, guns have usurped the place of reason.
Those who had risked death in Guinea Bissau as they fought as comrades to evict the Portuguese colonialists, today stand behind opposing ramparts speaking to one another in the deadly
language of bazooka and mortar shells and the fearsome rhythm of the beat of machine-gun fire.
A war seemingly without mercy rages in Algeria, made more horrifying by a savagery which
seeks to anoint itself with the sanctity of a religious faith.
Thus can we say that the children of Africa, from north to south, from the east and the west
and at the very center of our continent, continue to be consumed by death dealt out by those who
have proclaimed a sentence of death on dialogue and reason and on the children of Africa whose
limbs are too weak to run away from the rage of adults.
Both of these, the harbingers of death and the victims of their wrath are as African as you
and I.
For that reason, for the reason that we are the disemboweled African mothers and the decapitated African children of Rwanda, we have to say enough and no more.
It is because of these pitiful souls, who are the casualties of destructive force for whose birth
they are not to blame, that Africa needs her renaissance. Were they alive and assured that the
blight of human made death had passed for ever, we would have less need to call for that renaissance.
In the summer of light and warmth and life-giving rain, it is to mock the gods to ask them
for light and warmth and life-giving rain. The passionate hope for the warming rays of the sun is
the offspring of the chill and dark nights of the winters of our lives.
Africa has no need for the criminals who would acquire political power by slaughtering the
innocents as do the butchers of the people of Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal.
Nor has she need for such as those who, because they did not accept that power is legitimate
only because it serves the interests of the people, laid Somalia to waste and deprived its people of
a country which gave its citizens a sense of being as well as the being to build themselves into a
people.
Neither has Africa need for the petty gangsters who would be our governors by theft of elective positions, as a result of holding fraudulent elections, or by purchasing positions of authority
through bribery and corruption.
The thieves and their accomplices, the givers of the bribes and the recipients are as African
as you and I. We are the corrupter and the harlot who act together to demean our Continent and
15
ourselves.
The time has come that we say enough and no more, and by acting to banish the shame, remake ourselves as the midwives of the African Renaissance.
An ill wind has blown me across the face of Africa. I have seen the poverty of Orlando East
and the wealth of Morningside in Johannesburg. In Lusaka, I have seen the poor of Kanyama
township and the prosperous residents of Kabulonga.
I have seen the African slums of Surulere in Lagos and the African opulence of Victoria Island. I have seen the faces of the poor in Mbari in Harare and the quiet wealth of Borrowdale.
And I have heard the stories of how those who had access to power, or access to those who
had access to power, of how they have robbed and pillaged and broken all laws and all ethical
norms and with great abandon, to acquire wealth, all of them tied by an invisible thread which
they hope will connect them to Morningside and Borrowdale and Victoria Island and Kabulonga.
Everyday, you ad I see those who would be citizens of Kabulonga and Borrowdale and Victoria Island and Morningside being born everywhere in our country. Their object in life is to acquire personal wealth by means both foul and fair.
Their measure of success is the amount of wealth they can accumulate and the ostentation
they can achieve, which will convince all that they are a success, because, in a visible way, they
are people of means.
Thus, they seek access to power or access to those who have access to power so that they
can corrupt the political order for personal gain at all costs.
In this equation, the poverty of the masses of the people becomes a necessary condition for
the enrichment of the few and the corruption of political power, the only possible condition for
its exercise.
It is out of this pungent mixture of greed, dehumanising poverty, obscene wealth and endemic public and private corrupt practice, that many of Africa’s coups d’etat, civil wars and situations of instability are born and entrenched.
The time has come that we call a halt to the seemingly socially approved deification of the
acquisition of material wealth and the abuse of state power to impoverish the people and deny
our Continent the possibility to achieve sustainable economic development.
Africa cannot renew herself where its upper echelons are a mere parasite on the rest of society, enjoying as self-endowed mandate to use their political power and define the uses of such
power such that its exercise ensures that our Continent reproduces itself as the periphery of the
world economy, poor, underdeveloped and incapable of development.
The African Renaissance demands that we purge ourselves of the parasites and maintain a
permanent vigilance against the danger of the entrenchment in African society of this rapacious
stratum with its social morality according to which everything in society must be organized materially to benefit the few.
As we recall with pride the African scholar and author of the Middle Ages, Sadi of Timbuktu, who had mastered such subjects as law, logic, dialectics, grammar and rhetoric, and other
African intellectuals who taught at the University of Timbuktu, we must ask the question – where
are Africa’s intellectuals today!
In our world in which the generation of new knowledge and its application to change the hu16
man condition is the engine which moves human society further away from barbarism, do we not
have need to recall Africa’s hundreds of thousands of intellectuals back from their places of emigration in Western Europe and North America, to rejoin those who remain still within our shores!
I dream of the day when these, the African mathematicians and computer specialists in
Washington and New York, the African physicists, engineers, doctors, business managers and
economists, will return from London and Manchester and Paris and Brussels to add to the
African pool of brain power, to inquire into and find solutions to Africa’s problems and challenges, to open the African door to the world of knowledge, to elevate Africa’s place within the
universe of research the information of new knowledge, education and information.
Africa’s renewal demands that her intelligentsia must immerse itself in the titanic and all-round struggle to end poverty, ignorance, disease and backwardness, inspired by the fact that
the Africans of Egypt were, in some instances, two thousand years ahead of the Europeans of
Greece in the mastery of such subjects as geometry, trigonometry, algebra and chemistry.
To perpetuate their imperial domination over the peoples of Africa, the colonizers sought to
enslave the African mind and to destroy the African soul.
