Looking backwards to the future
Ronald Mutebi
THE BLACK MAN'S BURDEN by Basil Davidson James Currey, £9.95, pp. 372 If you look at the present deeply trou- bled condition of Africa, it is easy to let gloom and despair overwhelm you, and to lose historical perspective; but it is the his- torical perspective that surely holds the key to the continent's future.
This highly enterprising book attempts to do just that. Basil Davidson has been writ- ing books on Africa for over 40 years and has the reputation here of a shrewd and undogmatic observer. He is part of the generation that fought in the war and, one way or another, formed imperial policy in Africa up until Independence. His basic thesis, which is not altogether original or remarkable, is that Africa was thrown off course in its development by the introduc- tion of the European-style nation-state at the time of Independence. This was foisted on us as the only option for progress and was bound to lead to disaster. The promo- tion of the nation-state in Africa was par- ticularly ill-advised, he thinks, since 'the great transferring powers' — he puts much of the blame on the French and British — were particularly well placed to know about the consequences of building separate nation-states and fuelling nationalisms. After all, they had just witnessed the tur- moil created by Hitler and rampant chau- vinism: this should have been warning enough. Certainly more recent develop- ments have proved this beyond doubt. If it did not work in Europe why does anybody think that it will work in Africa?
... peoples can never for long be confined to the cages of any neat scenario.
The actual exercise of handing over power to Africa's new leaders left much to be desired. There had been no thought, no long-term blueprint for the future of these newly self-governing states. This was not altogether surprising. The colonising pow- ers had had no real intention of giving up their possessions. It was only when pres- sure from the nationalist movements grew strong that anyone started to look about to see who and what would replace the outgoing system. Up until then there was no clear plan on the part of the imperial powers that they were ever to withdraw. Davidson gives the example of Kenya where:
As late as 1959 the British colonial secretary, Lennox-Boyd, could still declare that in respect of East Africa he was 'unable to envisage a time when it will be possible for any British government to surrender their ultimate responsibilities for the destinies and well-being of Kenya'.
And yet Kenyans were to have their inde- pendence three years later.
In this situation Africa's new leaders were faced with the most formidable prob- lems for which they were neither prepared nor trained. It wasn't long before the whole experiment exploded. The new leaders resorted to tyranny in order to maintain power, the new territorial boundaries were ignored as smuggling became rampant, huge economic disparities emerged between urban and rural dwellers as lead- ers became more and more divorced from the needs of the people.
The colonial experience had disrupted If she thinks I'm going to walk a million miles for one of her smiles she's got another think coming!' Africa's internal mechanisms. The assump- tion, aided and abetted by Africa's ruling elites, was that Africa's past had nothing to inform the future. No nations existed there, and there were no values upon which to found a modern dynamic society. And so something had to be brought in from out- side.
Davidson then goes on to disprove this view by looking at the experience of the Kingdom of Ashanti in Ghana and the Yoruba in Nigeria which both had strong and organised central political structures, a system of accountability for their leaders and a society that upheld the rule of law and contained the use of violence. David- son's examples are taken mostly from West Africa, but he could as well have taken the Kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro-Kitara in East Africa as examples of ancient soci- eties which had developed 'constitutions', albeit unwritten, which regulated the rela- tionship between King, chief, clan elder and subject. It is this heritage which David- son believes has to be mined so as to build long and lasting institutions.
This has been the orthodoxy, and it has much to commend it. The only problem is that the post-colonial nation-state is still with us. While it is clear that many African countries have lost legitimacy in the eyes of their people — and some like Sudan, Somalia, Zaire, and Angola have lost it demonstrably and bloodily — nevertheless there are some striking examples of where it has taken hold: Nigeria, black Africa's most populous state has had its death knell sounded so many times that I have lost count. And yet it marches on, discarding autocrats and venal politicians while main- taining a credible stability. With a popula- tion of over 100 million ethnically diverse people this should be one of the most volatile countries on the continent. Botswana has had a vigorous multi-party democracy since independence and up until last year had one of the highest rates of growth anywhere in the world. In Zambia Kenneth Kaunda was, after 25 years in power, defeated by the opposition in a general election. After his defeat he went quietly home to graze his cattle and play the elder statesman. At a different time his defeat would have been the signal for mass dissent of one kind or another. Could it be that a cross-cultural middle- class has in fact emerged in some of these countries? Much more consideration has to be given to this.
The real strength and value of this book lies in the wealth of material that it brings to bear on this subject. There are intriguing parallels drawn between Europe and Japan, and it is emphasised that the most successful of these societies have been the ones that have looked to the rich experience of their history. It is sound advice.
Ronald Mutebi will become Kabalca of Buganda in June.
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