Museveni’s dilemma, Africa’s crisis

With this consensus, the debate shifted to governance. If an African country is failing, it is because of “poor governance” i.e. leaders are selfish, greedy, and cruel. Concepts like a “predatory or “vampire” state and books like “The Criminalisation of the State in Africa” came to life. The gospel was this: the problems of Africa are internal – corruption, nepotism, incompetence, greed, selfishness, etc.

A Kenyan professor, PLO Lumumba, has made a name selling this “condemnAfrican-leaders” narrative. He is feted in African capitals where his listeners, largely African elites, cheer him in loud admiration. His criticisms are not without basis. Indeed, nowhere is criticism more effective (and dangerous) than when it uses (and abuses) obvious facts. But remember that Africa has been changing leaders; since independence 278 in all. So if all of them are greedy, selfish and cruel, what should Africans do? The answer is obvious: seek salvation from abroad. This is how we got to Libya’s current crisis.

Steve Biko said that the biggest weapon in the hands of the oppressor is never his militaries but the mind of the oppressed. Africa has been ideologically conquered. The Western ideologues succeeded in using some aspects of the truths about Africa to promote a narrative that undermines the faith Africans have in themselves, their leaders and institutions. Hence we look abroad for salvation – exactly as colonialism did 130 years ago. This is why Bob Marley urged Africans to liberate themselves from mental slavery.

So we are back to the height of the scramble for Africa in 1884 when Europeans partitioned our continent amongst themselves. One needs to read the words used at the Berlin conference to understand today. They claimed Africa was backward and poor, both materially and spiritually. So it needed civilisation, commerce, and Christianity – to be brought by Europeans. Africans were suffering under the tyranny of custom and the despotism of local chiefs. So they needed to be liberated by civilised Europeans.

It is in this context that we can understand how King Leopold II of Belgium formed a “philanthropic” organisation to “civilize” Congo. A territory 77 times larger than his own country was given to him as a private estate to “civilise”. He proceeded to exterminate 15 million Congolese, three times worse than Adolf Hitler’s six million Jews. But the West doesn’t talk about this. And all colonial governments with varying degrees did commit genocide in Africa.

The narrative that African problems are essentially internal was designed by Western journalists, academics, intellectuals, governments and international financial institutions but has been largely articulated by African elites. White people are careful not to be seen as racist when they criticise certain practices in Africa. So they are always on the look out for African intellectuals to do the dirty job. We unwittingly fall into the trap. Once such an African intellectual is identified, he/she is invited to Western universities, think tanks, given access to their media etc. to condemn Africa.

Yet the claims that corruption, nepotism, dictatorship, greed, etc. are the evils that have undermined our prosperity are false. All developed countries had as much (or even more) corruption than African countries today. And their leaders were dictatorial, shortsighted, selfish, corrupt, greedy, irresponsible, human rights abusers, mass murderers, and power hungry. In spite of all these (or even perhaps partly because of them) today’s rich nations transformed from poverty to riches. Why not Africa? More next week!

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amwenda@independent.co.ug