The possibilities and constraints

Possibilities: Political independence, dignity and self-esteem

By the mid 60's the majority of African states were politically free from colonial rule. The future looked full of the possibility of new prospects and potential.

Political liberation meant taking power, raising a new national flag, re-naming the country, shouting slogans, singing songs of victory and re-naming streets after liberation heroes.

Political independence gave a new promise: a change of mind and heart, a restoration of dignity, and hope for a better future. Self-rule was an opportunity to create a new value system for true liberation from injustice. There was hope for national prosperity, peace, freedom and justice for all. The repressive mindset of racial inferiority was meant to be replaced by dignity and self-esteem.

Formation of OAU

Newly independent African states joined the Organization of African Unity (OAU) which was founded in 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Its purpose was to promote self-government, respect for territorial boundaries, and social progress throughout the African Continent. Membership was open to all independent African countries.

The following principles were stated in the OAU Charter adopted in 1963 in Addis Ababa:

• To promote the unity and solidarity of the African States

• To co-ordinate and intensify their cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the people of Africa

• To defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity and independence

• To eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa

• To promote international cooperation, having due regard for the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The OAU principles were stated in Article II of the Charter as follows:

• The sovereign equality of all Member States

• Non- interference in the internal affairs of States

• Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each State, and for its inalienable right to an independent existence

• Peaceful settlement of disputes by negotiation, mediation, conciliation or arbitration

• Unreserved condemnation in all its forms, of political assassination as well as subversive activities, on the part of neighbouring States or any other States

• Absolute dedication to the total emancipation of the African territories which were not yet independent

• Affirmation of a policy of non-alignment with regard to international power blocs (USA and USSR)
  

Role of OAU

a. Decolonisation:

The OAU Co-ordinating Committee for the Liberation of Africa organised diplomatic support and channelled financial, military and logistical aid to liberation movements in countries still under colonial rule. The struggle for liberation gained momentum as a result of efforts of the OAU. There was increased support for liberation in world opinion, and the United Nations recognised the liberation struggle as legitimate.

A UN boycott was enacted against Rhodesia's racist minority regime until majority rule was obtained in 1980. Pressure was brought to bear on Great Britain, which, as a colonial power at the time of Smith's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (1965), was avoiding its constitutional and moral responsibility towards the African majority in Rhodesia.

The OAU initiated action with the International Court of Justice, which declared that South Africa had no right to stay in Namibia. UN action was taken for South Africa’s Apartheid regime to agree to independence for Namibia (former South West Africa).

Portugal (with its colonies of Mozambique and Angola), South Africa, Rhodesia were periodically harassed and condemned for their colonialist and racist policy in Africa at the United Nations.

b. The struggle against apartheid:

From information put forward by the United Nations, apartheid in South Africa, white minority rule in Rhodesia and South African control of Namibia (South West Africa) were condemned as ''a crime against humanity". OAU pressure also ensured that South Africa was barred from many international organisations, as well as the Olympic Games and many other sporting tournaments.

c. Boundary conflicts:

The OAU was confronted with a number of boundary conflicts in North, East and Central Africa. Action undertaken by the OAU in areas of sovereignty and territorial integrity included intervention in Congo, Nigeria, Egypt, Guinea, and Equatorial Guinea.

Long term legacy:

The OAU was replaced by the African Union in 2002.

The Times of London called the OAU "a discredited and moribund body that has outlived its original purpose and proved ineffective in dealing with the continent's challenges today."

South Africa’s Sunday Times said that "despite its noble beginnings, the OAU ended up as nothing more than a boys' club where eloquent speeches were made and little else was accomplished."

The Star, a Johannesburg newspaper commented:

"Its most cherished principle was non-interference in the internal affairs of member states. That often became a licence to turn a blind eye to undemocratic, incompetent and even brutal rule."

Constraints: Social, political and economic challenges facing independent African states

Introduction

"We spoke and acted as if, given the opportunity for self-government, we would quickly create utopias. Instead injustice, even tyranny, is rampant." - Julius Nyerere quoted in David Lamb The Africans 1985.

As this quote indicates, in the newly independent African states, a gap soon developed between promise and performance. Future prospects and potential were constrained or limited. Utopias, or visionary politically perfect systems, never materialised.

European colonialism had had a devastating impact on Africa. European nations left behind dysfunctional states which constrained newly independent African states. Africa’s development was faced with social, political and economic challenges.

Some of these challenges were inherited from the colonial system. New challenges arose as a result of poor governance. As Nyerere suggests in the above quote, the promise of plenty gave way to continued injustice, and tyranny.

The challenges faced by newly independent African states can be summarised as follows:

 

Social	Political	Economic
Lack of Education Poor Healthcare Rapid Urbanisation	Artificial boundaries and civil wars Authoritarian regimes and political instability The Cold War	Neo-colonialism Underdeveloped infrastructure Lack of skilled labour Low local food production Internal factors

Social challenges facing independent African states

a) Lack of Education

Under colonialism, education was virtually ignored. In newly independent states, only 20% of the population was literate. This meant that there was a shortage of skilled people to govern and administer institutions.