They sought to oblige us to accept that as Africans we had contributed nothing to human;
civilization except as beasts of burden, in much the same way as those who are opposed to the
emancipation of women seek to convince them that they have a place in human society; but only
as beasts of burden and bearers of children.
In the end, they wanted us to despise ourselves, convinced that, if we were not sub-human,
we were, at least, not equal to the colonial master and mistress and were incapable of original
thought and the African creativity which has endowed the world with an extraordinary treasure
of masterpieces in architecture and the fine arts.
The beginning of our rebirth as a Continent must be our own rediscovery of our soul, captured and made permanently available in the great works of creativity represented by the pyramids and sphinxes of Egypt, the stone buildings of Axum and the ruins of Carthage and Zimbab we, the rock paintings of the San, the Benin bronzes and the African masks, the carvings of the
Makonde and the stone sculptures of the Shona.
A people capable of such creativity could never have been less human than other human beings and being as human as any other, such a people can and must be its own liberator from the
condition which seeks to describe our Continent and its people as the poverty stricken and disease ridden primitives in a world riding the crest of a wave of progress and human upliftment.
In that journey of self discovery and the restoration of our own self-esteem, without which
we would never become combatants for the African Renaissance, we must retune our ears to the
music of Zao and Franco of the Congos and the poetry of Mazisi Kunene of South Africa and refocus our eyes to behold the paintings of Malangatane of Mozambique and the sculptures of Dumile Feni of South Africa.
The call for Africa’s renewal, for an African Renaissance is a call to rebellion. We must rebel
against the tyrants and the dictators, those who seek to corrupt our societies and steal the wealth
that belongs to the people.
We must rebel against the ordinary criminals who murder, rape and rob, and conduct war
against poverty, ignorance and the backwardness of the children of Africa.
Surely, there must be politicians and business people, youth and women activists, trade
17
unionists, religious leaders, artists and professionals from the Cape to Cairo, from Madagascar to
Cape Verde, who are sufficiently enraged by Africa’s condition in the world to want to join the
mass crusade for Africa’s renewal.
It is to these that we say, without equivocation, that to be a true African is to be a rebel in the
cause of the African Renaissance, whose success in the new century and millennium is one of the
great historic challenges of our time.
Let the voice of the Senegalese, Sheik Anta Diop, be heard:
The African who has understood us is the one who, after reading of our works,
would have felt a birth in himself, of another person, impelled by an historical
conscience, a true creator, a Promethean carrier of a new civilization and perfectly
aware of what the whole earth owes to his ancestral genius in all the domains of
science, culture and religion.
Today each group of people, armed with its rediscovered or reinforced cultural
identity, has arrived at the threshold of the post industrial era. An atavistic, but
vigilant, African optimism inclines us to wish that all nations would join hands in
order to build a planetary civilization instead of sinking down to barbarism.
Thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Executive Deputy President
18
BOTTLENECKS TO DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
Wangari Maathai
4th UN World Women’s Conference, Beijing, China, August 30, 1995
Fellow Participants,
To address myself to the themes and concerns of this 4th UN World Women’s Conference, I
draw upon my experiences in 2nd and 3rd UN Conferences on Women, my experience at various
universities, the National Council of Women of Kenya and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), especially the Green Belt Movement (GBM).
The privilege of a higher education, especially outside Africa, broadened my original horizon and encouraged me to focus on the environment, women and development in order to improve the quality of life of people in my country in particular and in the African region in gener al.
The Green Belt Movement is a national, indigenous and grassroots organization, whose activities are implemented mostly by women. Its mandate is environmental and the main activity is
to plant trees and prioritize the felt needs of communities.
The Movement therefore, addresses the issues of wood-fuel, both for the rural populations
and the urban poor, the need for fencing and building materials, the rampant malnutrition and
hunger, the need to protect forests, water catchment areas, open spaces in urban centers and the
need to improve the low economic status of women. In the process this leads to activities which
help to transfer farming techniques, knowledge and tools to women. Also to enhance leadership
capacity of the participants.
The Movement informs and educates participants about the linkages between degradation of
the environment and development policies. It encourages women to create jobs, prevent soil loss,
slow the processes of desertification, loss of bio-diversity and plant and to eat indigenous foodcrops. The organization tries to empower women in particular and the civil society in general so
that individuals can take action and break the vicious circle of poverty and underdevelopment.
The Movement approaches development from the bottom and moves upwards to reach those
who plan and execute the large-scale development models whose benefits hardly ever trickle
down to the poor. The Movement has no blue print, preferring to rely on a trial and error approach which adopts what works and quickly drops what does not. It calls upon the creative energies of the ordinary local women, on their expertise, knowledge and capabilities.
It addresses both the symptoms and the causes of environmental degradation at community
level, teaches the community members to recognize and differentiate between the causes and
symptoms and to discern the linkages between them. It encourages participants to develop expertise in their work and not be limited by their illiteracy or low level of formal education.
The Movement also identifies and subsequently educates citizens about economic and political issues which form important linkages with environmental concerns and which are likely to
have a negative impact on the environment. This is done through seminars, workshops and exchange visits. It also addresses the role of the civil society in protecting the environment, devel1
oping a democratic culture, pursuing participatory development, promoting accountable and responsible governance, which puts its people first, protecting human rights and encouraging respect for the rule of law.
In the course of this involvement the Movement has identified major bottlenecks which frustrate development efforts in Africa and which are important to this conference. Although we have
shared these thoughts with the United Nations World Hearings on Development in New York in
June, 1994, and other important fora, we see the need to repeat them at this conference. We feel
that unless these bottlenecks, and others, are dealt with it may be difficult to help Africa because
these bottlenecks will continue to keep the majority of the African people in the background of
their development and political agenda irrespective of the amount of aid, grants and experts sent
to Africa to alleviate poverty and underdevelopment.
Perhaps none of the bottlenecks mentioned here are new. The list is also not exhaustive. But
it is recommended that these bottlenecks be considered if there be genuine desire to help Africa
and her peoples. There is no list of remedies attached to the bottlenecks. The first step is to accept that they are the bottlenecks and identify their source. The last stage is to seek the solutions
to them, obviously by removing them and replacing them with cures. The remedies will partly be
in form of creative initiatives and actions triggered by the clear understanding of the bottlenecks.
These cures would remove these bottlenecks and create an enabling environment to allow the
African people utilize their creative energies and national resources.
The following then are some of the bottlenecks which have been identified to date.
The Absence of Peace and Security
Peace and security are a prerequisite for development and all human beings aspire and deserve them. All people also aspire for happiness and a quality of life devoid of poverty and indignity.
Yet for the last three decades many African states have hardly enjoyed internal peace and security. State oppression by dictatorial rulers, especially during the Cold War, precipitated a
prevalent culture of fear and silence which gave a semblance of peace in many countries. The
outcry of citizens over gross violations of human rights was minimized against the background
of civil wars which raged in countries like Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique and
Liberia. Oppressive governments elsewhere in Africa were portrayed as benign and progressive
and their countries were projected as secure, peaceful and prosperous islands even as their dissenting citizens were silenced in detentions, police cells and torture chambers. The Cold War was
used by the superpowers and their allies to justify the tolerance of political and economic oppression and violation of the rights of citizens who dissented.
But those were the days of the Cold War and misinformation and misrepresentation of Africa
was part of the War. This misrepresentation gave an excuse to those who imported arms and land
mines which have been used to destroy millions of lives in Africa. The carnage goes on in Somalia, Rwanda, Liberia and in the streets of many cities. People of Africa continue to be sacrificed
so that some factories may stay open, earn capital and save jobs.
The Cold War was not cold in Africa. There, it precipitated some of the most devastating internal wars as African friends and foes of the superpowers fought it out for economic and politi2
cal control. Support for the wars came from the superpowers and their allies, with much of the
support coming in form of aid.
When the Cold War ended in the late 1989 many African rulers did not change with the
wind. As is evident in many countries, authoritarian rulers are still holding onto power tenaciously, with some dragging their citizens into internal conflicts, wars and terror thereby diverting human and material resources towards the wars and internal security of those in power.
Destructive Style of Political and Economic Leadership
Africa has suffered from lack of enlightened leadership and a bad style of political and economic guidance. While African leaders could have excused themselves for being unable to protect their people from the exploits of colonial empires in the l9th and 20th centuries, they can
hardly escape blame for allowing neo-colonial exploitation which continues to reduce many of
their people into paupers in their own countries.
During the past three decades, Africa suffered lack of visionary and altruistic leaders committed to the welfare of their own people. They were persuaded to accept the development model
of the West, borrow capital from the West and be guided by experts from the same West.
This was partly possible because the colonial administration deliberately destroyed and discredited the traditional forms of self governance in Africa. Until late 1950s when the inevitable
wave of de-colonization swept across Africa natives were not allowed to practice their own form
of governance, culture, religion, traditions and customs. While the colonial form of governance
was being put in place, the western religion and values were being imposed on those who converted into Christianity. Whatever provided guidance and order in the society was banned or condemned by the western missionaries as being incompatible with the teachings of Christ and
Christianity.
Just before independence was granted, young Africans were promoted to positions hitherto
unoccupied by the local people and they were trained by colonial masters to take over power
from the colonial administration. Many of these African recruits were politically naive and uninformed. Some of them (or their parents) were naive corroborators with the colonial administration during the struggle for independence. Their employment into the prestigious administrative
positions previously reserved for the colonial masters was a manipulative ploy. It blinded them.
They became corroborating students of the same colonial administrators who wanted devotees of
their philosophy and values to govern the new independent African States. These were to be the
corroborators for neo-colonialism.
So fluttered by the new-found power and prestige in their new state, many Africans became
sucked into a mechanism which facilitate the continued exploitation of Africa and the African
people. It was easy for the new rulers to be blinded with material wealth and privileges associated with wealth and political power because they were naive and inexperienced. This development allowed the beginning of a small group of African elites who were in liaison with the rich
North to continue the exploitation of the African resources while ignoring the fate of the impoverished majority.
With that bad beginning, leadership in Africa became characterized by opportunism, personal advancement and enrichment at the expense of the masses. The new black administrators and
3
the burgeoning elites enjoyed the same economic and social life-styles and privileges which the
imperial administrators enjoyed. The only difference between the two in terms of the objectives
for the country was the color of their skin. This elite class became accustomed to the privileged
lifestyles which was impossible to sustain without continuing the exploitation and the oppression
of the governed! And thus was laid the foundation for the present political, economic and social
crisis in Africa.
African leaders abandoned their people and worked closely with their counterparts in developed countries so that they could live as comfortably as their northern counterparts and enjoy the
political and economic power and the privileges which go with it.
Africans masses became disillusioned and started to agitate for better governance. Unable to
deliver a better quality of life to their citizens, many African leaders assumed totalitarianism and
held their citizens prisoners in their own countries. That is when internal conflicts, torture and
imprisonment of dissenting voices thrived. It was with full knowledge of the more democratic
and developed countries. But during the Cold War human rights and the need for a democratic
cultures were sacrificed.