Also, colonial education instilled feelings of inferiority, subordination, and exploitation. On a broader level, the ideology that European colonisation imposed has been neatly summed up by Walter Rodney in his well-known book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa:

To be colonised is to be removed from history, except in the most passive sense. A striking illustration of the fact that colonial Africa was a passive object is seen in its attraction for white anthropologists, who came to study ‘primitive society’. Colonialism determined that Africans were no more makers of history than were beetles objects to be looked at under a microscope and examined for unusual features.

b) Poor Healthcare

Healthcare was another challenge. There were few clinics and hospitals, nurses and doctors. The rural areas were particularly neglected. Poor living conditions and malnutrition contributed to low life expectancy.

c) Rapid Urbanisation

There was a rapid increase in urbanisation. Newly independent states drew their leadership from the urban elite. Many new governments concentrated their development efforts on the cities.

Most of the population lived in rural areas, which were generally neglected. Many people moved to the towns which led to unemployment, higher crime rates, overcrowding and the growth of slums.

Political challenges facing independent African states

a) Artificial boundaries and civil wars

Artificial boundaries were created by colonial rulers. When they left Africa, the new rulers had to bring together many diverse ethnicities within one nation. This made governance difficult.

For example:

• In the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly a Belgian colony, 250 ethnic groups have been identified and named. Over 700 languages are spoken. Angola, formerly a Portuguese colony, is home to more than 100 ethnic groups. Lingala, a language spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is also spoken in parts of Angola.

• The Ewe people are divided between Togo and Ghana.

• The Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo became ‘Nigerians’. In the late 1960s, the Igbo tried to break away to form an independent country in the Biafra War.

Colonial rulers often emphasised differences between groups and deliberately created tension in a strategy of ‘divide and rule.’

One of the challenges independent Africa faced was civil war. These wars are often simplistically referred to as ‘tribal wars’.

b) Authoritarian regimes and political instability

Colonial rulers used military force and brutality to control their colonies. Criticism was not tolerated, and those who dared to voice their opposition were jailed.

Leaders of newly independent states were democratically elected in one person one vote elections. There was no history of democracy.

Many new rulers abandoned democracy, and followed the authoritarian example of the colonial rulers, turning the nation into a one party dictatorship. Some leaders used the army to remain in power.

c) The Cold War

The Cold War dominated world politics at the time of Africa’s independence. A contest for influence in Africa, between the US and Western powers on the one hand, and the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries on the other, affected all African states.

Most of newly independent ex-colonies and those still under colonial rule received military and economic support from one of these Superpowers, and later also Communist China.

Economic challenges facing independent African states

a) Neo-colonialism

Colonial economies were designed to serve the colonial motherland. Most countries were economically underdeveloped. Post-colonial Africa inherited economic structures from their colonial masters.

A new age of neo-colonialism became the source of Africa’s troubles. The Swahili phrase ‘uhuru wa bendera’ or ‘flag independence’ meant that the practices of domination after independence by colonial powers continued. This is usually referred to as neo-colonialism.

Most African economies at independence were mono-economies. This means that they produced and exported a single, unprocessed agricultural or mineral commodity. Prices of these commodities were determined by world markets. This made newly independent countries vulnerable when world prices fell. For example, Zambia got most of its earnings from exporting copper. When the price of copper fell, it affected the whole Zambian economy.

African countries continued to be in a state of economic dependency that had existed in colonial times. Their economies were still being exploited rather than developed.

b) Underdeveloped infrastructure

Most newly independent African states had under-developed infrastructures. In order to run an efficient economy networks of transport and communication are needed to help move goods, services, labour and capital.

Transport links under colonialism were geared to the export of raw materials. There were inadequate links between towns within African countries, and between different African countries.

c) Lack of skilled labour

All production depends on human labour. A skilled and educated workforce is needed for modern economic growth and development. Most colonial governments had spent very little on educating the local population. This meant that at independence, African countries faced a severe shortage of skilled people.

d) Low local food production

African states had inherited economies which were not suited to producing enough food to feed their own populations.

Subsistence farmers had been forced off the land under colonial rule. This land was then used to grow cash crops like coffee, cocoa, rubber, tobacco and tea.

These raw materials were sent to Europe to be manufactured into products, and then resold in Africa and other parts of the world. The profits went to companies with their headquarters in European countries. This increased dependency on Europe.

e) Internal factors

Not all Africa’s economic challenges after independence can be blamed directly on colonial rule.
As Joseph Maita, Professor of Economics at the University of Nairobi in Kenya commented:

“We can’t go on blaming the colonialists eternally for all our problems. Yes, they set up the system, but it is us who have been unable to change it.”

Other reasons for economic challenges include:

1. A decline in average rainfall has led to droughts and famines.
2. Some countries used scarce resources to build up the military and to buy arms to keep the ruling party in power.
3. Some countries used scarce resources to benefit the elite rather than to improve national economic development. These include the building of palatial presidential homes, airports and hotels.
4. Financial mismanagement and corruption by the wealthy elite became commonplace while the majority of citizens remained poor.

The new African ruling class is often referred to as wabenzi - so called because they usually drive an imported vehicle (like a Mercedes Benz).

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