With the advent of democratization the citizens are rebelling and are threatening the very existence of the nation states. Some have collapsed. Uncertain and threatened, those in charge of
such weakened states have succumbed to corruption, and more and more African states resemble
a crumbling house from which both the owner and the onlookers scramble to escape with whatever can be looted. As a result, the civil society mistrusts and dislikes politicians and civil servants perceiving them as self-serving, greedy and corrupt.
The few African leaders who have demonstrated visionary leadership have been misunderstood and unsupported at home due to naivety and ignorance about the political forces at play in
Africa. They also received no support from the international community. Instead, corrupt and unpopular African dictators, received huge support especially in form of military aid which sustain
them in power. These dictators built up massive armies, police forces and huge networks of secret service whose main preoccupation was, and still is, to spy on and terrorize their own citizens. In many African states, including the one I know best, Kenya, citizens have become prisoners and refugees within their own borders. They are denied freedom of speech, movement, assembly and association. They are required to carry identity cards which police will demand at
gun point and may not assemble without a license to do so.
Further, in Kenya, citizens are denied access to accurate and independent information because the Government refuses to license independent radio and television stations even while using the state mass media as a mechanism for state propaganda and personal glorification. Uninformed and even misinformed, the African community remains marginalized politically and economically.
The African leaders preoccupy themselves with internal security, especially of themselves
and those with whom they rule the country, and political survival. They misdirect scarce resources into state security machinery, a bloated civil service and prestigious, political projects
such as the 3rd International Airport in Kenya, being constructed in the President’s hometown
(Eldoret) against the advice of the majority of Kenyans. In addition, leaders find it necessary to
make changes in national constitutions to give themselves near absolute powers to control all national resources and mechanisms of governance (radio, television, the judicial system, the civil
service, the police and the armed forces). All of these resources are utilized as if they were per4
sonal property of the heads of states and their appointees. Yet they are intended to serve citizens
and provide checks and balances against dictatorial tendencies. Instead, they are utilized to ensure that dictators remain in power even against the will of their people.
In Kenya today, citizens lose their jobs if they give press coverage through the state media to
any person who is out of favor with the government even if the subject that person is dealing
with is essential to the national development agenda. For example, one young woman recently
lost her job the day after she screened an environmental documentary on the Green Belt Movement called “Women at Work” produced by NOVIB, a Dutch organization dedicated to development work in developing countries. This was because the main speaker (a woman) in the film
happens to be a person the government had apparently censored. The TV station had obviously
not been informed about the censorship. The officers in charge were expected to know that such
a person is not to be screened on television. If the young woman had screened wrestling and violent foreign films on the same national TV she would still be employed!. She could have gone to
court to assert her rights, but it is expensive and judges too serve at the pleasure of the same government.
So, many of the current African leaders enjoy immense political-and economic power and
control and indeed run states as if they were their own personal property. They have invented divisive and manipulative tactics reminiscent of the colonial tactics of divide and rule. Such is for
example the ongoing politically motivated ethnic cleansing in Kenya which has affected thousands of women many of whom are still internal refugees.
But nationally (and even internationally), national mass media present such conflicts in
Africa as ancient “tribal” animosities between African [ethnic groups] coming to the fore at this
time of political liberalization and demands for democratic reforms. For a continent which continues to be projected as primitive and underdeveloped, it is easy to spread these misconceptions
and misrepresentations to the international community and for the same to accept that bad leadership is a heritage Africa is incapable of escaping.
And so many Africans continue to live under regimes where the freedom of the press and information is curtailed, where citizens may not assemble or freely associate without being harassed by armed policeman who demand licenses, passes and permits. The above mentioned ethnic cleansing in Kenya is a creation of political leadership rather than an age-old animosity over
ethnicity and land. But citizens have no way of telling their own story because the mass media is
censured and people are threatened and even arrested if they speak. Properly guided, Kenyans
(and elsewhere) would live together peacefully as they have done for generations and would negotiate over whatever differences emerge, now that certain resources like land are diminishing
and as populations continue to increase. Negotiations rather than inter-[ethnic] fighting would be
their option.
The threat of a more open political system and a strong civil society has disquieted enough
African leaders and has forced them to encourage the brewing of [ethnic] tensions the worst of
which was the recent violence which ravaged Rwanda and Somalia. It is important to emphasize
that it is not the [people] who want to fight, rather, it is the threatened elitist leaders who are using “tribes” to arouse ethnic nationalism as the only way they can continue to cling to political
and economic power and the privileges which that power comes with. Such leaders speak peace
while they are planning civil wars.
One could give these leaders the benefit of the doubt. But, in Africa it would be impossible
5
for any community to train militia, arm them, kill members of the targeted communities (in full
view of the police force) without the personal sanctioning of the heads of states who are also the
commanders-in-chief of the armed forces.
This is not to say that ethnicity is non-existent or that Africa will not have to address the
problems of [ethnic] identity and ethnic nationalism, and especially since African national
boundaries were created very superficially by the colonial empires. Nevertheless, the [ethnicity]
agenda today has to do less with problems of identity and ethnic nationalism and more with the
issue of political survival, economic control and diminishing national resources.
Of course one cannot over-rule the presence of external forces and factors because, a weak,
disunited and war-ravaged Africa for example, will even be easier to control and exploit. Not to
mention that it becomes a big market for small firearms from nations whose economy needs to
sell them.
African dictators may continue to argue that democracy is a western value which cannot
work in Africa while at the same time they deny their citizens basic freedoms. In Kenya, for example, the state has denied any possibility of allowing the introduction of independent media
networks and continues to ban books, pamphlets and newsletters which inform the civil society
about their rights and responsibilities. NGOs which work to empower the non-state actors and
ordinary citizens are harassed and attacked physically. Yet citizens are hungry for information
which is uncensored by the State. A misinformed citizenry cannot make intelligent decisions
about their political and economic destiny and nurture any democratic culture of their own without the right to choose. And such people cannot stop the forces which work to have them sidelined and marginalized while their resources are exploited by the local and the globalized free
market.
A Frustrated Democratization Process
This continuous frustration of the democratization process is a major bottleneck to any developmental agenda. Africans, like all other human beings, want to enjoy the basic freedom and
rights. They want justice, equity, transparency, responsibility and accountability. They want respect and human dignity. They want a decent life and an opportunity to feed, shelter and clothe
their families through honest, hard work. They want to create a strong civil society which can
hold its leaders accountable and responsible. Such leadership would create an environment
which would facilitate creativity, innovativeness, self-confidence, persistence and progress. They
want to sustain mechanisms of governance which ensure the security of the people rather than
the security of heads of States. That is the type of democracy millions of Africans are striving for.
And that is what they would like the leadership in the world to help facilitate morally, economically, and politically.
In his day, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana is said to have urged Africans to seek first the political freedom and all else would be added unto them. Today Africans are seeking for political freedom which is more democratic, just and fair form of governance so that the economic benefits
may be added unto them. It is impossible to do much for the African community until there is political freedom, peace and justice. As one looks at the bottlenecks mentioned in this statement it
would appear that Kwame Nkrumah was right. Only, he did not add that it must be political free 6
dom embracing liberty, equity, justice and peace.
Incidentally, the recent power sharing in South Africa offers an interesting alternative for
Africa. Everything notwithstanding, the dominant political culture of “winner takes all” was forfeited for national unity in an experiment which however, awaits the test of time. South Africans
have enormous mountains to climb and it is prudent to see how they will accomplish the feat.
Nevertheless, the traditional acquisition of absolute power and the control of national resources
by “the winner” is one major motivation for dictatorships in Africa. Those who “win,” even with
a minority vote, inherit the land and all its wealth…literally! And therefore, make all efforts to
retain that power, the privileges and trappings which go with it. Of course, the historical and the
political reasons for the South African experiment are very different but it nevertheless, offers an
interesting alternative approach to power as Africa continues the search for good governance in
the African context.
Inadequate International Cooperation
Africa has been maligned and ridiculed by the same people who have exploited it and underdeveloped it. It continues to be marginalized politically and economically and even socially.
There is lack of genuine support, cooperation and equal partnership from the rich international
community especially now that the Cold War is over. There is more rhetoric than action despite
the fact that everybody knows what the problems are since they are discussed in myriad words in
books, magazines, evaluation reports and development plans, many of which are written by expatriates from the same international communities and aid agencies.
But as if to justify relief and financial aid, people from the rich countries are more willing to
go to Africa to implement relief services like feeding emaciated infants, discover Africans dying
of horrible diseases like AIDs and Ebola, be peacekeepers in war torn countries and send horrifying images of tragedies for television. Hardly any of the friends of Africa are willing to tackle the
political and economic decisions being made in their own countries and which are partly responsible for the same horrible images brought to their living rooms by television. Relevant questions
are deliberately avoided and those who ask them fall out of favor and become political targets.
And therefore, those who are responsible for tragedies in Africa escape blame which is laid at the
feet of the victims. And Africa continuous to be portrayed in a very degrading and dehumanizing
way. As if when others elsewhere look worse off than selves, it feels better and luckier. Perhaps it
is playing on human nature: when Africa is projected as negatively as possible, it makes others
else where feel better and overlook the economic and political policies of their own countries,
many of which are responsible for the situations they see on television.
For example, most foreign aid to Africa comes in form of curative social welfare programs
such as famine relief, food aid, population control programs, refugee camps, peace-keeping
forces and humanitarian missions. At the same time, hardly available are resources for preventive
and sustainable human development programs such as functional education and training, development of infrastructure, institutional and capacity building, food production and processing, the
promotion of creative innovations and entrepreneurship. There are no funds for development of
their own cultural, spiritual and social programs which would empower people and release their
creative energy. Such programs find few sympathizers.
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In the current scenario therefore, development programs which receive enthusiastic support
are those which generate much wealth for the international communities even as they put
Africans into more debts. In 1991 for example, developed countries are said to have received
about $1,361 billion US dollars from developing countries in trade transactions and transferred
only about 60 billions US dollars in form of aid and grants! That is hardly just trade, hardly charity. It is claimed that all the aid Africa gets is repaid several times over through trade transactions, including using that aid to purchase goods from the country which “gives” aid. Africa ends
up with a deficit.
This state of affairs should not be encouraged by international trade transactions which promote growth for some regions of the world and stagnation, regression and impoverishment for
others. It is inequitable, unjust, irresponsible and destroys the local environment. It is trade which
contributes to impoverishment of Africa much more than the population numbers per see. Yet the
focus for poverty alleviation in Africa is often tagged to the population increase and environmental degradation.
The end of the Cold War has made Africa less useful to the rich industrialized countries.
Therefore, Africa is now being blamed for having no credible policies and strategies to reduce
the many problems facing Africa including the ecological crisis and internal conflicts. It is also
being accused of blocking democratization process and liberalization of the markets, supporting
a bloated civil service and accommodating high level corruption. During the Cold War these issues were there but the same international community turned a blind eye to them.
Little Technology Transfer
Technology is key to economic development. One wonders whether the technologically advanced nations are really interested in transferring technology to less advanced nations which, if
successful, would make then more competitive and self-reliant? Is it naive on the part of the
technologically less advanced to expect genuine transfer of this type of knowledge? At the moment technology transfer into Africa continues to be in the form of consumer technology which
only allows people to learn what technology to consume and how to consume it.
Only a new partnership in a new era of cooperation could make government and its people
agree to transfer technological information which can make a difference. Only a new breed of
African political leaders could put the welfare of their people first and make it the basis for political and economic policies. With such new partnership and international cooperation local innovations and initiatives would be supported without discrimination. For unless Africa creates the
environment for creative innovations and supports the same, she will remain technologically
backward in a world where technology dominates commerce, politics and even culture. People of
good will can help Africa, but Africa must create the enabling environment for her people to benefit from such support. Political leadership with that vision is currently lacking in many African
countries.
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International Debt
Organizations like Transparency International and others which study the illegal transfer of
capital from Africa to the rich northern countries give reasons to suggest that a large portion of
funds which are advanced to Africa by the international community for development are stolen
and stashed away in secret bank accounts in developed countries. Much secrecy surrounds these
financial transactions and it is still not good politics to raise such issues. But it is suggested that
if these funds were made available to an uncorrupt Africa the continent would need no more aid
and grants. Yet Africans are collectively blamed as corrupt and many donors now explain their
unwillingness to support Africa by arguing that assisting Africa is like pouring money into a rat
hole.
We continue to raise this issue because we believe that one way to assist Africa economically and to end the often-spoken- about “donor fatigue” would be to locate these funds and return
them to Africa or to the World Bank and IMF and to any other international donors agencies
which advanced them. Instead of advocating for charity and forgiving Africa her international
debts, it should be possible to retrieve all stolen capital and return-it to the original owners since
it was never used for the purpose for which it was advanced. This would demonstrate that indeed
there can be new global values and ethics referred to by the Commission on Global Governance
in its recent report, Our Global Neighborhood. It would be a matter of being just, fair and responsible to the ordinary African on whose behalf the funds were borrowed and from whom repayments are demanded. Other wise, many future generations of Africans will be born already
deeply in debt and already deeply immersed in poverty. Such people cannot play any role in international trade and are at the risk of being turned into commodities.
Corruption
Corruption is a serious cancer in Africa and it is eating into every aspect of life and into every socio-economic groups. The misery it brings to ordinary Africans and the opportunity it provides to non Africans to exploit Africa is reminiscent of the exploits of the Slave Trade. Today’s
African leaders are comparable to the African slave barons who facilitated the capturing and the
selling-off of millions of their fellow blacks to distant lands where they were subjugated into
slavery, only today they are subdued within their own borders.
In the City of Nairobi for example, corruption has enabled the grabbing of open spaces
which are essential aspects of a good urban environment and a good quality of life. In these open
spaces are mushrooming huge villas, community centers, temples and sports complexes for exclusive members of communities who thrive because of such corruption. This process has effectively segregated local people whose members are left without such public facilities because they
are different and poor, never mind that they are the indigenous citizens. In scenes only reported
in countries where black people feel threatened, African children have been shot dead by armed
police reserves who are defended in law courts and set free. In one such case in Nairobi, a police
reservist who shot a street boy six times and then spat on him before throwing his body into a
ditch was released when his lawyer effectively argued that the policeman shot in self-defense!
So, as we speak about commodities and communities it is important to be concerned about
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justice. What is the truth about Africa’s international debts? When does stealing become a crime
at the international level? Perhaps when the truth around the secret financial transactions in
Africa is revealed and finally exposed, the world will be as shocked on how Africa was economically crippled, as it is dismayed, when it now comprehends the atrocities of the transoceanic
Slave Trade or the Jewish Holocaust in Europe during the second World War. So much burden is
being placed on the Africans by the international community and the African leaders appear incapable of protecting their own people from such exploitation and indebtedness.
If it is a crime to kill half a million people in Rwanda in 1994, it should be a crime to steal
millions of dollars from ordinary Africans, thereby causing the death to millions of innocent people through sustained hunger and malnutrition, lack of adequate health care, and inflationary
prices which make it impossible for millions of Africans to provide their families with basic
needs. Why is this type of a crime tolerated by the international community? Why is the victim
to blame while the culprit goes free and lives in comfort?
Africa is more than its leaders and more than the political and economic interests which influence decisions about her. Concern for Africa ought to be concern for the African people and
for the future generations of Africans. Those who are cooperating and protecting stolen wealth
from Africa should not be protected by global public opinion which wishes to pretend that this is
the way Africans do business. Perhaps there should be an international code of moral responsibility to make those who steal from the public and those who keep and protect such stolen wealth
responsible for the economic insecurity they cause to the affected countries, in about the same
way ethnic wars threaten peace and security of people in Somalia, Rwanda, Liberia, Kenya and
the former Yugoslavia. Those who are responsible should be tried for crimes. Perhaps it is time
there were economic crimes against humanity. Besides that, such stolen wealth should be retrieved and returned to the creditors. This could be a great economic humanitarian intervention
for Africa! And it could be one way of alleviating poverty and underdevelopment in that part of
the world.
Sometimes it appears like these ills are tolerated because they happen in Africa. The US, the
World Bank and IMF would not have tolerated such financial and economic mismanagement
during the reconstruction of Europe and Japan after the World War Two and they would not have
ignored a mismanaged Europe and Japan and call it a European or Asian burden.
Marginalizing and ignoring Africa in her times of crisis raises these questions because it is
contrary to the ideals and the principles which the United Nations, World Bank and IMF were
founded upon. Various forces which shape human history and destiny have placed other regions
of the world in similar predicaments. The world’s reaction was not to marginalize or ignore them.
They were genuinely assisted with the necessary financial requirements and technology. And it
was not just technology transfer for consumerism. Africa may have many reasons to blame herself, but the world is not innocent about her. I think that there is need for new approach to business and international trade which puts people before commodities and before profits.
The International Market Injures Africa
Despite many African countries having achieved political independence the national economic market is still designed to supply the international markets with agricultural stimulants
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like coffee, tea, nuts and luxury delicacies like green beans, tropical fruits and flowers. The national economic and political policy do not enable the African people to benefit from the international market. They are still unable to engage and sustain economic activities and creative initiatives which would generate wealth for them and give them the confidence they so desperately
need. Market forces, especially the liberalized free market and capital flow, both of which are
very competitive, legitimatize the marginalization of local initiatives which cannot compete with
the giant transnational co-operations, foreign capital and attractive conditions which are created
to enable foreign investors.
Further, indebtedness of African states is making it difficult for the state to protect its citizen
from being overwhelmed by international organizations on whose behalf IMF, World Bank and
other donors demand liberalization and free markets. Small local initiatives with comparatively
little capital do not stand a chance against the onslaught.
At the moment Africans are unable to stop foreign investments at the national level, even if
they do not need them due to the cooperation between African dictatorial leaders and foreign investors. Recently for, example, when large sections of the Kenyan public opposed the construction of a third international airport in the President’s home town of Eldoret, and argued that it
was an unnecessary political project and a white elephant which will only increase Kenya’s international debt, government spokesmen defended it as a necessary economic venture needed for
the exportation of French beans, fruits and roses to Europe! The company involved in the construction of the airport is Canadian Lavalin International which can only be interested in the envisaged huge profits to be accrued from this project.
Since the government enjoys near absolute power over national affairs, donors and international business interests will probably, nevertheless, go ahead and support the construction of this
international airport and debt the already debt-burdened Kenyans against their will. Such is the
fate of millions of powerless citizens in much of Africa. The huge profits waiting to be made,
make the international community and financial agencies look the other way as the African debt
rises. That is putting commodities and profits before communities. Without an enabling national
political leadership and an international public opinion which considers it immoral to support
that type of business, Africa is likely to remain exploited and marginalized by such inequitable
and unsympathetic world trade.
Therefore, African leaders must be pressurized to improve governance and make it more
democratic and accountable to the people so that the African people may assume control of their
resources and their economies. International investments are important and an open market is desired, but unless one has a government which cares about its people, it is difficult to see how any
development model designed and carried out by an international community which comes to
Africa to make profits would generate wealth for the African people. So far they have only been
ripped off. The continent is wealthy but the wealth is mined by and for the benefit of others outside the region. Of course, it is the African leaders who facilitate this mining of the wealth from
the continent to other regions but that does not make it fair or just.
Poverty
Most Africans are among the 1.3 billion people who live in utter poverty and who received
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only 15 per cent of the world income in 1990. Their mean income continues to drop. Africans
have so far been unable to empower themselves economically, create adequate income generating work and avoid continued marginalization. This situation is contributing to insecurity at national, regional and even village level.
Symptoms of poverty and disillusionment are everywhere in sub-Sahara African in particular and express themselves in form of lack of basic facilities like clean water, food, medical care,
sanitation and infrastructure. It also expresses itself in the large number of refugees, migrations,
environmental degradation, sustained hunger and malnutrition, political instability, internal ethnic conflicts, alcoholism and other forms of drug abuse, diseases and low life expectancy. According to a WHO’s report called, Bridging the Gaps, poverty is now the leading cause of premature death across the planet but more so in the developing areas like Sub-Sahara Africa.
What is the reason for this economic marginalization and impoverishment of Africa? It is
partly because many of them do not participate in formulating and implementing their development policies. Decisions which affect their economic and political life are made by others in foreign capitals in the company of a few of their ruling elites. These are the policies and decisions
which facilitate the siphoning of their wealth, literally from under their feet. In the process they
are marginalized and disempowered economically, denied access to information, knowledge and
resources and forced to over mine their environment thereby, jeopardizing even their future generations.
However, the causes of that poverty are not as obvious. Neither are they often addressed.
This is because the causes, such as bad governance, increased military spending, mismanagement, corruption, huge prestigious and political projects, such as the 3rd International Airport in
Eldoret, are the methods used by those enjoying political power to amass more wealth for themselves at the expense of those they govern.
The ruling African elite is a new class of people in Africa, hugely privileged, enjoying the
fruits of economic growth and innovations and, deliberately supporting and helping to perpetuate
the unjust and exploitative economic world-wide phenomenon: a socio-economic and political
system which favors majority of countries and individuals in the Northern Hemisphere and their
small counterparts in the South, but marginalizes and excludes a small number of people in the
North and large numbers in the poor regions of the South.
Population Pressure
The population of Africa is about half a billion. Yet Africa is said to be facing a persistent
demographic problem which is blamed for many of the problems on the continent. The three issues of population, agriculture and environmental degradation are reported to be feeding on each
other. But as some of our observations seem to indicate there are other factors whose impact on
the people of Africa is more devastating than the population pressure. These factors, identified
here as the bottlenecks of development should be the ones blamed for the economic underdevelopment and poverty in Africa, long before the numbers are a concern. The fact that 75 per cent of
the world’s resources are for example, consumed by industrial countries with only 20 per cent of
the world population is far greater reason for the impoverishment of many in the world than the
mere numbers. A depopulated Africa would still be poor and marginalized.
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Sustained Hunger and Poor Health
Good health is essential for sustained, creative and productive life. Healthy individuals are
resourceful and creative and have the urge to fulfill their full potential. That is why many governments have a national health plan to ensure that it does not govern a sickly nation. But in sub-Sahara Africa 100 million of people are reported to be food insecure and many countries in the subregion depend on food imports and emergency food aid. Therefore, millions never have enough
to eat, are undernourished and are suffering from parasitic infestations and diseases associated
with malnutrition and poor sanitation. In such an environment, development is bound to stagnate.
Poverty, poor health and sustained hunger become a vicious endless circle in which there is diminished productivity and retrogression.
In traditional African societies food security was at the family level even though there was
also a collective responsibility in the community for food security for all. Seasons were synchronized and there was a living culture associated with food production, seed selection and post-harvest storage. Important structures at every homestead included granaries for grains and beans
while certain crops like bananas, sugarcanes, roots crops and green vegetables were always
available in the field, and especially between harvests.
At the onset of colonial era in Africa and introduction of cash crops (coffee, tea, nuts, sugar cane plantations, horticultural crops, etc.) all that changed. The traditional farming culture was
demeaned, discredited and destroyed along with much of other heritages of Africa. Crop land
was commercialized for cash crops, granaries disappeared from the homesteads, and people became dependent on processed foods from shops. The cash economy took over.
At the same time species of trees like the eucalyptus, black wattle and conifer trees replaced
indigenous species not only on farmlands but also in forest areas. As a result farmlands have lost
water and certain crops like bananas, sugarcanes and local species of arrow roots no longer thrive
on the drier farmlands to give food security to the local communities.
The colonial administration introduced the idea of state food security to replace the traditional food security measures. At independence, the government took over the responsibility of
feeding the nation and is expected to ensure that there is enough food in state granaries to avert
hunger. It is therefore, the primary responsibility of every government to ensure an adequate level of nutrition and health to its citizens. But notwithstanding statements at international conferences and roundtables of development agencies about agriculture, food security, farming techniques and preventive medicine, the only farming sector which receives adequate attention is that
which deals with cash crop and the one which brings in foreign exchange (coffee, nuts, tea, flowers and horticultural crops intended for export). Unfortunately, farmers are paid little for their
crops and payments are often delayed. Therefore, many families sustain hunger and malnutrition
in places where their own parents and grandparents had surplus food.
Most of the available food in Africa is produced by women and children who provide the intensive labor required on small farms under cash crops. Except for the cash crops, agriculture
and food production in Africa is still a low priority, political statements not withstanding, with
many farmers having sacrificed food production in favor of cash crops. At the same time, women’s work (even in food production) is still rated low, is not a priority, has no prestige and women
farmers are not adequately compensated for their labor. Governments give little attention to food
production for home consumption.
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And food has even become a political weapon with leader in power keeping the key to the
national granaries, disposing of the food even when their own people need it and subsequently
appealing for food from the international community. Agricultural Cooperative movements, once
intended to support farmers, have been misused and mismanaged by government-appointed bureaucrats in the parasitical organizations. The national agricultural policies discourage food production by local farmers and opt for cheap food in the international market. Therefore, only a
government which cares about its people will protect its citizens from the politics of food. And
only strong, informed non-state actors of the civil society would persuade its government not to
sacrifice the local farmers at the altar of international food politics and profiteering.
Illiteracy and Ignorance
Yet another obstacle to development is illiteracy. Perhaps because Africa did not have its
own alphabets, literacy is an over-valued asset and education and the ability to read and write has
been over emphasized and equated with extraordinary abilities. And illiterate people over-trust
those who can read and write under-value and underestimate themselves. This poor self-image
and lack of self-confidence nurture an inferiority complex which puts illiterate citizens at the
mercy of literate members of society.
The other source of general knowledge and information is the radio. Yet the Government refuses to issue licenses for independent air waves, arguing that the State-controlled media is adequate for the people. In mid-February 1995, for example, the Ambassador of the United States to
Kenya expressed the wish of her Government to see the development of independent media networks. She hoped that the Kenya government would issue licenses because freedom of the press
was a prerequisite to good governance and the freedom to choose. For daring to state that, she
was heavily criticized by government ministers who accused her of interfering with the
sovereignty and independence of Kenya. The national radio and television are the means of communication and are intended for public information and education. Unfortunately, many leaders
in Africa use the national radio and television for propaganda and personal aggrandizement, censoring all information reaching the public.
Yet, the phenomenon of a national government being given directives by foreign envoys
about national issues is also embarrassing because it is indicative of the amount of sovereignty
African nations have already sacrificed so that they may be given aid and grants by the governments which such envoys represent. Sovereignty is constantly being interfered with by the World
Bank, IMF and other members of the Paris Club when they make demands for the political and
economic environment in which they prefer to do business. But the government would not wish
such weaknesses to be exposed because that demystifies their enormous image. Hence the fuss
over comments by such envoys even though the reality is well known by all. The very fact that a
foreign envoy has to appeal to a national government over human rights of its own citizens is indicative of the oppressive governance under which citizens live. Uninformed, such citizens are
easily cowed, manipulated and governed.
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Overuse of Foreign Languages
At independence many African States adopted imperial European languages as official languages and all official communication (in the mass media, courts, administration, education etc.)
is conducted in those languages. These languages are formally learned in the class room. They
are the medium of instruction and communication on school compounds and children are encouraged to speak it at home. That way, it is hoped, students become more proficient and follow in structions of other lessons which are also given in the same foreign languages. Therefore, from
the onset, children are cut off from much of family and community conversation and exchanges.
The children gradually become alienated from the community’s culture and values and identify
with the culture and values of the foreign people about whom they read and talk.
People equate education and progress with the ability to speak and write in these languages
and entry into the job market, or upward social mobility, is virtually impossible without the ab...
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